The Actors in the Process II: Citizen Participation in Public Policies

Abstract

This chapter focuses on citizenship and citizen participation in public policies. In doing so, it draws on the current notion of citizenship, which comprises not only a legal status defined by a set of rights and obligations, but also an identity and the expression of belonging to a specific political community. The chapter raises the question of whether at present citizens are actors or passive recipients of public policies, and argues that in current democracies people have the expectation of enjoying both political and social rights. It also examines the closely related concept of social citizenship, which requires that security and opportunities be shared by all. It presents participation as a society-state relationship circumscribed by the notions of democracy and citizenship, which must be understood as a space for interaction, communication and differentiation between the state and the social system. The chapter concludes with two cases: a neighborhood improvement program developed during the COVID-19 pandemic as a response to the SDGs and a research study about university as a scenario for the construction of citizenship.

Case

5.1.1 Case 1: Working with Citizens During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Response to the SDGs by María Laura Zulaica

The Neighborhood Improvement Program in Argentina, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, is a public policy instrument for the regularization of urban informality. The Program seeks to consolidate informal settlements through the legalization of land tenure, works for access to public services, and improvements in housing and urban environments, with the aim of improving quality of life and contributing to urban and social inclusion and to the integration of households in the poorest segments of the population.

Through the execution of comprehensive neighborhood projects, the purpose of the Program is to consolidate the targeted population in the place where they reside, by giving access to land ownership, urban infrastructure works, community equipment and environmental sanitation, and promoting the strengthening of social and human capital.

The Program operates on a decentralized basis through Provincial and Municipal Executing Units. One of such Units is the Municipality of General Pueyrredon, where the Program has been running for more than a decade in two neighborhoods situated at the urban fringe of the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. Aside from the Program’s background, the purpose here is to look at the current experience in which previous quality of life research results led to the inclusion of researchers in the field team for the development of joint urban and environmental projects, which have recently begun to be designed.

The experience consisted of the preparation of an interdisciplinary Comprehensive Diagnosis that allowed the design of proposals to respond to the demands of the actors themselves. In this respect, the Diagnosis has two main purposes: to look at how the COVID-19 pandemic and the isolation and distancing measures have affected the community, in order to gain further insights into the territory in the current situation; and to jointly define with the actors urban and environmental lines of action and possible projects.

The city of Mar del Plata, located in the General Pueyrredon district (659,462 inhabitants, according to 2021 estimates), is one of the settlements that has been most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the province of Buenos Aires. The city sits in the southeast of the Province and has a distinct tourism profile that makes it one the most popular holiday destinations in Argentina. In addition to tourism, the fishing, textile, food horticulture, mining and manufacturing industries complete its productive profile. The city has been subject to an urban sprawl phenomenon, which has given rise to a complex and disperse peri-urban area or urban-rural interface zone. Numerous sectors that make up this interface zone can be regarded as “fringe areas”, characterized by strong dynamics and affected by social and environmental problems.

According to data from the Permanent Household Survey (EPH) for the second six-month period of 2019, the Mar del Plata-Batán agglomeration recorded an unemployment rate of 4.3% based on the occupational class structure. Such rate is above the one recorded for all the agglomerations in Argentina surveyed in the EPH, which was 3.3% for that period. In addition, based on the data on poverty and extreme poverty for the second six-month period of 2019, a total of 18.4% households are under the poverty line and 4.2% live in extreme poverty in the Mar del Plata-Batán agglomeration.

Against this background, the outbreak of the pandemic and the Mandatory Preventive Social Isolation and Distancing measures have changed the population’s basic production and reproduction activities. The impacts are undoubtedly different in terms of territorial scope in the different neighborhoods, with the most significant impacts having taken place in the neighborhoods in the urban periphery.

The neighborhoods are characterized by a weak and fragmentary occupation of the land, with large irregular-shaped plots, low building densities and, in some cases, non-existent streets.

In accordance with the objectives pursued, from the operational point of view, the decision was made to conduct a Directed Diagnosis that can provide key elements to strengthen decision making on the basis of a comprehensive approach focused on specific aspects. The Diagnosis analyzes a general state of affairs and makes it possible to subsequently adjust methodologies and instruments as appropriate, based on the objectives pursued. This approach is predicated on a social and community-based perspective that engages the actors of the territory, thus fostering participative democracy. Hence, this type of diagnosis allows individualizing specific or particular topics, while at the same time it takes into account the interconnection or interdependence between the most important elements of community reality.

In line with the above statements, the diagnosis includes the stages summarized below: Analysis of objective/quantitative aspects, which consists of collecting and organizing information about the community. Analysis of subjective/qualitative aspects, which adds to the objective data subjective contributions (assessments, perceptions, attributions) from the work team and the key referents of the neighborhoods. Organization and drafting, which combines the previous stages and involves a more precise construction of reality. Socialization of the results and formulation of proposals, which allows sharing the results obtained and designing joint proposals.

