The Barriadas of Lima: Slums of Hope or Despair? Problems or Solutions?

ABSTRACT

Squatter settlements (barriadas) are a very significant element in the urban growth of Lima, Peru. Barriadas are residential communities formed by low-income families in which the houses are constructed in large measure by the residents themselves, and which are frequently formed illegally. Many areas originally formed as barriadas have become integrated into the city as working-class suburbs. Various estimates suggest that over 40% of the city started as barriadas. Originally they were the product of migration from the Andes and coast of Peru as a result of the continued primacy of Lima with its attractions and the poverty of the rest of the country. This poverty is a result of physical geography and political elements such as land tenure, terms of trade, guerrilla movements and the coca trade. Fundamental to understanding barriadas is the invasion of land and the consolidation and progressive development of communities over long periods. Barriadas are believed by some to be the only way in which, with government acquiescence, Peru has been able to cope with the demands of millions of people for housing and social mobility. Others see barriadas more negatively as slums and problems. This is not the view of the author who has studied the phenomenon over 40 years. Recent developments suggest that far from being peripheral and a drain on the society and economy of Lima, the informal economies of barriadas may be a catalyst for growth and a fundamental restructuring and reorganisation of the whole city.