{"id":74719,"date":"2023-04-30T10:57:17","date_gmt":"2023-04-30T13:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=74719"},"modified":"2023-08-14T09:08:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T12:08:59","slug":"public-fills-rio-de-janeiro-city-council-to-demand-the-community-land-trust-in-the-citys-master-plan-and-discuss-city-halls-exclusion-of-urban-policy-instruments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=74719","title":{"rendered":"Public Fills Rio de Janeiro City Council to Demand the Community Land Trust in the City\u2019s Master Plan and Discuss City Hall’s Exclusion of Urban Policy Instruments"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Master<\/a>
Master Plan Public Hearing at the Rio de Janeiro City Council Chambers on April 5, 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

The Rio de Janeiro City Council Chambers<\/a> were filled past capacity the first two Wednesdays in April as over 120 people mobilized for the right to housing. Filling both the galleries and plenary, the public made noise and put pressure on officials during the 28th and 29th Master Plan Special Commission Public Hearings on April 5 and 12. The hearings concerned urban policy mechanisms and unilateral changes made by City Hall<\/a> in their revision of the draft bill of Rio de Janeiro\u2019s City Master Plan (PLC n\u00ba 44\/2021<\/a>).<\/h4>\n

28th Public Hearing on April 5: The Urgency of Guaranteeing Affordable Housing and Reincorporating the CLT into the Master Plan<\/h3>\n

For many participants, the hearing on April 5<\/a> started in the entrance line as over 60 people waited to access the City Council Chambers\u2019 B Gallery after the A Gallery had been filled. The queue moved very slowly with those waiting believing this was an attempt to demotivate them. Security guards initially denied entry to 15, but people in the gallery returned to inform them\u2014including some due to speak in the plenary\u2014that there were still vacant seats. After over 30 minutes of waiting and pressure, the guards allowed those waiting to enter. This was at 11:30am, halfway through the hearing. Only then had the 120 people in the line been allowed to enter.<\/p>\n

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

Residents of favelas and occupations continued to arrive, however, especially those coming from more distant areas of the city in the North<\/a> and West Zones<\/a>. Though there were still vacant seats in the galleries, around 40 residents of favelas and occupations were blocked from entering. According to security guards, this was due to the capacity established by the fire department. \u201cWe arrived late because the train was delayed, we\u2019ve come a long way for this hearing,\u201d complained a resident of an occupation in Rio\u2019s West Zone, who preferred not to be identified.<\/p>\n

\"Around<\/a>
Around 40 people were blocked from entering the Chambers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those who managed to get in heard talks<\/a> from various community representatives, residents, and professionals: Luiz Cl\u00e1udio da Silva from Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>; Em\u00edlia Sousa from the Horto<\/a> community and Popular Council<\/a> leader; Jurema Const\u00e2ncio, resident of the Shangri-l\u00e1<\/a> cooperative and National Union for Popular Housing (UNMP<\/a>) leader; Paula Carvalho, from the Favelas Pastoral Committee<\/a>; Fl\u00e1vio Braga de Oliveira, representative of families living on social rent in Jacarepagu\u00e1; Lic\u00ednio Rog\u00e9rio, president of the Rio de Janeiro City Federation of Neighborhood Associations<\/a>; Michele Cruz de Abreu and Sara Ferreira do Amaral from the Zumbi dos Palmares Occupation; Paulinho Sor\u00f3 from the Jambalaia Occupation<\/a> in the West Zone; Tarcyla Fidalgo from the Favela-Community Land Trust Project<\/a>*; Viviane Silva Santos Tardelli, public defender from the Land and Housing Nucleus (NUTH<\/a>); Marcela Marques Abla, president of the Brazilian Institute of Architects (IAB<\/a>); Henrique Barandier from the Brazilian Institute of Municipal Administration (IBAM<\/a>); Augusto Ivan Pinheiro, Municipal Urban Planning Secretary; Val\u00e9ria Hazan, Macro Planning Manager at the Municipal Urban Planning Secretariat (SMPU<\/a>); Luiz Roberto da Matta, Rio de Janeiro municipal prosecutor; Washington Fajardo<\/a>, former Rio de Janeiro Urban Planning Secretary; and Thiago Ramos Dias, Executive Undersecretary at the Municipal Secretariat for Economic Development, Innovation, and Streamlining (SMDEIS<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"Paulinho<\/a>
Paulinho Sor\u00f3 from the Jambalaia Occupation in Rio’s West Zone with a sign saying \u2018We need the start, middle, and end of housing works.\u2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many talks advocated for the right to housing in Rio de Janeiro and demanded that this be a central aspect of the city\u2019s Master Plan, ahead of other urban development considerations due to the historical deficit in housing and quality urban infrastructure in the city. The numerous amendments<\/a> sent by City Hall at the last minute were also denounced by many who spoke, particularly highlighting the removal of the Community Land Trust (CLT)<\/a> from the Master Plan.<\/p>\n

