Slum Upgrading for Water Quality Control
Summary
São Paulo's slum upgrading program focused on enhancing sanitation infrastructure and service provision in the city's informal settlements, ultimately mitigating pollution of the city's water supply caused by these settlements' untreated sewage.
São Paulo's water security issues are primarily due to the poor quality of the megacity's water supply, largely caused by industrial and domestic waste pollution in key water sources (Kelman, 2015). Most source-water pollution from domestic waste stems from the informal settlements located on the city's peripheries, often in ecologically protected areas and adjacent to municipal water sources. Wastewater from such settlements is one of the main challenges in ensuring water security in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (SPMR). Lack of formal, inclusive housing policy paired with high income disparity and waves of rural-to-urban migration have fostered the growth of an informal housing market in SPMR (Cohen, 2016). Presently, 50% of the city proper lives in "sub-normal" housing: slums, squatter settlements, and illegal land subdivisions. In Brazil, these are collectively referred to as favelas (França, 2013). These informal settlements are reflective of immense wealth disparities throughout SPMR and Brazil as a whole, and they are characterized by precarious construction and an overall lack of adequate infrastructure (Cohen, 2016).
Although high-density residential occupation is prohibited in 53% of SPMR (to protect water sources), city and state administrators have been unable to prevent the mushrooming of informal settlements in protected areas (Formiga-Johnsson & Kemper, 2005). Presently, virtually all favelas in the SPMR have access to potable water provided by Sabesp, the state's water utility (Kelman, 2015). For the most part, this water is obtained without any payment, usually through informal, precarious, and often wasteful distribution systems connected illicitly to the public supply (Kelman, 2015). However, most favelas in SPMR lack access to sanitation services, which poses a serious water security problem for the favelas themselves and for the larger SPMR. In favelas, which lack access to formal sanitation services (i.e., wastewater collection and treatment), the sewage is typically dumped directly into receiving bodies of water, many of which are important for the city's supply (Cohen, 2016; Kelman, 2015).
Intervention
In the 1990s, state and municipal governments in the SPMR applied for a World Bank loan to combat the environmental degradation and water quality issues in the Guarapiranga water basin. One of the primary components of the program was upgrading slums and other precarious settlements in São Paulo's Guarapiranga basin (França, 2013). In 2005, São Paulo's Social Housing Department (SEHAB) committed to upgrading favelas throughout the megacity, thereby launching one of the largest slum-upgrading programs in Brazilian history. In compliance with the city's Strategic Master Plan (2002), the program guaranteed the provision of suitable housing with habitable conditions, adequate sanitary facilities, and met by essential public services (e.g., water and sewerage) (França, 2013).
The SPMR has historically recognized slum upgrading as an important means of pollution control and ensuring future water security for the megacity. In the 1980s, official Brazilian policy shifted from destroying and eradicating informal settlements to upgrading them in an attempt to formalize the informal (Rodrigues Samora, 2016). The policy shift was aided by a new constitution, instated in 1988, that deemed housing a right of all citizens (alongside health, food, and education). This policy replaced a century-long practice of destruction of informal settlements and the mass displacement and forced eviction of their inhabitants (Rodrigues Samora, 2016). However, by the end of the 1980s, it was clear that the environmental degradation facing the Guarapiranga river basin, one of the city's primary water sources, was the direct result of informal urban sprawl lacking access to adequate sanitation infrastructure. The initial World Bank favela upgrading program of the 1990s, created to mitigate pollution in the Guarapiranga basin, was the first major slum upgrading program in São Paulo; it served as a model for future slum upgrading programs in the SPMR (França, 2013).
As SPMR continued to expand, however, informal urban sprawl remained a challenge. In 2005, SEHAB renewed its commitment to favela upgrading programs in the SPMR (França, 2013). In 2007, as part of the overarching, federally funded Informal Settlements Urbanization-Growth Acceleration Program (PAC-UAP), SEHAB received $1.3 billion Brazilian reals (~$192 million USD) along with funding from international donors to upgrade 49 favelas in SPMR (de Sousa Moretti et al., 2015 ; Rodrigues Samora, 2016 ). SEHAB's upgrading program hinges upon two fundamental commitments the agency made in 2005, which serve as a basis for all future slum upgrading programs. Firstly, SEHAB (and, by default, the SPMR) committed to investing in design quality (i.e., the best architectural, urban design, and engineering practices) to ensure the success of SEHAB's projects. Secondly, the city and its housing agency are committed to recognizing local cultures and territorial pre-existences in favelas, especially with respect to the incremental investments made by families living in favelas over decades through mutual- or self-help processes (França, 2013). The program itself focused on upgrading favelas by providing regular water and sanitation services (especially sanitation services, which were implemented by opening roads and alleys to install sanitation infrastructure and pipelines), effectively "formalizing" informal areas (through regular service provision and access), relocating dwellings in environmentally-sensitive areas (i.e., at risk of floods or landslides) to less precarious areas, and ensuring transparency of environmental, hydrological and housing-related information in the future (França, 2013).
