REHABILITATION OF LIVING QUARTERS: ENGAGING POOR RESIDENTS IN THE PROCESS
A CASE FROM THE NORTH: LISBON, PORTUGAL
The experience of Lisbon demonstrates that it is
possible to rehabilitate deteriorating living quarters in historical
city centres without excluding poor populations in the process.
The two methods most frequently used by municipalities to renovate
a neighbourhood are to demolish existing housing, in order to make
room for new housing, or to undertake expensive work to increase the
tourist or commercial value of the area. Both methods neglect the
interests of marginalized populations by pushing them to the periphery.
That is why the municipality of Lisbon opted for a third way in not
seeking a radical transformation, but instead by limiting its own
intervention to the strict minimum necessary to render the decaying
zones inhabitable.
By making it a priority that housing in historical town centres remain
for the benefit of the poor populations, it was possible to improve
the quality of life for these people while simultaneously respecting
the identity of neighbourhoods and combating social exclusion.
1. Rehabilitation borne of popular will
After having for a long time sheltered the majority of Lisbon's population,
the central neighbourhoods, aged and deprived of modern comforts,
were progressively deserted by the wealthy and left for immigrants.
Strongly entrenched in these areas, and benefiting from modest rents,
these new inhabitants nonetheless also gradually lost their younger
and more affluent members.
The increasing degradation of these districts and the inaction of
its private landowners finally solicited protest from its elderly
and marginalised residents, who were subject to precarious conditions
(overcrowding, no running water, in kitchens or washrooms, etc.).
The municipality of Lisbon took action, making sure to avoid speculative
forces that would have led to the eviction of the poor.
2. Minimal intervention, concerted and pragmatic
- An intervention reduced to its strict minimum
for the reduction of rent increases and a response to the maximum
number of cases:
It consists of limiting rehabilitation operations to the work
necessary to assure conditions of minimum comfort (non-leaking
pipes, solid construction, sanitation, etc.), and to preserve
as much as possible the existing building, using a method that
is economic, authentic, and environmentally sound. The work thus
had to be performed according to techniques used in the original
construction, which was maintained to preserve the buildings'
authenticity.
It is interesting to note that, due to deficiencies in architectural
know-how at the time of the buildings' construction, many mistakes
were made. Having discovered this, the rehabilitation project
now serves as a laboratory and training centre in the field of
old building construction.
This method of intervention thus prevented the excessive value-added
increase of the existing housing stock that would have resulted
in the eviction of residents by market forces.
Similarly, it permitted the municipality to save money by avoiding
the costs that would have been generated by the construction of
new housing (estimated at 200-300% greater).
- The establishment of a dialogue with the population:
Although the population initiated the process of reconstruction,
it was at first necessary to gain its confidence, as people thought
they would inevitably be forced to leave their houses.
A method of decentralised management promoting popular participation
was utilized. It was supported a by:
- district management organisations placed in direct contact with
the population and its problems,
- concrete input of residents via workshops designed to facilitate
the dialogue(which ideally contained a maximum of 25 people for
a district of 6,000 - 7,000 inhabitants)
- the submission of projects to families, and the presentation
of a number of options for district assemblies.
It is thus that the elaborated plans for urbanisation were negotiated
with inhabitants, so that they could be best adapted to the neighbourhoods'
needs. These plans were not finalised by technicians until after
three years of on-the-ground inquisition, at which point plans
were submitted to and discussed with the population. Care was
also taken to harmonise the elaboration of plans with the construction
permit applications made by the private sector.
- Operations directed in a pragmatic and flexible manner
so as to respond to the most urgent needs and to adapt to each working
site.
Because the intervention was simply meant to resolve existing
problems, bureaucracy was reduced and diagrams put to the side,
and the renovation planning done with flexibility, taking into
account the many obstacles that can arise at the start of the
project. It is useful to note that the interventions were initially
concentrated in one or two districts, so as to avoid a dilution
of resources and to obtain a sample experience that could be drawn
on when expanding the rehabilitation into additional areas.
3. Instruments for rehabilitation
The majority of the tools used were not of themselves very original,
and can be found in many industrialised countries; rather, it is their
combination that is of interest.
- The technical and human means
- A Director's Plan specified:
- The renovation zones and their management rules,
- The urbanisation plans of districts,
- A system of control for buildings permitted to call for their
own restoration
- The construction permits for urban management.
- The creation of a Municipal Direction of Rehabilitation,
composed of:
- A central department to oversee independent support service
departments (departments of urban affairs, information, finance…)
- A decentralised and multidisciplinary department of technical
workshops composed of experts (architects, engineers, legal professionals)
present in each district where the intervention would take place
and endowed with jurisdiction over municipal services. The department
of included a total of 270 people
- The personnel for the implementation
of these operations were made available by the municipality.
