Living in Unauthorized Settlements: Housing Improvement and Social Participation in Bolivia

THE BOLIVIAN PLAN for Housing, 2003 estimates that approximately 80 per cent of the existing housing in the country is the result of the efforts of people, with no support from formal financial systems. The proliferation of unauthorized settlements in Bolivia can therefore be readily situated in the discourse on urban development in Latin America. This study is concerned with exploring how knowledge of housing improvement and social participation is put to use, valorized and disseminated in Bolivia.
Chapter one provides a general overview of the political economy of Bolivia, its political and administrative make-up, structural reform and the centrally figuring theme of the Law of Popular Participation (LPP). This includes a discussion relating the LPP to the creation of formally recognized grassroots representative bodies, the Base Territorial Organizations (OTB), focusing on their duties, regulations and participatory nature of their operations.
Chapter two introduces the municipality under study, and places it within the economic context of an urban–rural land dichotomy. The discussion turns to issues of land speculation, unauthorized sub-divisions and the impact on the traditional agricultural practices of the original inhabitants. The connection between the LPP and questions of housing regularization in the area is then explored.
Chapter three narrows the focus to a specific OTB within the municipality. It examines its settlement process, and provides a brief history of the various social groups involved. In addition, the establishment of its housing cooperative, its subsequent development, and links to the LPP and Law of Administrative Decentralization (LAD) are explored. An overview of current demographics, living conditions and community facilities is also presented. Introducing the theoretical and conceptual framework for the study, chapter four links issues of discourse, power and knowledge to the current discussion on housing improvement and social participation in Latin America. Aspects of bottom-up approaches, the importance of local knowledge, and needs assessment are examined.
Following a description in Chapter five of the methodological approach employed for the study, specific discussion of housing improvement and social participation in the OTB under study is presented in Chapter six. Highlighting the potential benefits that the existence of the LPP could provide, the chapter explores the lack of knowledge regarding the LPP, the creation of conflicts between different groups due to contradictions in needs assessments, and the lack of formal systems to assist the residents. The chapter then examines problems arising from self-help and mutual aid solutions, in relation to participatory discourse and power relations. Chapter seven offers summarizing arguments and reviews the book’s central theme of the effects of truth on the discourse of housing improvement and social participation.