The dark side of citizenship: Electric energy as a fragmented/fragmenting urban infrastructure

The dark side of citizenship: Electric energy as a fragmented/fragmenting urban infrastructure in the “market” of the human rights The case of Medellín, Colombia Danny Andrés Osorio Gaviria Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Development and Cultures [S0E06a] Master of Urbanism and Strategic Planning KU Leuven 2015

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Image 1: A political look to the energy. Illustration: Christian Benavides. (Source: Valencia, 2015).

THE DARK SIDE OF CITIZENSHIP: Electric energy as a fragmented/fragmenting urban infrastructure in the “market” of the human rights The case of Medellín, Colombia

Danny Andrés Osorio Gaviria Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Development and Cultures Master in Urbanism and Strategic Planning Department of Architecture, Urbanism and Planning Faculty of Engineering Science KU Leuven

Abstract This current paper is part of the Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Development and Cultures 2015 – 2016, organized by the KU Leuven Institute for Anthropological Research in Africa (IARA) and the Department of Architecture, Urbanism and Planning (ASRO) with focus on Cities in Development: Spaces, Conflicts and Agency. As part of the evaluation of the course this paper relates to the topic of the debate: Urban Fragments and Assemblages by Colin McFarlane and Johan Lagae, with cases from DRC, Uganda, South Africa and India.

Colombian cities have problems related to housing, there are a lot of people living in precarious neighborhoods without the minimum health and social security conditions, the poorest population does not has the possibility to have a house through the formal housing market, that is why they just have the option of living in informal settlements. This situation is creating new communities in a permanent battle for the access to social, economic and cultural services of the city.

The dark side of citizenship is about how the lack of home utilities, in this specific case the electric energy, could become in a fragmented/fragmenting social infrastructure in the city of Medellín, where the urban policies related to home utilities are generating cases of segregation in areas of the city affected by unemployment and extreme poverty. In the global urbanism era this problematic

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is creating the basis for an urban revolution where the people is affected by the politicization and the commercial exploitation of the home utilities as a product in the market.

In this case, the informal human settlements were established due to the forced displacement and the inequality in the state and the country, the city was built for families and communities fighting for a piece of land and the provision of the fundamental public and social services. Medellín is the demonstration of the reaction of the people to the lack of home utilities, related to supposed technical, operational and financial issues, argued by the company (“public company”) in charge of providing services in the city. The local government and the Public Companies of Medellín, in a segregating act, deny the provision of electric energy to people living in high-risk areas and extreme poverty; this situation is pushing people to take collective actions and protest against the Municipality, which according to the Colombian law, must ensure the providing of the home utilities as a basic human right in the development of the city.

Keywords: Electric energy, home utilities, infrastructure, segregation, urban revolution, global urbanism, urban policies.

Introduction and historical context The arrival of the electric energy in Medellín was one of the most significant moments in the development of the city. In 1898 was the inauguration of the public streetlight system, three years after that the Municipality gave to some businessmen the permit for the creation of the Antioquia Electrical Installations Company and the capacity to provide electric energy to whom wanted and could pay for it. The electric energy public service started as a private service, provided for a private company and consumed for particular people with the capacity to afford it; nevertheless, the interest of the businessmen was the main reason for the creation and development of the service for the city. The private sector was in charge of the development of infrastructures, operation, administration and maintenance of them. th

However, in the beginning of the 20 century the migration processes, new human settlements, the raising income of the population and the changes in the consumption habits of the population were the engine of the development of the city and the reason for what people started consider the electric energy as a basic home utility and started to demand their rights as citizens and achieving the expansion of the coverage to all the city.

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In 1940 the electric energy public service was a social and economic right of the citizenship (Valencia, 2015) and from private and expensive service started to having a general, public and social character. It is important to say that the citizen dissatisfaction was reflecting in demands and civic protests which forced the local government to increase the investments and the public budget, changing the role played by the state into an active actor committed and responsible in the providing of the electric energy public service, but this was not the end of the story.

The Political Constitution was approved in 1991 and, after decades where the state was in charge on everything related to the public services, it was opened to the private sector the possibility to provide the public services to the citizens, where the state was performing as a regulator actor in the electric energy market; at the same time the Political Constitution gave endowed the citizens with institutional devises for the defense, protection and social control of their rights as users (Valencia, 2015), not rights as a citizens.

