A dilemma for Maria and the more than 100 million Latin Americans who live in informal settlements

Maria is literally up to her neck in water. Suddenly, while being in bed, she saw how the river slowly covered the floor of her home, then the furniture, until it covered the posters glued to the wooden wall. This time, the river did not give any warning as it had done 10 years before. Nobody imagined the flood would strike again. 

Both she and the other 36 families that live by the riverside have gotten used to the mud. The location is very convenient. It is a 10-minute walk to the commercial center of the city, allowing Maria to arrive to the corner where she sells in a very short time, leaving her 3-year old daughter along the way for one of her friends to take care of her. 

Once again the water is impious and destroys what little she has. Like her neighbors, Maria needs to get moving quickly to find wood and cardboard to improvise a small house in one of the city's plazas where she will live for a year and three months, speculating about the help of the government or of somebody else. A help that will never arrive. Thus, the river is once again an option. If ten years went by between the last floods and now, assuming the next flood will come in the same period of time, there is plenty of time to think about what to do. 

There are alternatives for Maria. One is to move to a new neighborhood built seven kilometers away from where she lives. Government officials informed her that the houses are fine, that they have a floor, walls, and she will have to pay practically nothing to get one. She only has to sign a paper stating that she will not go back to the riverside. She has doubts. She asks if there are childcare services and a school close by for her daughter, and although the reply is negative, they try to convince her by telling her that at a close distance, about 20 blocks away, there is a very good school in which they can even feed her child. 

The problem is that the neighborhood does not have public transportation. Maria does not have a car or a motorcycle or a bike, although with some effort she could get one, and take her child to school on her way to work. However, the streets are not safe, and the avenue that connects the neighborhood does not have a bike lane. Who would she live the child with? How would she get to work? A neighbor tells her with amazement and incredulity to think hard, as in the new neighborhood she will have to pay for everything, including water, electricity, gas, and even garbage disposal. 

A second option is to stay. She heard that the place would be filled up so that the water cannot rise again, and that there are people in government who think that is the solution. However, the doubt persists because other government officials visited the site and talked about the wetland, and how it should not be touched, and how in the future nobody should live there. 

What should she do? She would like to stay there. Her workplace is close by, as well as the hospital and the child's future school. Her lifelong friends and neighbors are there, and she has a history. But what if the idea of the wetland is true and her doubts leave her without anything? Where would she live? 

María does not know that she and her neighbors are not the only ones facing this dilemma. Millions of Latin Americans, estimated at over 100 million, suffer this and multiple other problems by living in irregular settlements. The lack of effective responses to their demands are usually framed in a complex story of institutional weaknesses, opposed values and Cosmo-visions, lack of coordination between those responsible for the policies, and lack of planning and creativity to think about solutions where everybody could win. 

These responses have an impact on multiple dimensions and require responses to dilemmas such as: What are Maria's rights? and those of her daughter?, How do those rights interact with the rights of other citizens? Are they different?; If equity is a value that frames urban management, what tools will be used to measure it for Maria and her neighbors?; Who is responsible for addressing a solution to this problem?; Which would be the most effective measures?; How could they be implemented? 

To outline some responses, it is necessary to understand the complexity of the dimensions of the problem. Some, such as those linked to regional policy, urban vision, governance, employment, gender, attachment to the place, environment, and management instruments (regulations, incentives, financial resources), are onle a sample worth mentioning to show the complexity of the problem. 

Where to start? What should the advice be to the chief of government? What should the advice be for Maria? 

Through the program Cities with a Future and the Pro-inclusion policy, CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, seeks to contribute with responses to these dilemmas and improve the implementation of policies. The coming Habitat III conference constitutes an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences and get in-depth knowledge on this problem and the possible solutions for more than 100 million people that expect a solution, just as Maria.