The economic activities from which the population in these neighborhoods earns a livelihood are undertaken in conditions of informality. In particular, such activities are linked to the building and fishing industry, while a significant share of the population takes odd jobs. In addition, many neighborhood dwellers, in particular women, are domestic workers. Productive activities related to horticulture are mostly seasonal. In both neighborhoods, families usually make a living from activities locally known as “cirujeo”, in which they separate and recover materials from trash that they then sell. In this connection, there has been a rise in the number of families whose life and subsistence depend on their participation in the urban solid waste dump site of the city. Difficulties in accessing the labor market are a common occurrence. In addition, unregistered and informal work is prevalent in these neighborhoods, with the consequent deprivation of social security benefits.

Social isolation and distancing are measures that cannot be sustained over time. This becomes evident for those families living in overcrowded conditions that must “go out” and look for a source of income. In 2020, occupation processes (precarious settlements) increased in different sectors of both neighborhoods as a consequence of the crisis.

The quality of education in the neighborhoods was adversely affected in 2020. Digital inclusion is a key aspect, given the vital role of the new technologies in providing access to the labor market and social integration. Problems with the availability of equipment and connectivity are central in these neighborhoods. This is compounded by the lack of family support, which is caused by, among other issues, the need to “go out to work”.

As to healthcare, the area has a Primary Health Center that is also attended by the population from nearby neighborhoods. The Health Center has a robust insertion in the community that goes beyond its specific services. During the pandemic, the provision of such services has been one of the most critical concerns. This was exacerbated by the job losses experienced by the population in these neighborhoods in 2020, which resulted in its being cut out of social services, with the ensuing increase in demand. A further critical issue is the reduction in medical staff that was transferred to health centers in other neighborhoods and the lack of medicines for chronic noncommunicable diseases.

Community activities have a strong imprint in the neighborhoods and are developed in cultural workshops organized by neighborhood institutions and organizations in public kitchens, soup kitchens and neighborhood associations. The activities were suspended during the pandemic, with a negative impact on the community. However, the surveys and work with the actors carried out in early 2021 reveal that the activities have resumed with social distancing measures in place, as they are now developed in outdoor locations. This evidences the importance that the public space has gained in the critical context. Notwithstanding this, the condition of the streets makes accessibility difficult.

Aside from the above-mentioned problems, the diagnosis has revealed that both neighborhoods have many strengths that have allowed them to deal with difficult situations. Some of them include the ability to work in teams, the commitment of neighborhood institutions and organizations, the possibility to carry out intra- and inter-institutional articulation and the existence of community networks.

In this experience, two main challenges are worth noting in connection with the work with the actors and referents of the neighborhoods. First, defining joint activities and actions amidst a context of social isolation and distancing, in areas experiencing connectivity issues, is no easy task. The articulations between actors require a constant flexibility to adapt and readjust activities, timeframes and modalities. The second challenge concerns the presence of new actors in the neighborhoods belonging to social organizations and movements that emerged in the context of the pandemic. This has given rise to tensions and disputes between sectors with different interests. The work carried out by the team must include the different voices and perspectives, which are sometimes completely opposite.

On the basis of the diagnosis, the dialog with the referents reveals the need to create joint proposals in the urban-environmental field to address the specific demands that have emerged or become more pressing in the context of the pandemic. The goals envisaged for such actions were defined on the basis of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set in the 2030 Agenda globally, which in 2019 were included as axes in the local political agenda. On such basis, the goals set out in Table 5.1 were defined with a focus on each of the SDGs.

Table 5.1 Proposed goals and their linkage with the SDGs

In order to achieve the proposed goals, work is being carried out on the design of specific activities jointly with the communities of the neighborhoods. These actions include environmental education workshops on waste management, preservation of resources (particularly, water and electricity) and food security. In addition, the projects include sessions of identification and collective mapping of urban and environmental problems, with the contribution of possible solutions by the community itself. Equally important is the organization of workshops on agroecological gardens, in articulation with referent institutions and organizations, and neighborhood cleanup sessions.

Moreover, articulation with local agencies and institutions is envisaged to ensure adequate access to infrastructure and services, especially in critical areas with needs compromising the population’s health and safety. Along the same lines, meetings are being held with the aim of designing and enhancing the value of public spaces, which have gained an increasingly relevant role in the context of the pandemic and which are sometimes unfit for the needs of the community in the neighborhoods.

The Diagnosis allowed attaining the objectives set by the work team and updated previous research for insights into neighborhood improvement. In overall terms, it was possible to know how the pandemic has affected the community. In addition, the research enabled articulations with the local actors and the definition of community projects based on common objectives.

The data and information collected, the field work and the interviews provided an understanding of the current situation and gave rise to the work team’s need to take specific actions. Aside from the results obtained, the Diagnosis is a continuous construction that is consolidated through new paths and the identification of, and interviews with, new actors. This will provide feedback on the courses of action from a collaborative perspective.

The transfer of previous quality of life research contributes to decision making in the public arena by means of field work that involves an update of basic studies and the formulation of proposals. In this connection, this Program has had a highly relevant role in the development of community activities in neighborhoods located in the urban periphery of the city. Basic research makes a direct contribution to the design of community initiative projects and the development of activities aimed at the strengthening of community organizations, which are key objectives of the Program.

These collaborative actions are the result of the work with the referents and actors of the community, as well as with grassroot organizations. The inclusion of research-based approaches not only contributes to the creation of specific projects but also provides the methods to work in the actors’ territory. In the case under analysis, it is community actors that build proposals jointly with the work team in order to address their own demands based on local policies anchored to international programs.