Uruguayan Casavalle project wins CAF contest to strengthen Latin American urban development

(Montevideo, September 22, 2011) .- A Uruguayan project to educate, train, employ and upgrade the habitat on the banks of the Miguelete stream which crosses the city of Montevideo, Uruguay – under the name Casavalle Project - was the winner of the first International Competition for Urban and Social Development Projects in Informal Settlements, an initiative of CAF - Latin American development bank - to find solutions for urban development in the region.

During the awards ceremony held at the CAF office in Montevideo, the CAF vice president of Social and Environmental Development, José Carrera, said that although "Uruguay is ahead of the most equitable countries in the region, as a region we have an important problem" because "over 70% of the population of Latin America lives in cities; of these, 30% live in substandard conditions." "To reduce exclusion you have to take these communities in the cities of Latin America into account" providing them with, or upgrading the quality of basic services, such as drinking water, sewerage, housing, roads, waste management and recovery of public spaces for the community."

Montevideo Mayor Ana Olivera said the Casavalle project "is not an isolated project but part of a global proposal." "Perhaps Montevideo’s most important debt to its people is concentrated in Casavalle, which contains the structural poverty of the city where 65% of over-18s have never had a formal job, and where the worst indicators of lack of access to education are present."

In total, 34 entries were evaluated from 11 countries in the region: Venezuela participated with 13 initiatives; Colombia and Peru with four each; Argentina with three; Mexico, Brazil and Chile with two each; and Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Uruguay with one project originating in each country.

The jury praised the planning, architectural and environmental quality of the Casavalle Project of the city of Montevideo, which integrates the productivity of the land through urban agriculture, intelligently resolving the border relationship between the rural and urban. The integrated approach of the authorities and the socioeconomic dimension of the project make an exemplary response for the regional context, the jury said.

The entry received the US$10,000 prize offered by the competition and was invited to submit a Technical Cooperation application to CAF to finance studies and designs for the project.

The authors of the project - Álvaro Trillo, Jimena Abraham and Javier Vidal - were advised by the Montevideo City Government. Trillo said that 56% of households in the area were below the poverty line and 25% work as waste sorters, which is why "we must take on this area and refloat it, because Casavalle is also Montevideo."

A proposal from the community

The Casavalle Project, which emerged from suggestions from residents, will involve works in stages in an area of ​​430,000 m2.

The area affected was originally one of country houses and small farms, later joined by housing complexes and finally by irregular settlements. The constant presence of solid waste, the existence of deficient infrastructure and recurrent stigmatization as a "red zone" are some of the variables that characterize the area today. Most of the population is under 34 and 34.7% of young people neither work nor study.

The proposal includes creation of a productive park (growing trees and plants) on the banks of the stream and spaces for leisure and sports (courts, bike trails, skatepark). It also includes construction of social spaces and a waste recycling plant, one of the most common activities of the residents of the area.

The jury was formed by Alejandro Echeverri, architect and director of Urban and the Center for Urban and Environmental Studies at EAFIT University; Jorge Jáuregui, architect of the Favela Bairro program in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Jaime Holguín, CAF vice president of Social and Environmental Development.

For more information on the competition visit http://desarrollourbano.caf.com/inicio