FAILED SOLUTIONS

POSTED BY ABBY CALLARD ON DECEMBER 31, 2010

This story originally appeared in our December 31, 2010 e-magazine. Click here to subscribe. By 2030, more than half the worlds population will live in cities. How will they cope? The worlds quick urbanizationeven faster in developing countrieshas put a strain on the cities expected to absorb the massive increase in residents. The issue of urbanization is not new, but the UN estimates that by 2030, 60% of the worlds population will live in cities. Most of the growth will come from developing countries. For example, McKinsey Global Institute estimates 40% of Indias population will live in cities by 2030a net increase of 250 million people. Cities, both in developed and developing countries, have struggled with providing affordable housing for their residents. In an effort to learn from past mistakes, were profiling three failed solutions: Cabrini-Green in Chicago, slum redevelopment in Mumbai and Fuerte Apache in Buenos Aires. Cabrini-Green Located at the intersection of two of Chicagos richest neighborhoods, Cabrini-Green is one of the most notorious public housing experiments in the world. Construction on the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) project startedin 1942 and ended in 1962. In the beginning, most of the residents held jobs at nearby factories. After World War II, the factories closed. To cut costs, the cities paved over the lawns to reduce maintenance, neglected repairs and finished the last buildings with questionable quality. Through the years, gangs moved in and controlled single buildings in the complex. Steel fences were put up around the perimeter. The fences made it hard for police officers to see inside the complex, and in 1970, two were killed by snipers from inside. The high balconiesgot to be so dangerous that CHA enclosed the entire height of the buildings with steel mesh. Many say this created the perception that residents were imprisoned. Pipes frequently burst, garbage backed up to the 15th floor in the trash chute and gang violence increased. Overthe years, gang violence and neglect created terrible conditions forthe residents, and the name Cabrini-Green became symbolic of theproblems associated with public housing in this country said Keith Gottfried, General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, at a 2006 housing conference in Chicago. The last of the residents left earlier this month, and demolition of the last standing building, located at 1230 N. Burling, will begin early 2011. The reality is that 1230 N. Burling is in disrepair and CHA, in good conscience, could not allow good people to stay there any longer than what was necessary, said CEO Lewis A. Jordan. Slum Redevelopment

In a city where more than half the population resides in slums, Mumbais redevelopment plans are plentiful. So far, no single plan has been able to really pinpoint exactly how to solve the issue. But, many have failed. Unfinished buildings soar above the slums that have materialized waiting for the construction to be completed. Scaffolding and metal stick out at odd angles, and tarps flap in the wind. Below, people wait to move in. One man, with a family of 5, has been waiting for more than three years for an apartment. Construction on the building stalled two years ago and hasnt started again. While slum dwellers do not own the land on which they live, many own their houses and others pay rent. A 6-foot by 6foot room can rent for as much as INR 1,500 (US$33) a month. Most of them are reluctant to leave their homes. Another development, located in the far-east suburbs, was developed as an improvement from slum life, but fell short.Slum dwellers who qualified were entered into a lottery. Winners got a 225-square-foot apartment in the Lallubhai compound, which was completed in 2003. But the complex has been plagued with problems since construction finished. Trash collection is all but non-existent, and two wells serve the 11,000 residents. Because there are no elevators, residents have to carry water up to the apartments. Many of the wells are poorly constructed, and illegal wells are cropping up between buildings. This opens the community up to water-borne diseases. Fuerte Apache Barrio Ejrcito de los Andes, more commonly known as Fuerte Apache, in Buenos Aires grew from Argentinean dictator Juan Carlos Onganas plan to eliminate illegal settlements, called emergency villages. The project, started in 1966, was constructed in phases with one of them leading up to the 1978 World Cup. The settlement was envisioned as a well-protected depository for the poor in advance of the World Cup. Many of the residents were pulled from the Villa 31 slum in Retiro, an upper-class residential area. As of the 2001 census, 35,000 people lived in almost 5,000 residences. The number of actual residents is most likely much higher. Some estimate up to 100,000 live in the 26-acre neighborhood. The complex includes 33 towers, linked byhallways in three different groups, and 52 smaller freestanding buildings. This separation has alienated residents of different buildings, and conflicts have erupted because of the lack of communication. The area quickly earned a bad reputation for violence, drugs and crumbling buildings. Better Than Before The failures in Chicago, Mumbai and Buenos Aires can be directly attributed to oversight on behalf of development authorities and their partners. By not accounting for the fundamental building blocks of infrastructure and safety, these housing solutions were doomed from the outset. Now, in todays world, when exploding populations make the urban housing an ever-more pressing issue, studying failed solutions can ensure that the same mistakes arent made time after time.