Shantytown, U.S.A.
- Posted by: Tim McKeough
- on January 4, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Just a short drive from the U.S.-Mexican border, a densely packed community will soon hum with activity. Homes will be jammed together, with any leftover space commandeered by taco stands, market stalls, and gathering places. It’ll be a far cry from the sanitized suburbs of southern California, but make no mistake: It will sit on the American side of the border.
Indeed, if the architect Teddy Cruz gets his way, the shantytowns of Tijuana, Mexico, will act as a blueprint of sorts for a new kind of urban development. “Architecture has been so distant from the politics and economics of development,” says Cruz. “We need to rethink the way we’ve been developing, and what we mean when we talk about housing, density, community, and neighborhood.”
Behind the precariousness of low-income communities, says Cruz, there is a sophisticated social collaboration: People share resources, make use of every last scrap, and look out for each other. Cruz is incorporating this resourcefulness into the planning of two new developments, in San Ysidro, a border-town community in southern San Diego, and in Hudson, New York. If they work as planned, these projects will become powerful case studies for a new approach to urban development that could be implemented across the country.
In collaboration with the nonprofit Casa Familiar, the San Ysidro development will include 30 housing units alongside spaces where residents can run small businesses. The model also accounts for sweat equity, allowing people who help with construction to gain rent credits for their work. Hudson, meanwhile, may not be a border community, but Cruz says the same conflicts are present—specifically, “a huge gap between rich and poor.” Cruz’s plan aims to vault the income gap with developments on several lots that are integrated into the city. The developments will include 60 housing units, playgrounds, a market, urban agriculture, and job-training facilities, all managed by a coalition of nonprofit groups.
Both projects require Cruz to go beyond the traditional role of an architect; rather than designing for a client, he is working with city governments to change the framework in which developments rise. “Beyond designing buildings, architects should design political and economic processes as well,” he says.
DISCUSSION: 10 Comments
There’s a difference between “shantytown” and “cozy neighborhood of small housing units.” But you wouldn’t know it from the reactions people are having…
We’re doing sweat equity in Birmingham (UK) at the moment. It’s brilliant, and I agree with the original post, although ’shantytown’ does romanticise it alot more. Makes me want to move in and find my impoverished slut of of wife waiting for me
I saw Teddy Cruz’s lecture at Art Pace in San Antonio a few years ago, it was by far the best lecture I’ve ever attended. I wish it existed online in some form.
It is funny, because shantytowns are not “planned,” they are improvised with little government intervention or guidance. I am interested to see how this planned “neighborhood” will function, with their added playgrounds and urban agriculture, and how much of a role those non=profit groups will play.
I commend the effert and its source inspiration. Its not just a good idea but brilient observation of what is possable in spite of dwindling incomes. It is clear example of what can be done with and by human need natural ingenuity. Good thinking! Keep it comming.
This sounds like a great idea for all the old run down malls across America, turn them into usable space.
At the rate our corrupt “so-called” leaders are bankrupting and displacing middle and lower income families throughout the U.S.A. it sounds like a logical step towards the caste system and slavery which is sure to follow.
Brilliant idea. This will clear many of the streets and roads of the sort that I wish to have cleared. Thank you modern designers.
City planning and urban development, and also just general human intelligence is trying to move us away from unhealthy, dangerous and generally unsatifactory living standards such as shanty towns, I think this will make for a mediocrely popular tourist attraction but nothing more.
While some of the comments are mixed; the over-all premise of getting people off the streets is an idea that needs muscle. How many other planners and developers are concentrating on providing a place to live that also provides an income through small business? We can’t just bull doze people who’ve lost their homes into the forests, that is not the answer. Strip malls are going to become harbingers for crime infestation if we aren’t careful; I see this idea as innovative, inventive and constructive. Best of luck and way to be a forward thinker!