Julio D. Dávila

The peri-urban water poor: citizens or consumers?

Using the results of a comparative three-year research project in five metropolitan areas, this article reviews a range of practices in accessing water and sanitation by peri-urban poor residents and producers. It starts from the observation that neither centralized supply policies nor the market through, for example, large-scale profit-making enterprises are able to meet their needs. Although they are consumers insofar as they have no option but to pay market prices for water (and often for sanitation), the peri-urban poor are, in practice, sometimes regarded as citizens with basic entitlements such as the right to water. This article outlines a conceptual distinction between “policy-driven” and “needs-driven” practices in the access to peri-urban water and sanitation services. The case studies show that this access is mainly needs-driven and informal rather than the result of formal policies. The key to structural improvements in water and sanitation lies in the recognition of these practices and their articulation to the formal system under new governance regimes.

Mobility innovation at the urban margins

With the consolidation of democratic governments in the 1980s and 1990s, wholesale evictions of entire neighbourhoods ceased to be a solution to urban problems in Latin America. This paper discusses an example of a new generation of municipal programmes aimed at physically upgrading informal settlements while integrating them both physically and socially into the fabric of the city. In Medellín, a city with a recent history of violence and social inequality, the audacious use of well-established ski-slope aerial cable-car technology in dense and hilly low-income informal settlements was followed by major neighbourhood upgrading comprising new social housing, schools and other social infrastructure, as well as support to micro-enterprises. Although lack of mobility contributes to social inequality and poverty, the paper argues that the introduction of quick-fix highly visible transport technology on its own is unlikely to help reduce poverty. Although urban upgrading programmes and the symbolic value of cable-car systems have instilled among the local population a feeling of inclusion and integration into the ‘modern’ city, they can also be understood as mechanisms for the ‘normalisation’ of informal sectors of the city.

Being a mayor: the view from four Colombian cities

Local governments are particularly relevant to peoples daily lives as they manage the infrastructure and services that directly influence quality of life. Elected mayors tend to be more responsive to the needs of the poor majority than centrally appointed mayors or mayors who are elected by fellow councillors. Colombias municipal mayors have been elected since 1988 and local governments have been given increased responsibilities and powers to raise local revenues. In this paper, four municipal mayors at the end of their four-year term reflect, in their own words, on the role they have played in shaping their municipalities. They recount their personal engagement with local politics, share their views about their society and problems such as poverty, inequality and violence, describe the business of managing a local government and exercising leadership sometimes in difficult circumstances, reflect on the qualities of a mayor, and explain how they sought continuity for their government programmes. They see themselves as outsiders struggling against local political machineries. With one exception, they do not seem to see the poor as their natural interlocutors on whom they can rely for unswerving political support and to whom most of their energy should be directed.