Changing Poverty Pockets in Metropolitans

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17 - 2012 ACSA International Conference
INTRODUCTION
“Poverty gap is the mean shortfall from the poverty line (counting the
nonpoor as having zero shortfall), expressed as a percentage of the
poverty line. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its
incidence” (Millenium indicators, http://mdgs.un.org)
The first question: how the analysis of the dynamic expansion of the
cities in developing countries can help to identify new social and
environmental perspective, aimed at reducing inequalities between
rich and poor within the peripheral areas of the city?
The second question: how to intervene in the spontaneous lands,
where there are no forms of control and census of the local popula-
tion and where the physical consistency of the built and the speed
of transformation can not help to define a mapping and some final
state of done?
POVERTY AND URBAN EXPANSION
The modern western city, was a model of growth of capital cities
(Paris, London, New York) all in all fairly smooth, although it was
realized at different times: since the industrial revolution onwards,
companies and governments have had to deal, within a few decades,
with an exponential growth of population and, in parallel, with a mas-
sive migration into cities. These had to absorb the arrival of poor
people in search of work from the nearby countryside. This almost
always resulted in the removal of the rich and middle classes popula-
tion from the towns, to escape the direct contact with immigrants
and increase their security.
In this framework, the first modern program of transformation of the
city dates back to the activity of demolition took place in Paris, through
the work of Baron Haussmann: in twenty years, 95 km. of new streets
in Paris, through the disappearance of 50 km. of old roads (Benevolo,
L., 1976) Whole city center neighborhoods, inhabited by poor people
arrived from the countryside to work in industry and manufacturing,
were cleared to make way for new stores and middle-class residences.
This has led to the birth of modern suburban Paris and the beginning
of the ghettoization of the poorest residential areas. Today the size
of this flow are quantitatively more significant, and qualitatively far
more complex, with population movements mainly from rural areas to
suburbs and spread spontaneously born.
If we take as an example China, the most important cities have
changed their face in a few years.
In the great hall of SOHO China’s headquarter....., a series of his-
torical photographs depicting transformation in the area within tha
last decade on display.The photographs include the former No.1 Ma-
chinery Factory, the factory’s workshop, the workshop’s demolition in
June 2001, the constuction process of Jianwai SOHO, and its grand
completion celebration in October 25, 2003....They epitomize the
transition of a Chinese city as it enters the 21st century.(Verso est,
chinese architectural landscape, 2011)
Only in recent years, urban theorists have begun to look towards
new forms of urbanization in developing countries, trying to un-
derstand inner dynamics, progressive changes and effects that
may have on the stability of the entire planet. (Balbo, 1999).
The dimensions of the phenomenon are such that any projection of
them in the future would be misleading. However it is expected that
Western countries (USA, Germany, France) and the developed world
(China, Japan), are attesting to a zero growth of population and in
some cases a decrease, while the southern countries of the world con-
tinue their growth, albeit with a lower discount rate than the present
one. (The Economist, 2011).
Thinking of control policies, aimed at reducing indiscriminate ur-
ban sprawl, today there is the problem of identifying new way of
interventions that stopping the use of land, propose a progressive
regeneration of poor neighborhoods that surround the major cities,
making regeneration actions timely and differentiated in relation to
the needs and differences of social and racial composition.
Since the era of big urban visions, even reading the city as a unitary
phenomenon, based on a close relationship between urban mor-
phology and building typology (Rossi, 1981; Aymonino, 1978), is
replaced by a more punctual and circumstantial vision, investigat-
ing the internal phenomenal to the individual neighborhoods, and
the specific needs and situations.
Paul Jargowsky (2002) makes a distinction between high-density
neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods where the poverty rate reach-
es 40% of the population. The vision, even by sociologists, there-
fore, seems not to generalize the problem by reducing it to a single
factor, but to analyze the phenomenon gradually introducing more
precise parameters, which can be distinguished, even within appar-
CHANGING POVERTY POCKETS IN METROPOLITANS
MOSTAFA REBEA ABDELBASET KALHIFA
University of Camerino, Italy
FEDERICA OTTONE
University of Camerino, Italy

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ently homogeneous area different conditions of social cohabitation,
differences in access to services and essential goods, margins, etc..