Challenges
Although SEHAB's slum upgrading program successfully provided wastewater and sanitation services for 130,000 families in the SPMR (as well as mitigating pollution from surrounding bodies of water), the problem is far from over. Presently, over 811,000 households in SPMR lack one or more basic urban services, such as drainage or sewage (Rodrigues Samora, 2016). As such, the provision of sanitation services in such households across São Paulo's favelas remains a challenge for the megacity. Despite these challenges, SEHAB's slum upgrading program serves as an interesting model for protecting key water bodies through sanitation service provision in informal settlements. Ultimately, by reducing the number of households without access to water collection or treatment, the slum upgrading program was able to mitigate a portion of the pollution entering bodies of water that are crucial to a city's water security (França, 2013).
Outcomes
SEHAB's slum upgrading program resulted in several positive outcomes. By 2013, 130,000 families had benefited from completed works or works in progress related to the municipal slum upgrading program (França, 2013). Aside from directly benefiting families living in favelas by elevating their living conditions, São Paulo's slum upgrading program also benefited the megacity's water quality as a whole. In favelas that had been "upgraded", untreated wastewater was entirely eliminated from the adjacent, receiving water bodies. Presently, the slum upgrading program in SPMR is inactive.
References
Slum Upgrading for Water Quality Control
Summary
São Paulo's slum upgrading program focused on enhancing sanitation infrastructure and service provision in the city's informal settlements, ultimately mitigating pollution of the city's water supply caused by these settlements' untreated sewage.
São Paulo's water security issues are primarily due to the poor quality of the megacity's water supply, largely caused by industrial and domestic waste pollution in key water sources (Kelman, 2015). Most source-water pollution from domestic waste stems from the informal settlements located on the city's peripheries, often in ecologically protected areas and adjacent to municipal water sources. Wastewater from such settlements is one of the main challenges in ensuring water security in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (SPMR). Lack of formal, inclusive housing policy paired with high income disparity and waves of rural-to-urban migration have fostered the growth of an informal housing market in SPMR (Cohen, 2016). Presently, 50% of the city proper lives in "sub-normal" housing: slums, squatter settlements, and illegal land subdivisions. In Brazil, these are collectively referred to as favelas (França, 2013). These informal settlements are reflective of immense wealth disparities throughout SPMR and Brazil as a whole, and they are characterized by precarious construction and an overall lack of adequate infrastructure (Cohen, 2016).
Although high-density residential occupation is prohibited in 53% of SPMR (to protect water sources), city and state administrators have been unable to prevent the mushrooming of informal settlements in protected areas (Formiga-Johnsson & Kemper, 2005). Presently, virtually all favelas in the SPMR have access to potable water provided by Sabesp, the state's water utility (Kelman, 2015). For the most part, this water is obtained without any payment, usually through informal, precarious, and often wasteful distribution systems connected illicitly to the public supply (Kelman, 2015). However, most favelas in SPMR lack access to sanitation services, which poses a serious water security problem for the favelas themselves and for the larger SPMR. In favelas, which lack access to formal sanitation services (i.e., wastewater collection and treatment), the sewage is typically dumped directly into receiving bodies of water, many of which are important for the city's supply (Cohen, 2016; Kelman, 2015).
Issue
Intervention
In the 1990s, state and municipal governments in the SPMR applied for a World Bank loan to combat the environmental degradation and water quality issues in the Guarapiranga water basin. One of the primary components of the program was upgrading slums and other precarious settlements in São Paulo's Guarapiranga basin (França, 2013). In 2005, São Paulo's Social Housing Department (SEHAB) committed to upgrading favelas throughout the megacity, thereby launching one of the largest slum-upgrading programs in Brazilian history. In compliance with the city's Strategic Master Plan (2002), the program guaranteed the provision of suitable housing with habitable conditions, adequate sanitary facilities, and met by essential public services (e.g., water and sewerage) (França, 2013).