- Flexible intervention techniques were
used in order to adapt to the specific context of work on the
older buildings. Because the building techniques utilized to construct
these buildings is no longer in use, the real state of a building's
structure cannot be determined until after work on it begins.
-
A temporary relocation program was established
for residents of the most dangerous and unsanitary buildings.
The municipality had to secure the consent of local authorities
for the use of available housing close to the various buildings
in advance.
- The legal and financial tools
- For rented housing:
- A national program to assist landowners who rent housing that
has deteriorated due to the lack of maintenance: to compensate
for the inadequate means of some private landowners, grants
were awarded in proportion to the needs of given proprietors.
- If necessary, the use of a simplified expropriation procedure:
this authorises the municipality to expropriate buildings in
zones that the government declares rehabilitation sites, based
on a report by experts. This report consists of an inventory
of fixtures intended to legally fix the landowner's compensation,
in case friendly negotiations fail. This measure also affords
protection to the tenant, threatened with eviction and without
recourse, if the building collapses while he is still in it.
- For vacant housing:
- The declaration of a rehabilitation zone permits the city
priority acquisition of vacant housing, and thus control over
the housing market, thanks to a pre-emptive right to the sale
of buildings in zones so designated.
- Assistance from the national government amounting to 50% of
the cost of the purchase and rehabilitation of vacant buildings
in declared rehabilitation zones, that is both designated for
the city's benefit and can be complemented by a ten-year loan
covering 50% of the remaining costs.
- For all housing:
- In certain cases, sources of complementary finance can be found
from partners other than the national government and landowners,
particularly in cases of specific buildings such as monuments.
For example, the tourism sector subsidised roofing and exterior
renovation on the residential part of a castle.
4. From the rehabilitation of housing to an entire urban
project
Initially limited to housing in advanced stages to deterioration,
encouraged by the input of the residents, the rehabilitation program
was expanded to include public spaces, infrastructure, and equipment,
so as to give life back to these neighbourhoods.
These projects, integrated on the district level, take a more involved
approach to the sites, and enlarge the existing network to act in
concert with other partners capable of investing in the area's economic
and cultural development. This approach is what put in place a centre
for popular festivals, an auditorium, a guitar school, a theatre,
etc. The effects of the development of these projects were most notably
connected to rising employment and urban space management (traffic,
parking, footpaths, etc.).
5. The results
In ten years, more than ½ of the first identified 26, 000
housing units were rehabilitated. Of the total cost of 110 million
Euros ($115 million), 42% was financed by the municipality (which
redistributed its funding to avoid an increase in its budget), 40%
by landowners and 18% by the national government. The average cost
of rehabilitation per unit of housing was estimated at 17,375 Euros
($18,000), less than half the cost of new housing on the periphery
of town.
In addition, the fact that residents were encouraged and supported
to stay in their own neighbourhoods allowed them to preserve their
autonomy, and avoided the sort of exclusion and marginalisation experienced
by those relocated to the outskirts of town.
Finally, the improvement of the living environment served as a positive
catalyst for the private sector, whose investments prompted the return
of other social classes and permitted their integration. Thanks to
the engagement of the original population, who continue to preserve
the local culture, the return of more affluent groups did not result
in the gentrification of the city centre.
6. Conclusions and recommendations
This experience illustrates that it is possible to rehabilitate historic
town centres, which are often old and are occupied by more modest
residents, without turning them into large, lifeless museum.
Beyond the advantages that it presents to inhabitants, the path taken
by Lisbon demonstrates that it is equally in the interest of municipalities
to preserve their heritage, to value the identity of their town centre,
and to reinforce residents' social cohesion.
Places for the expression of popular spirit, these areas have much
to gain from the preservation of their living quarters and existing
social networks, factors of cohesion and integration.
To attain these results, it is necessary to combine the following
elements:
- A strong political will
- The establishment, in accord with residents, of an intervention
zone that is relatively homogenous and initially limited in size
- An inventory of available legal and financial tools
- A concern to advancing things, even with little available means,
while assuming the risks inherent in these operations (particularly
that plans are made with respect to new construction regulations and
are inapplicable to old buildings)
We would like to thank M. Felipe Lopes and M. Mikhael de Thyse
for having communicated
all necessary information for this case study.
For more information,
please contact:
Mr. Felipe Lopes
ex-Directeur de la Réhabilitation à Lisbonne
phone/fax : +351 213 55 69 02
|
