The informal settlement of Las Peñas, on the outskirts of Cochabamba, has been refused the right to become part of the city, leaving it with no public investment for basic infrastructure and services. Las Peñas neighbourhood forced the re-sale of unoccupied plots of land at original price plus a small amount (owned by speculators taking advantage of rising property prices) for financing or co-financing community infrastructure including roads, houses and local sports and cultural amenities.

The
main strategy was to notify the speculators who did not reside on their
land that if within the next three months they did not come to justify
their absence or take up residence there (fulfilling land social
function), the property would be put up for resale to poor and young
families at original price, cutting owners’ land gains. The resistance
from the ‘owners’ of idle lots who resorted to lawsuits and even
violence was met with vigils. However, all the ‘owners’ eventually left
unoccupied land in favour of poor families.

The initiative has
ended speculators’ abuse, and allowed finance for a small library, that
has been opened to help children with their schoolwork. Ties of
solidarity based on Ayni (a concept of reciprocity or mutualism among
people of the Andean communities in agricultural work, constructions of
houses and others) and the collective work of building houses according
to plan were also strengthened. Residents provided technical resources
themselves, such as tools for construction projects, and labour for
construction projects was provided by the women and men affiliated to
the community council.

From the community share of the small
profits from the sale of the land, and another neighbours’
contributions, around US$40,000 was generated. Together with community
work, the money was used to finance neighbourhood development such as
the building, expansion and improvement of roads and storm drains, and
amenities such as a soccer field, equipment for the local library and
land housing for poor people – all achieved with no external help.

“This is the first experience I know that is using plus-value
capture strategies [capturing the value of land for public investment]
in areas of “informal” urban development. The explicit reference to
traditional indigenous people collective mechanisms of land
control/management (i.e. ayllus) is also inspiring, as well as efforts
to protect and guarantee women’s housing rights though self-organized
initiatives and strong networking at local, national and international
level.”

– Evaluator Lorena Zarate

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