Case Examples

CARACAS SLUM UPGRADING PROJECT

Example of:

    • Community Participation in Planning

    • Scaling-Up of Upgrading
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Caracas, Venezuela
Summary
This US$150 million project (1998 dollars), partially funded by the World Bank “is designed to be demand driven with communities taking the lead in defining and determining the individual neighborhood improvement plans” (PID, 2). It consists of three components: urban upgrading, institutional development, and a micro-credit pilot project for housing upgrade. Planned to last 5 years, this project fits into the City’s Municipal barrio upgrading program which is expected to require 20 years to fully implement.
For further information:
World Bank. “Project Appraisal Document on a Proposed Loan to Venezuela for a Caracas Slum-Upgrading Project.” Report no. 17924 VE. (Washington, D.C.: Infrastructure, Finance and Private Sector Department, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela Country Management Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office, September 28, 1998)
Objectives
  • “To improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of a selected number of barrios” (informal settlements) “...through the development and implementation of a community driven, sustainable and replicable infrastructure improvement program” (PAD, 2). The project attempts to establish a model for the implementation of the Caracas plan for slum area infrastructure improvement, the Plan Sectorial.
  • To promote active community participation in the decision-making process.
  • To aid in decentralization efforts, this project contains an institutional development component to begin to build capacity at the municipal level.
Components
  • Urban upgrading - design and execution of Neighborhood Improvement Plans (NIP) which include access, sewerage, sanitation, lighting, community centers, and new housing for resettlement.
  • Institutional development - A Project Management Unit (PMU) was set up to oversee the project.
  • Micro-credit pilot project for housing upgrade - this will provide consumer credit to finance home improvements within the barrios.
Lessons:
What worked and why?

The design of the land titling component attempts to avoid potential opposition from the state and the private sector by limiting the project scope to only those barrios on public land and requiring agreement from all agencies that land titles may be given.

The project promoted active community participation in the decision-making process to cultivate a sense of ownership, thus making cost recovery and project sustainability more likely.
What didn't work and why?
Tips:
To Learn More:

Environmental Data Sheet for Projects Private in the IBRD/IDA Lending Program, Venezuela, Low-Income Barrios II, Caracas, project ID no. VE-PA-40174 (September 1998)

Project Information Document, Venezuela, Low-Income Barrios II, Caracas, project ID no. VE-PA-40174 (May 1998).

Brandt, Federico Villanueva and Ayala, Josefina Baldó. “Local Agency of Urban Development Community Self-Reliance in Catuche, Caracas.” HABITAT II, The Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Istanbul 1996.
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