{"id":24056,"date":"2015-08-27T11:35:42","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T14:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=24056"},"modified":"2019-11-17T21:46:51","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T00:46:51","slug":"conference-in-the-port-region-brings-tentative-hope-to-rios-participation-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=24056","title":{"rendered":"Conference in the Port Region Brings Tentative Hope to Rio\u2019s Participation Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/a><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On August 14 and 15, 2015, nearly 300 people gathered in the Utopia Warehouse (Armaz\u00e9m da Utopia) along the coast of Guanabara Bay in the Port region of Rio<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0a long-awaited conference to discuss social housing<\/a> provisions for residents in the region. The question of social housing in the Port region has become critical in the context of the heavy private investment in the\u00a0Marvelous Port (Porto Maravilha) renewal\u00a0projects<\/a>\u00a0in anticipation of\u00a0the 2016 Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The conference was the culmination of three public audiences in June and July<\/a>\u00a0in which the City\u00a0gave in to\u00a0pressures from social movements<\/a>\u00a0to open up opportunities for broader participation<\/a> by Port area inhabitants and social housing advocates. The first meeting<\/a> focused on finding strategies to keep 30,000 residents from being pressured out of the region by increasing rent prices, the second meeting<\/a> detailed strategies for incorporating mixed income development, and the final meeting<\/a> addressed the specifics of social rent<\/a> in the Port project. Social rent in Rio has only been used as a temporary measure, but during this meeting the possibility of social rent as a recurring cash transfer to low income residents was presented. Within the Brazilian context, ongoing\u00a0social rent\u00a0as a potential tool to address substantial housing needs has only been tried in S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a> so far.<\/p>\n

The conference’s main panel was chaired by the president of the Port Urban Development Company (CDURP)\u00a0Alberto Gomes Silva, the Municipal Secretary of Housing Carlos Portinho, and Marcelo Edmundo, a member of the Center for Popular Movements<\/a> (Central de Movimentos Populares<\/a>, or\u00a0CMP). On August 14, participants read and approved the bylaws that specified the participatory mechanisms and decision-making proceedings that would occur the following day. The Social Interest Housing Plan document prepared by CDURP incorporating learning from the three public audiences in June and July was presented.<\/p>\n

On the next day, August 15, the conference structure produced groups\u00a0centered around\u00a0five themes, each analyzing the Plan: Social Housing, Areas of Special Social Interest (AEIS<\/a>), Social Rent, Housing Improvements, and Community Equipment\/Socio-productive Inclusion. Audience members split up amongst\u00a0each group and reviewed the Plan line by line, suggesting specific amendments which were then voted on and finally considered in a\u00a0plenary session. By the end of the conference, the group had crafted and voted to approve\u00a0the final draft of the\u00a0Social Interest Housing Plan.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For many participants the meeting was seen as an\u00a0initial victory because it was a space for negotiation gained after years of struggle to protect the Port area inhabitants\u2019 livelihoods in the context of urban revitalization and the resulting gentrification<\/a>. One key\u00a0amendment passed during this meeting was the increase from 5,000 to 10,000 social housing units to be built in the Port Area. And generally, participation from attendees on Saturday was active.<\/p>\n

However, the most active participants were those organized in social movements and other entities. Some residents of Provid\u00eancia<\/a>–Brazil’s first and most historic favela, located in the Port Zone–reported that many of them had been invited by CDURP with very short notice\u2014just hours before the meeting\u2014and individuals had been encouraged to find other residents to come with them, as if their participation had been an afterthought<\/a>. As a result of the rush, one resident suggested, several people in attendance were not fully informed\u00a0of the meeting’s background and purpose. Residents of favelas and other neighborhoods in the Port region who had come independently were noticeably less vocal\u00a0than the academics and those who had come as part of social movements.<\/p>\n

Skepticism among favela residents who had experienced or witnessed evictions was high, and some\u00a0viewed the apparently participatory process as one more \u201cperformance\u201d to distract people<\/a> from real estate speculation<\/a>. During a break one resident noted: \u201cRevitalization for what? What is it that they want to revitalize? Aren’t there already people living here? Isn\u2019t the Port area alive?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There is still a long way to go before the drafted document becomes a tangible reality. While Secretary Portinho and Gomes Silva from CDURP celebrated the achievement of a \u201cparticipatory direct democracy\u201d in their opening speeches, it is important to note the recent history<\/a> of private sector-dominated\u00a0planning in the Port Area, whereby a coalition of private and public interests pushed for an agenda based on exceptionalism.<\/a>\u00a0In the context of land rights, exceptionalism means avoiding or neutralizing the constitutional rules in place to protect the social use of land. The active participation of academics at the conference\u2014especially members of the\u00a0Metropolis Observatory<\/a> and lawyer and housing advocate Sonia Rabello\u2014was crucial for mediating between residents\u00a0and the complex governance mechanisms. These advocates also pressured authorities to stick to their promises of participation and social housing during the urban development processes that will continue to roll out\u00a0over the next several years.<\/p>\n

Following\u00a0approval by the people present at the conference, the document will now be sent to the\u00a0Managing Council of the Municipal Fund for Social-Interest Housing<\/a>, which sets guidelines and approves the allocation of resources for public housing projects for the city. Several active participants in this conference, including the three panelists and Metropolis Observatory\u00a0researcher and urban planner Orlando Santos Junior, are also members of the Managing Council, a promising sign for the passage of this document.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we organize, we can be stronger in our efforts,\u201d said panelist Marcelo Edmundo,\u00a0in a\u00a0tone that was both optimistic\u00a0and\u00a0cautious. \u201cDemocratic processes are not easy.”<\/p>\n

As the event came to an end, it was clear that attendees were somewhat hesitant to celebrate<\/a> the successes of the meeting for fear that the changes would not be maintained or that the document would somehow be changed by the time it is approved. \u201cAltering this plan after this meeting is undemocratic,\u201d Orlando Santos Junior\u00a0said\u00a0emphatically, as many attendees in the crowd cheered their approval.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On August 14 and 15, 2015, nearly 300 people gathered in the Utopia Warehouse (Armaz\u00e9m da Utopia) along the coast of Guanabara Bay in the Port region of Rio\u00a0for\u00a0a long-awaited conference […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":24059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1668,1290,1333,335,329,1329],"tags":[1787,1669,1920,1261,756,65,282,26,152,725,148,146,144,210,301,10,135,1403],"writer":[1732,1786],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-participationwatch","8":"category-civilsociety","9":"category-event-reports","10":"category-policies","11":"category-solutions","12":"category-by-international-observers","13":"tag-aeis-zeis","14":"tag-cdurp","15":"tag-center-for-popular-movements-cmp","16":"tag-central-rio","17":"tag-community-organizing","18":"tag-gentrification","19":"tag-housing","20":"tag-housing-rights","21":"tag-participation","22":"tag-policy-recommendation","23":"tag-port-region","24":"tag-porto-maravilha","25":"tag-morro-da-providencia","26":"tag-public-housing","27":"tag-public-policy","28":"tag-real-estate-speculation","29":"tag-social-rent","30":"tag-solution","31":"writer-david-robertson","32":"writer-marta-ill-raga"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24056"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=24056"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=24056"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=24056"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=24056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}