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Improving Mexico's Housing Using Community Education Alexander B. Jung, University of California, San Diego, Urban Studies and Planning Program The Study Object of Study: Los Laureles Canyon community & Alter Terra's community education classes (fig. 1) Abstract: Since about the 1940's, hyper urbanization has brought millions of people to find work in Mexico’s cities. These migrants often live in slum-like conditions where they can lack essential resources. In the interest of the global economy, Mexico has implicitly given land-use powers (desalojo machine) to the economic elite, forcing families into a cycle of poverty. Based on urban sociological literature, I claim that these squatter communities can improve their housing though community education. Alter Terra has designed such a program set to politically mobilize the Los Luareles Canyon residents in Tijuana as to minimize the inequalities between Mexico’s poor and rich. Fully Structured Interviews: 5 interviews from project designer, teacher, urban planner, and students To understand motivations and concerns and personal output of classes Case Study of Alter Terra Classes: Looking at curriculum, student participation, and faculty To observe if the students have created a coalition and have politically mobilized Ethnographic Study of the Los Laureles Infrastructure Observing if improvements in housing infrastructure were made due to legislative action taken with aid of Alter Terra's classes Purpose Findings Methods Conclusion Purpose: The purpose of this study was to observe whether community education enables community members to seek legislative change as to improve their housing infrastructure. Background: Political disconnect between government and working class Land-use decisions made for business interests Private sector uses desalojo machine to displace residents There is a need for community members to gain a political voice Significance: If Alter Terra's educational program is successful, then the program can be duplicated in other developing countries where community members need to voice their opinions in a democratic government. Measuring Community Development: Obtaining proper qualitative measurements Interview with Jane Clough-Riquelme and using John Friedmann's “Basis for Social Power” (fig .2) Alter Terra's Educational classes were critiqued using this measurement Motivational Perspectives of Classes: To teach the students the Los Laureles Master Plan Interview with Oscar Romo: “to align urban planning decisions to hydrology” Community members → to provide political voice to community Bridge gap between government due to social inequalities Improvement in access to heath and housing infrastructure Structure & Interactions of the Classes: 1 st and 3 rd Tuesday of each month for six months, classes were free Started with 46 participants numbers remained constant Classes held in either Los Laureles Canyon or House of Legislative Culture in Tijuana (figure 4) Multiple resources taught in Alter Terra's curriculum (fig. 5 & 6) Structure → well-organized, but left room for interaction Games to encourage coalition building Food and drinks provided Travel subsidization gave incentive to residents to come after work Outcomes of the Classroom Romo: “Just by being there they will become experts on how the government works because they will have all this exposure to people, systems, and names” High dedication and high responsiveness to the work Students: “This program is a common benefit for the community and towards formalized developments Because the class was well-organized, used visual media, and incentives, this program was successful and can be replicated elsewhere Ethnographic Results of the Community Not enough time to observe infrastructure improvement, also due to lad in Mexico's political responsiveness. Alter Terra's educational class led to political mobilization It is necessary for communities to have a political voice in creating legislature Replication of classes should now be done in other developing communities Short term was successful, but limited time and lag in political response made it unsure if infrastructure change were to have occurred Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 6 Figure 4 Figure 3 Figure 5 March 7, 2012 (Special Thanks to Oscar Romo and Jennifer Leonard...figure 1 & 3 found on google images