The scenario just described sees gradually erode the role of the center of
the city as a driver of economic and social integration of its inhabitants.
The same Jargowsky, in describing the phenomena of urban growth
within the U.S., particularly in the ‘80s and ‘90s, identifies the pro-
gressive loss of importance of the city center and the growth areas
of patchy , in constant motion and transformation.
To argue that sprawl is related to central city decline, is not to argue
that sprawl is what causes central city decline. It clearly does play a
role, but it is just as valid to argue that central city decline is what
causes sprawl. The “pull” of the suburbs is enhanced by the construc-
tion of large modern homes in ethnically and economically homogenous
suburbs, perhaps withwalls and a private security force. The “push” of
central cities is exacerbated as higher-income families leave and the
fiscal condition of the central cities worsens and the quality of public
services, particularly education, declines.(Jargowsky, 2002)
THE SOUTH OF THE WORLD
About 830 million people—or some 33 per cent of the urban popu-
lation—live precariously in these settlements and, if present trends
continue, the number of slum dwellers will increase to about 890
million in 2020 (UN_HABITAT, 2011)
In south of the world modern cities, in contrast to the established
western cities, the degree of poverty is dramatically higher (Baker,
2008). In addition to, in Africa, 72% of the population lives in cities.
But, as mentioned previously, the size of the phenomenon betrays
the expectations of greater access to goods and services (potable
water, schools, transport) that gave rise to this migration, as the
city center moves far away. The mechanism of “pull” and “push”,
that is attraction of free suburban areas, and push outward by the
central system, causes a form of patchy settlements, with shadow
zones formed by areas, who are transforming and replacing. This
creates areas of inhomogeneous (poverty pockets, inside new settle-
ments for the upper middle class) whose inhabitants live unwill-
ingly, with huge problems of safety, hygiene and social inequality.
In these areas the gap between rich and poor areas will gradually be
filled with different policies and action based on the organization of
services and essential goods, even before that with the replacement
housing policies.
In the Millennium Development Goals, In Particular, Goal 7, target
11, calls intended for the improvement of the lives of at least 100
million slum dwellers.
In this sense, it seems anachronistic and unrealistic to plan inter-
ventions and assertive global replacement construction, less than
an uprooting of whole sections of the population and households
from its structure that, as characterized by a certain instability, it
seems gradually consolidated in a kind of temporary equilibrium.
The improvement must necessarily start from actions that, even be-
fore offering solutions and programs, aim to become more aware of
the survey instruments. These investigations, relating to outstand-
ing physical properties of the constructed and natural resources
available and exploitable, may give rise to possible new strategies,
more compatible with the social dynamics and more environmen-
tally sustainable strategies, in these individuals must be involved in
the process of transformation.
POVERTY POCKETS
One of informal settlements Types locate in urban context and ser-
enaded by life borders from each side that make them unable to
horizontally sprawl, specially, in metropolitans of 3rd world. Pov-
erty pockets as defined in urban planning research journal- Cairo
University, faculty of urban planning- is “poor city within a city, sat-
urated, not available to horizontal extensions, on high value land”.
Developed and poor communities are no longer live separated. They
meet on the border of poverty pockets inside the same city itself
where the Gap is highly noticed. They are many example of poverty
pockets around the world, if we just go through Google earth trying to
explore the urban context of metropolitans, such as Cairo, Mumbai,
Nairobi, Casablanca, San-Paolo, etc., poverty pockets are highly rec-
ognized where intensive density- poor area are locked from all sides
by rich urban context.