The SPMR has historically recognized slum upgrading as an important means of pollution control and ensuring future water security for the megacity. In the 1980s, official Brazilian policy shifted from destroying and eradicating informal settlements to upgrading them in an attempt to formalize the informal (Rodrigues Samora, 2016). The policy shift was aided by a new constitution, instated in 1988, that deemed housing a right of all citizens (alongside health, food, and education). This policy replaced a century-long practice of destruction of informal settlements and the mass displacement and forced eviction of their inhabitants (Rodrigues Samora, 2016). However, by the end of the 1980s, it was clear that the environmental degradation facing the Guarapiranga river basin, one of the city's primary water sources, was the direct result of informal urban sprawl lacking access to adequate sanitation infrastructure. The initial World Bank favela upgrading program of the 1990s, created to mitigate pollution in the Guarapiranga basin, was the first major slum upgrading program in São Paulo; it served as a model for future slum upgrading programs in the SPMR (França, 2013).
As SPMR continued to expand, however, informal urban sprawl remained a challenge. In 2005, SEHAB renewed its commitment to favela upgrading programs in the SPMR (França, 2013). In 2007, as part of the overarching, federally funded Informal Settlements Urbanization-Growth Acceleration Program (PAC-UAP), SEHAB received $1.3 billion Brazilian reals (~$192 million USD) along with funding from international donors to upgrade 49 favelas in SPMR (de Sousa Moretti et al., 2015 ; Rodrigues Samora, 2016 ). SEHAB's upgrading program hinges upon two fundamental commitments the agency made in 2005, which serve as a basis for all future slum upgrading programs. Firstly, SEHAB (and, by default, the SPMR) committed to investing in design quality (i.e., the best architectural, urban design, and engineering practices) to ensure the success of SEHAB's projects. Secondly, the city and its housing agency are committed to recognizing local cultures and territorial pre-existences in favelas, especially with respect to the incremental investments made by families living in favelas over decades through mutual- or self-help processes (França, 2013). The program itself focused on upgrading favelas by providing regular water and sanitation services (especially sanitation services, which were implemented by opening roads and alleys to install sanitation infrastructure and pipelines), effectively "formalizing" informal areas (through regular service provision and access), relocating dwellings in environmentally-sensitive areas (i.e., at risk of floods or landslides) to less precarious areas, and ensuring transparency of environmental, hydrological and housing-related information in the future (França, 2013).
Challenges
Although SEHAB's slum upgrading program successfully provided wastewater and sanitation services for 130,000 families in the SPMR (as well as mitigating pollution from surrounding bodies of water), the problem is far from over. Presently, over 811,000 households in SPMR lack one or more basic urban services, such as drainage or sewage (Rodrigues Samora, 2016). As such, the provision of sanitation services in such households across São Paulo's favelas remains a challenge for the megacity. Despite these challenges, SEHAB's slum upgrading program serves as an interesting model for protecting key water bodies through sanitation service provision in informal settlements. Ultimately, by reducing the number of households without access to water collection or treatment, the slum upgrading program was able to mitigate a portion of the pollution entering bodies of water that are crucial to a city's water security (França, 2013).
Outcomes
SEHAB's slum upgrading program resulted in several positive outcomes. By 2013, 130,000 families had benefited from completed works or works in progress related to the municipal slum upgrading program (França, 2013). Aside from directly benefiting families living in favelas by elevating their living conditions, São Paulo's slum upgrading program also benefited the megacity's water quality as a whole. In favelas that had been "upgraded", untreated wastewater was entirely eliminated from the adjacent, receiving water bodies. Presently, the slum upgrading program in SPMR is inactive.
Issues |
|---|
Water Pollution and Contamination |
Solutions |
|---|
Water & Sanitation Infrastructure for Vulnerable Areas |
References
de Sousa Moretti, R., Denaldi, R., Paiva, C. F., Nogueira, F. R., & Petrarolli, J. (2015). Slum upgrading within the “Informal Settlements Urbanization-Growth Acceleration Program (PAC-UAP).” A Case Study of the ABC Region within the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (Brazil).
Formiga-Johnsson, R. M., & Kemper, K. (2005). Institutional and policy analysis of river basin management: the Alto-Tietê River Basin, São Paulo, Brazil. World Bank Policy research working paper, (3650).
França, E. (2013). Slum Upgrading: A Challenge as Big as the City of São Paulo. Focus, 10(1), 20.
Kelman, J. “Water supply to the two largest Brazilian metropolitan regions.” Aquatic Procedia 5 (2015): 13-21.
Rodrigues Samora, P. (2016, October 25). Is this the end of slum upgrading in Brazil? Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://theconversation.com/is-this-the-end-of-slum-upgrading-in-brazil-67208