New tactics of urban intervention in informal settlements in Latin America

Abstract

Beginning in the second half of the twentieth century, most Latin American countries experienced a dramatic mass migration of impoverished people moving from rural areas to informal settlements located at the urban periphery. Despite the overcrowding and extreme poverty, access to jobs, education, health facilities, and public transportation are provoking a continual expansion of those settlements. This study examines how various Latin American architects -Teddy Cruz, Jorge Jáuregui y Flavio Janches- are developing new urban design tactics supported by the analysis and understanding of the context, the revalorization of the community’s cultural identity, and the participation of multiple agencies associated to the project, such as residents associations, community leaders, NGOs, and government representatives.