People live there, in poverty pockets, under the poverty line, inside
residential areas that are physically and socially deteriorated and in
which satisfactory family life is impossible. Bad housing is a major
index of slum conditions. By bad housing is meant dwellings that
have inadequate light, air, toilet, and bathing facilities; that are in
bad repair and improperly heated; that do not afford opportunity for
family privacy; that are subject to fire hazard and that overcrowd
the land, leaving no space for recreational use, while on the border
of them and after a few miles, all kind of high quality life are there,
lived by people have the same citizenship. This gap affects both
poor people that live in pockets with high intensive numbers of
inhabitants under poverty lines, and the government thinks to relo-
cate them to another areas provided with low-cost houses hoping to
create new investments in their lands.
THE BLIND METHODS
(ONE-EYED APPROACH)
As poverty pockets are located on a high value lands, urban devel-
oping sectors follow a traditional strategy that relocate the inhabit-
ants to new low cost settlements outside the metropolitan urban
context, hopefully, to clear the slum off by demolishing all buildings
and replace them with new profitable projects. Results of these
actions were unexpected and surprised the governments. They cre-
ated new off-urban isolated non-social houses people don’t like to
move to, and internal problems between governments and inhabit-
ants don’t want to leave their lands.
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One-eyed approaches stand only by government profit side without
thinking about real poor inhabitant situations and looking forward
to solve their problems; while the real development would not be
achieved without creating a good balance between people and gov-
ernment needs, and without looking to both sides at the same time.
they are noticed enough in slums located in metropolitans’ cities
in developing countries such as those are located inside touristic
areas along the river Nile in Cairo-Egypt, after the Egyptian govern-
ments managed a future project to have skyscrapers, commercial
and touristic developments instead of slums located in the same
area by 2050 in order to path on trail of Dubai and try to simulate
it. The same with Indian’s slums while the government fails to apply
the India’s dream project 2008 Called the Rajiv Awas Yojana: Slum
Free Nation; India wants to move all those people — 6.2 million to
be exact — out of the slums in five years by promoting what they’re
calling “ultra-low-cost housing.” multi-story flat developments built
outside of cities where land is cheaper.
ONE-EYED APPROACH PROBLEMS
Figure 1. Poverty Pockets examples in Metropolitans of developing
countries, taken and edited from Google Earth by Mostafa R. A. Khalifa
For the government
- The slums, inside metropolitan cities, are
located on lands that has a high value for
investments
- The activities of people there have
negative effects on developing movements
- Those areas hinder the process of
sustainable development and delay the new
prospects of investment to the government
- Governments loose Investments provided
to create low-cost off- urban houses because
people don’t want to be relocated to off-
urban areas far from their work and families
For poverty pocket’s inhabitants
- They live in illegality status, under
unhealthy human-environment, high
intensive numbers of inhabitants, and under
poverty lines. Public services are not enough
or don’t exist at all
- Overcrowd existed houses are physically
and socially unsatisfied; Bad conditions,
inadequate light, air, toilet, and bathing
facilities, and without privacy for families
- they can’t pay for new houses offered by
government even if it is low cost dwellers
- Socially, low cost residential buildings
offered by governments are off urban,
isolated, uncomfortable and narrow units.
New settlements are fare from their works
while the new areas don’t provide them with
new possibilities of work or sustainable
living.
CHANGING POVERTY POCKETS IN METROPOLITANS

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ONE-EYED APPROACH RESULTS
In consequent, the result of this strategy is a new abandoned off-
city settlements the private and public building sector lost their in-
vestments. Moreover, the poverty situations are rapidly increasing for
people in slums.
Here following question stands urgently, need to be answered:
• Can we improve poverty pockets without people re-localization?
How?
• Do we need to think “out of the box” for poor communities?