Tarcyla Fidalgo is coordinator of the Favela-CLT Project, a diverse and broad working group of civil society groups and professionals who have been introducing this high-potential tool<\/a> in Brazil over the past five years. Fidalgo criticized the removal<\/a> of the chapter on Community Land Trusts from the Master Plan and the lack of clarity from City Hall as to its removal. The CLT Working Group of residents, leaders, and professionals participated extensively in the Master Plan preparatory meetings and the tool was embraced in its entirety in the version sent to the Mayor at the end of 2021. She remembered a municipal prosecutor giving a positive opinion about incorporating the model into the Master Plan as a public policy option and way of resident self-management for the right to stay in their locations. But, even so:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Community Land Trust was the only mechanism excluded<\/a> from the Master Plan\u2026 We\u2019re here out of respect for the people who need to understand this technical debate that removes people from their houses, that means people are evicted from their homes\u2026 Up to now, the justification [for the removal of the CLT] that I\u2019ve received is that it was a \u2018refining of the text.\u2019 But here today, together with all of you, I\u2019ve learned that it was apparently a legal issue\u2026 Prosecutor da Matta himself, who issued a 48-page opinion<\/a> on the Master Plan with six pages dedicated to the Community Land Trust, said that… yes, it is possible for it to be in the Master Plan\u2026 What then, is the real reason for which the CLT was removed? It\u2019s not a legal issue. It\u2019s not a refining of the text. So what happened? We need a response on this, because the CLT\u2019s inclusion in the Plan is the result of popular participation in the Master Plan revision process and the people need to understand why it\u2019s being removed. There\u2019s no barrier to it being in a Master Plan, in fact it\u2019s already in the [master plan of neighboring municipality] S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o de Meriti<\/a>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Tarcyla<\/a>
Tarcyla Fidalgo, lawyer, urban planner, and coordinator of the Favela-CLT project, criticizes the removal of the entire chapter on Community Land Trusts from the Master Plan and the lack of transparency by City Hall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To Fidalgo, a lawyer and urban planner, an in-depth discussion about the CLT\u2019s inclusion is vital for Rio\u2019s favelas and occupations, and \u201cit\u2019s not something to be imposed\u2026 The CLT requires partnership and has a community-strengthening character\u2026 According to Prosecutor da Matta, the CLT is a voluntary model and must be so. Even if we have the legislation, it must be something people choose, otherwise it doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Luiz Roberto da Matta evaluated that the CLT’s greatest asset, besides guaranteeing people’s ability to stay in their communities, is people\u2019s participation in all its stages, including in proposing its incorporation in the Master Plan:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposal to include the Community Land Trust in the Master Plan is a reflection of people\u2019s participation in revising it [the Plan]. This participation is prescribed by Article 40 in the City Statute, and has meant this new instrument can contribute to advancing the right to the city through a model of collective land management in areas with predominantly vulnerable populations.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is even more important considering federal legislation (Law 13,465\/17<\/a>) in Brazil which establishes a new framework for land titling, making the process easier and cheaper. The framework is being finalized in Rio de Janeiro. This law creates a trend of increased titling processes for individual property. However in the context of around 1,000 favelas in the city of Rio, individual titles independente of other measures which guarantee the right to stay will increase the risk of gentrification<\/a>\u2014which Fidalgo simply terms “market eviction.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new land titling legislation [means titling] is no longer seen as a long, complex process connected to infrastructure improvements and comes to be viewed as simply the issuing of titles and documents with the logic of full ownership\u2026 But we live in a very unequal city\u2026 [where] issuing titles in an area of the South Zone or in an area of the suburbs or favelas will have very distinct outcomes. We know the real estate market has different interests in different regions of the city and that issuing individual titles, this land titling that everyone wants, could represent a large threat to the permanence of many communities and many people who currently somehow manage to guarantee their housing in areas with infrastructure, where they can enjoy urban amenities, which should be available to all but we know aren\u2019t. This is the logic that produces cities all around the world, not just in Rio de Janeiro.\u201d \u2014 Tarcyla Fidalgo<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Rio, we experience two main threats to the right to remain of residents in their communities, two sources which deny the right to housing: government action through forced evictions and the real estate market which drives gentrification.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a problem with the extent to which these thousands of residents will have secure land ownership over the coming years\u2026 Full ownership is an option, but it\u2019s perhaps not the best option for the whole city or for all its residents. And many of them are here today. I see signs in the gallery defending the CLT which seem to agree and want another model to guarantee their housing.\u201d \u2014 Tarcyla Fidalgo<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Public<\/a>
Public in the galleries call for the Community Land Trust (CLT) to be re-incorporated in the Rio de Janeiro Master Plan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is the Community Land Trust (CLT)?<\/h3>\n

