REINFORCING THE VILLAS: SUPPORTING BUENOS AIRES’ INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS

Abstract

In Buenos Aires, Argentina the result of economic crises and neoliberal policies has impacted the capital’s infrastructure. Corruption within Argentina has impacted the development of new infrastructure which impoverished communities need for the improvement of their lives. This thesis will explore how a shift from informal settlements to affordable housing and urban spaces can improve quality of life for people living there. In Buenos Aires, 45% of the population live in poverty making informal settlements a means of survival for the impoverished community that live there. These settlements are a collection of self-built infrastructure on the outskirts of the city. These living conditions often lack resources and essential infrastructure, leading to widespread disease, crime, and violence due to limited access to public amenities. This has caused alienation of the inhabitants that live there and has characterized them as the “others” who live in isolation from the formal city. Their ingenuity and resourcefulness can be used as inspiration in the next iteration of informal settlements and connect them into the formal city. These self-built informal settlements have a culture of their own and can bring to light how cities grow and how the settlements can evolve to become a formal part of the city.