THE CHANGING IS “OUT OF THE BOX”
Western architecture culture had express, in the past years, several
lines of urban phenomena interpretation, mainly based on a for-
mal idea and on organization of roads and communication, (mono-
centric city, multi-center, linear, etc.). Today, this approach is not
appropriated any more for poor communities: we need to interrelate
the themes on urban Sustainability produced by different disci-
plines to identify new standards, so to cover issues such as identity,
land consumption, energy, thermodynamics, physics, economy, so-
cial development. The multidisciplinary approach seems now to be
the only way that allows obtaining a new vision of sustainable urban
development. The goal is to provide new tools for the interpretation
of urban phenomena to all those ones involved in the territories of
cities characterized by strong inhomogeneity.
SELF-CHANGING WORK EXAMPLES:
A- DOUALA EXPERIENCE: SECOND PRIZE AWARD BY IAHH
INTERNATIONAL 2010.
The idea of urban poor self-improvement was proposed by Asso-
ciation of Humane Habitat international competition, in which a
multidisciplinary team of architects PhD, biologists, ecologists,
members of the Graduate School of the University of Camerino-
Italy, has proposed a strategy for regeneration of a suburb of the
city of Douala in Cameroon. The group was awarded the second
prize for a proposal which identified a method of gradual replace-
ment of homes built with no sanitation and no infrastructure. An
approach in which public participation in building infrastructure
(sewers, tanks, roads, etc.) is compensated with the participation
of citizens in a program of guided self-construction.
The starting point was to find a common ground for dialogue, based
on the following arguments:
• think across the boarterms of design thinking as possibilities
and not solutions
• think through examples and images related to concrete references
• think out of the disciplinary box
This approach has allowed work to better define problems and identify
in the group different points of view, about the same problem. The
area selected as a sample survey is located on the outskirts of the city
of Douala, within a linear neighborhood, spontaneous and very poor,
built along the road connecting the city to the airport. One of the few
viable infrastructure and consolidated so fast.
As you can see from the image (Figure 1), some portions of land
nearby the slums are fragmented in advance, are provided with es-
sential infrastructure, and made available to the private upper-middle
class, to build single-family homes of good quality and manufacture.
These new enclave huddled spontaneous to neighborhoods of the
poorest people who have occupied the land, disrupting the flow and
creating a sort of island, occupying new territories along the road
connecting the airport.
This first survey cleared that rural-urban migration are complex and
different, beyond a general view that sees the increase of urban sprawl
as a homogenous blob, and have no differences and hierarchies.
The proposals emerged from the group have therefore identified the
following objectives:
• Identify strategies that involve citizens from the stage of inves-
tigation of existing conditions. The difficulty of detecting a sin-
gle event, while it is continuous and fast growth, is one of the
major problems that currently prevent a real understanding of
the phenomena of transformation in developing countries. The
tools held by the group considered the most effective, are on one
side the traditional ones, such as oral interviews, photographic
campaigns, samples of materials and techniques of spontaneous
self-construction techniques and local, also referred to current
construction. As we shall see in later chapters, the first transla-
tion of these investigations in a more sophisticated mapping,
carried out by computer, can provide very precise information to
Figure 2. City of Douala, Cameroon. The spontaneous expansion is slowed
by subdivisions for the upper middle class
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the public administrations on the existing conditions, at present
been little studied.
• Identify processing practices which, based on existing situa-
tions, find themselves in the internal mechanisms of self-con-
struction, certain rules of construction and urban regeneration.
Starting from some Japanese and North American experiences
we have tried to transfer into these more complex situations,
some concepts that relate to the theme of urban regeneration
as a possible strategy for action in the urban sprawl and non-
serious. The idea is to act through urban elements that gradually
replace or fill spaces left free.
Recently, the International Architecture Exhibition in Venice in
2010, the atelier Bow Wow (Tokyo) presented a research work on
the city of Tokyo, inspired by the concept of Void Metabolism.
As the city has become so vast, no one is entirely sure where it ends
anymore, and it is nearly impossible to ascertain what sort of effect
individual architectural peculation has had on the city as a whole.
Therefore, it is necessary to extract a limited area from the seemingly
endless urban fabric of Tokyo, and using this as an intermediate unit,
investigate the influence that each structure exerts on the others.