The Termo Territorial Coletivo (TTC)<\/em> is the Brazilian version of the Community Land Trust (CLT), a land management model increasingly used around the world to ensure affordable housing<\/a>. It works by forming a legal entity whose board is typically made up of residents and allies and which owns the land and administers it in accordance with residents\u2019 interests. The organization cannot sell the land, just undertake its management. In this way, the land is governed by residents, removed from the market, and is separate from property values and protected from speculation. Meanwhile residents own their residences and plots above the surface of that land and are able to remain or sell, mortgage, or pass them on to their children. It is among the most robust models of land titling in relation to the aim of allowing residents to remain in their communities of origin in those contexts in which it has already been applied around the world.<\/p>\n

\"What<\/a>
‘What is the CLT?’ slide illustrates the difference between traditional property ownership and the CLT in which land ownership is collective and home ownership is individual.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Emerging in the context of the civil rights movement<\/a> in the United States<\/a> at the end of the 1960s, the CLT spread across the country where there are hundreds of CLTs in operation today, both in cities<\/a> and rural areas<\/a>. In recent decades, there has been a rapid spread of CLTs around the world<\/a>, and there are currently CLTs in various countries including the UK<\/a>, Belgium<\/a>, France<\/a>, Australia<\/a>, Kenya<\/a>, and Puerto Rico<\/a>. In Rio de Janeiro, there are communities in the community organizing and development<\/a> phase of becoming CLT pilot projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe resident has the full right to sell their home, rent it out, or leave the house as inheritance. But the land, which is where land value appreciation comes in through public investment, belongs to the community by way of a legal entity\u2026 We\u2019re talking about full ownership but we\u2019re separating full ownership by a legal entity and surface rights which allow residents the individual freedom to sell, move, rent out, do whatever they like. It\u2019s an innovative arrangement in Brazil, but it’s already included in the UN’s New Urban Agenda.\u201d \u2014 Tarcyla Fidalgo<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Jurema<\/a>
Jurema Const\u00e2ncio, resident of the Shangri-l\u00e1 cooperative, holding up the sign \u2018Communities resist! CLT Now!\u2019 during her talk at the public hearing on the Master Plan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first public hearing on the Community Land Trust was held at the Rio de Janeiro City Council on September 28, 2021<\/a>. Since then, the model has been called for by popular demand to be included in the city\u2019s Master Plan. The instrument\u2019s inclusion in the Rio de Janeiro City Master Plan Draft Bill (PLC n\u00ba 44\/2021<\/a>) was debated through the Rio de Janeiro City Council’s Permanent Commission for Urban Issues and Special Commission for the Right to Adequate Housing in partnership with professional allies, residents, community leaders, and civil society and city government representatives. At the time, the hearing was organized by City Councilor Tain\u00e1 de Paula<\/a>, President of the Permanent Commission for Urban Issues,\u00a0alongside Councilor Reimont, who was then President of the Special Housing Committee. Also present were councilors Eliel do Carmo<\/a>, before leaving the role, and M\u00f4nica Ben\u00edcio, the only one who today remains as an elected city official.<\/p>\n

