Possibilities for income generation activities in Metrovivienda : the case of Ciudadela el Recreo, Bogota

This document pretends to explore the dynamics of income generating activities in the context of a low income housing project in Bogotß-Colombia. Low income housing programs represent one of the most critical issues in the process of rapid growth in Bogotß, together with the proliferation of illegal settlements and its pressure in the urban territory. Low income families are being targeted with a series of financial programs for housing acquisition, supported with the realisation of big scale low income housing projects under the scheme of a local institution created for this purpose, Metrovivienda. The process of transition that families affront when moving out from an informal housing setting to a formal developed and designed housing solution appeared to bring a complex series of dynamics that families adopt to adapt their socioeconomic needs and preferences in the new formal environment. Income generating activities at home are found amongst the strategies that poor families use to overcome situations of poverty, unemployment and vulnerable situations that the weakest affront. The study aims to explore the realisation of such activities in the context of Cuidadela El Recreo, the first project built under the concept of Metrovivienda, and to figure out the intricate relation of different aspects beyond their performance. The study compares the literature of the concept of Home-based enterprises with the experience of the residents of Cuidadela El Recreo. 23 families are interviewed to figure out the extent to which Ciudadela El Recreo enables for income generating activities. The importance of such activities amongst the poor is supported by the informal sector debate that claims the sort of creative alternatives that contribute to eradicate poverty. However, the informal sector discussion also put forward the issue of sustainability of such practices when arguing their very small scale of operation that do not allow for more than a temporary survival strategy, while squeezing the poor' scarce resources and contributing to their impoverishment. The document raises the two folded rationale behind informal practices of income generation by using the house as one of the most important asset that the poor have in their account. The appropriateness of such practices is demonstrated in the short run when families can make use of their available resources in a flexible way and in specific situations where home-based enterprises appear to be the most suitable solution. On the other hand, the study also showed how residents claim for a bigger scale of provision of goods and services; this fact raises the concern about the sustainability of such practices if the aim of housing projects is also to contribute to the economic development of poor communities. Having the complexity of the phenomenon in mind, the main contribution of the study is to bring forward the concern about the carefulness with which policies and projects should address the process of transition of poor families when pretending to accommodate them in a formal scheme of housing, while understanding the strategies they use to cope with economic pressures and situations of unemployment. It is also to recognize that the development of poor families is a slow process in which practices like home-based enterprises are likely to continue as a take off strategy. The extent to which Ciudadela El Recreo allows for income generating activities is thus tackled from three perspectives: the physical component of the project and its built environment at the household scale as well as at the neighbourhood scale; the specific conditions of the families in the sample, their willingness, capacity, needs and constrains; and the rationale of the formal housing scheme compared with the informal one and their implications for the sustainability of economic practices and development of poor communities.