(Tsukamoto, 2011, p.8)
The proposal focuses on the idea of taking representative
samples of the city, to analyze the differences, without
pretending to govern the entire urban area, but trying out
the samples, to make it them repeatable and representative.
In this way you can approach the scale of human relations, to
approach the issues of construction and technology, crucial to set
a sustainable strategy.
Another more practical experience, the public administration of
the city of Bellingham (Washington), has defined a protocol called
Infill Strategy Toolkit. “In Accordance with city goals and policies
established businesses to Promote and Encourage infill as a growth
management strategy, These created new forms to make best use
of our Remaining land supply” (2009)
The goal we set ourselves is to give life to the inhabitants without
the transformation of their habitat that determines the abandon
of land and houses, but rather help to transform the places in a
sustainable way and compatible with their needs.
We have thus shown the following steps (Figures 2,3):
1) infrastructure infill
2) vegetable garden infill
3) housing substitution
4) public buildings infill
B- SLUMS SELF BLOOMING PROTOTYPE TECHNOLOGY: PhD study on
poverty pockets of 3rd world
Self-blooming technology is a recent PhD study works on creating
and automating slums self-improvement system, specially, for
poverty pockets that located on high value lands inside Metropolitan
cities without needs of re-localization of local inhabitants. The aim
of this study is to bridge the gap inside developing communities
by re-habilitating Slum’s human-environment without re-settling
inhabitants and reduce the poverty of local people and supply
the slum with future sustainable incomes co-managed by both
government and the people without need of re-localization. Not
only identifying new eco-dwellers that achieve needs of people
and flexible with local conditions, but also finding eco-sustainable
construction technology of onsite housing self- improvements are
in focal objective. Understanding local inhabitants’ problems and
needs are initiated point such as healthy house, open spaces, main
roads, keeping of social network, and sustainable work.
Poverty pockets blooming technology has alternative strategy and
new technology to improve slums located in high value lands without
re-localizing of people. All technology phases are automated by
BIM API, as add-in files to create new implementation tools can
be applied on poor urban context in metropolitans of developing
countries. As a multidisciplinary work, all co-operative sectors
needed for the entire integrated slums self-upgrading work flow
Figure 3. Phases of strategie: infrastructures (cisterns in red, piazze and
walkways in yellow)
Figure 4. Phases of strategies: housing and public facilities
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CHANGE, Architecture, Education, Practices - Barcelona - 22
system is needed to be understood. Creating a BIM API code,
that automate all phases and organize data transaction among all
sectors needed to this new technology, makes work-flow/ sector/
time clear, easy to handle, and fixable with local conditions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Rossi, Aldo, L’architettura della città, Napoli: Clup, 1978
Benevolo, Leonardo, Storia della città, Bari: Laterza,1976, p.787
Aymonino, Carlo, Origini e sviluppo della città moderna, Venezia: Marsilio,
1978
Balbo, Marcello, L’intreccio urbano. La gestione della città nei paesi in via
di sviluppo, Milano: F. Angeli,1999
Jargowsky, Paul A., Poverty and Place: Ghettos, Barrios, and the American
City, Russel Sage Foundation, 2002
Baker, Judy L., Urban Poverty: A Global View, World bank, 2008
Pocket world in figures, The Economist , 2011
Verso est, chinese architectural landscape, Roma: MAXXI, 2011
Tsukamoto, Y. Void metabolism, Lotus 148, 2011
Favelas, learning from, Lotus 143, 2011
Cecilia Giusti , Luis Estevez , Micro-lending for housing in the United
States. A case study in Colonias in Texas, article, Habitat Interna-
tional 35 (2011) 307e315,
Infill Strategy Toolkit
(http://www.cob.org/documents/planning/growth/urban-infill-toolkit/2009-
03-23-infill-faq.pdf)
Figure 5. Phases and concept of Slums Self-Blooming Technology for Poverty Reduction as self-changing for Poverty Pockets without people re-localization
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