In 2023, some alternates have become new councilors<\/a>, assuming roles in place of councilors that have been elected federal deputies or taken roles in government. These include Monica Cunha<\/a>\u2014one of the few elected officials present at the public hearing on April 5. In her talk, Cunha defended the CLT and highlighted her contentment with the public participation in the galleries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CLT needs to be effectively reinstated in the Master Plan. We have no doubt about this. We don\u2019t just want to be labor. We want existing laws to be put into practice so we can benefit from the land that is ours, and not see any more real estate speculation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
A community leader at the public hearing on including the CLT in Rio’s Master Plan holding a sign saying \u2018Mar\u00e9 wants housing!\u2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to Monica Cunha, Councilor Rafael Aloisio Freitas<\/a>, first secretary of the Council’s board of directors and president of the Master Plan Special Committee, was present and chaired the hearing. Councilors Thais Ferreira<\/a>, Edson Santos<\/a>, and Pedro Duarte<\/a> also attended in person and gave talks. Councilor T\u00e2nia Bastos<\/a>, despite not participating in the session, temporarily presided over the hearing in Freitas’ brief absence. At least nine other councilors attended the hearing remotely, as was announced at the start of the hearing and could be seen on the board’s computer screen. However, everyone had their cameras off for most of the hearing and did not speak up.<\/p>\n

Two people gave remote talks that caused commotion among the public, in support or in disagreement: former Rio Urban Planning Secretary Washington Fajardo<\/a> and the Executive Undersecretary at the Municipal Secretariat for Economic Development, Innovation and Streamlining (SMDEIS) Thiago Ramos Dias<\/a>. Fajardo reinforced his support for the innovations brought by the CLT model and again questioned its removal from the Master Plan draft bill. According to Washington Fajardo:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CLT’s introduction needs to be pragmatic. It is a model of land regularization and [provides] the possibility of advancing the inclusion of 25% of the city\u2019s population with a more sophisticated technical solution and that many countries use.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Thiago<\/a>
Thiago Ramos Dias was pointed out, especially in the Chambers\u2019 galleries, as one of the main people responsible for removing the Community Land Trust from Rio de Janeiro\u2019s City Master Plan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Fajardo, there is no need to fear the model or create rumors: \u201cThese rumors start haunting [processes] and sometimes even take down secretaries and change the Master Plan out of fear of a revolution. The CLT is quite objective in that it\u2019s not just a policy, but is able to be financed and implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thiago Ramos Dias was pointed out, especially in the Council’s galleries, as one of the main people responsible for the removal of the Community Land Trust from the Rio de Janeiro City Master Plan. Despite this, and after so many requests for clarification, he did not comment on the reasons for the model\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n

Em\u00edlia Sousa from Horto and the Popular Council expressed being tired of the bureaucratic discussion and the technicalities that generally take center stage in these debates, especially in talks such as that of Undersecretary Thiago Ramos Dias. She demanded there be money for investments in affordable housing, especially in Central Rio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came to speak more directly about our concrete demands for this Master Plan\u2026 people in the favelas, Black people, who suffer from discrimination in this city, who suffer from the lack of proposals for the right to the city and right to housing\u2026 We want money to be included in the Master Plan, through whatever instrument it may be, for building affordable housing in the city\u2019s central region. And that, councilors and mayor, is what we need!\u201d \u2014 Em\u00edlia Sousa<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jurema da Silva Const\u00e2ncio is a National Union for Popular Housing (UNMP) leader and resident of the Shangri-l\u00e1 community, a housing cooperative<\/a> that is organizing to build a CLT in the West Zone of Rio. She spoke with the aim of making known her concern about the model\u2019s removal from the Master Plan in a top-down, authoritarian manner. She highlighted that this approach by Eduardo Paes\u2019 administration<\/a> denies residents\u2019 self-management over their own territories.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CLT does not come with a predesigned, top-down proposal meant to be rammed down our throats. It gives us the opportunity to discuss what we want to do. For us, this allows our community to stay in our space without real estate speculation.\u201d \u2014 Jurema da Silva Const\u00e2ncio<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At the end of the public hearing, Luiz Cl\u00e1udio da Silva from Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, one of the leaders of the Evictions Museum<\/a>, closed the talks by favela residents by calling for the CLT to be reincorporated into the Master Plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t see a significant advance [in discussions about housing]… My home was demolished, I was on the streets because of the Olympics. An \u2018injunction for public purposes.\u2019 But there\u2019s nothing public there now, it\u2019s only bushes. It was really just cruelty because of the real estate market\u2026 So, we have to ask: \u2018Who has an interest, really, in removing the CLT from the Master Plan?\u2019… Without any obvious explanation\u2026 This tool\u2026 solidifies the history of families in a community\u2026 Rio de Janeiro has to have a more humane outlook\u2026 Let\u2019s stop being a tourist city, focusing on the South Zone and on the South Zone only while the rest [of the city] suffers\u2026 The CLT is an instrument that gives hope to favelas when the market comes too close and tries to remove them, like what happened in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2026\u201d \u2014 Luiz Cl\u00e1udio da Silva<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n