Neighbourhood Recovery Programme; Lessons Learned and Good Practices

This volume (with the text in both Spanish and English) reviews the lessons learned from regeneration programmes in low-income neighbourhoods that had poor quality and deteriorated housing, a lack of public spaces and poor relations with government. In each neighbourhood, development councils were formed and neighbourhood contracts made that specified what the state would provide. This volume includes chapters describing the programme, the contest for “I love my neighbourhood” best practices, testimonials of people who were involved, and descriptions of good practices. These good practices include a participatory design of public spaces in a municipality that could be improved, informed by the priorities of residents; the construction of walkways and stairs in a district located on slopes; the creation of a plaza that reflected residents’ cultural heritage; the recovery of public space and the introduction of green areas; housing improvement programmes; citizens’ urban development fairs; and the development of community radio. The book, which has colour illustrations on nearly every page, also includes a CD that contains all the best practices – and shows how residents became directly involved in the recovery of their environment.