In this point the electric energy and others home facilities acquire a political perspective with

public

and collective concerns, and

interests, where it becomes in a fundamental civil right where the state is the main guarantor of the public policies, conflicts resolution and social protests, not as a simple regulator actor between citizens (not users), providers of the services and the state itself.

Image 2: “Privatizing utilities does not improve the coverage”: Social sectors (Source: Agencia de Prensa IPC, 2009).

Electric energy and fragmented citizenship In the last decade Medellín was considered as a pioneer in public services and home utilities providing, consequently the state assume that the issues in this subject are already solved, nevertheless, as I mentioned before, the economic development and some regulations are addressing privatization processes related to public services.

The electric energy as a public service or a home utility is indispensable in the quality of life of people and a we can consider it as a right, however the most vulnerable communities and the

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popular sectors in the city of Medellín is where this right is not recognized to the population due to neoliberalism and privatization logics where the electric energy is another product in the market.

According to Carlos Velásquez, in the text Medellín disconnected from the dignity, “If they take the water away, they take away the right to life, or who can live without water? Being disconnected is an act of violence against society”. The water, sewage, electric energy and telephone are home utilities considered fundamental for the development of the human being, lamentably in this case, current problems as the unemployment or job instability are part of the economic issues that, according to the company which provides the electric energy in the city, makes the zones where these people live “high costs areas” not be able to be connected to the electric energy network of the city.

This situation is creating a social problematic where

the

citizens

are

discriminated

for

economic reasons and their minimum rights for survival are not taking in account as basic human rights related to health, alimentation and education. According to the law, there is a national

regulation

and

an

international

legislation about public services and home utilities, likewise Colombia is part of the International U.N. Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which stipulates that the drinkable water and the electric energy should be guaranteed by the state to the entire

Image 3: People disconnected from utilities: The face of the poverty in Medellín (Source: Agencia de Prensa IPC, 2010).

population as a social obligation with the population welfare regardless economic status.

As a result of this phenomenon the city is living an urban fragmentation process and environmental degradation, each day the cost for the regularization of informal settlements is higher because the absence of public policies related to this issues. We can consider the electric energy in Medellín as a physical infrastructure which is fragmented and at the same time is fragmenting the city, the informality and the disruption and breakdown of the electric energy network is caused by the politicization and commodification of the city where the most affected sector is the most vulnerable

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population: the poor people. This specific case is turning a home utility in a crucial dimension of urbanity, a way to take away the dignity of the people and as a way to humiliate the population living in the most precarious conditions denying their basic needs and their basic rights as human beings, fragmenting the city and creating places where the city itself is denying the citizenship to its inhabitants.

Conclusion In conclusion, after the analysis of the current situation of the public services and home utilities in the city, the question is: how the state is be able to guarantee the providing of electric energy for the most vulnerable population in MedellĂ­n?, even over the evident economic and politic interests of the business sectors which are imposing an economic model trying to privatize the services considered rights, generating a fragmented urban development excluding and segregating the most poorest population of the city.

The urban regulation and the strategic spatial planning instruments applied to the city should be in harmony and coherence with the providing of these basic services in dialogue with the companies in charge as a guarantee of the fundamental rights of the population. In this regard is important to take in account the responsibility of the state in the providing of the home utilities, the economic sustainability of the companies which provide the services and the possibilities and alternatives for the providing of these services to the high risk areas in the city.

In this process the most important issue is looking for an alternative to the commodification of the electric energy as well as other services; although the model for the providing of the services is based on business concept and therefore economic profitability, in this moment The dark side of citizenship - Danny AndrĂŠs Osorio Gaviria

Image 4: People disconnected from utilities protest against the Medellín’s Mayor (Source: Agencia de Prensa IPC, 2010).

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it is not possible offer an alternative from the same approach, consequently it is obvious that the recognition of the essential human rights related to home utilities requires a modification of the current regulation and laws at local and national level.

From a different perspective, the communities are creating alternatives to this situation, sometimes through illegal means or the abuse of the force, nevertheless sometimes through legal and juristic resistance against the abuses of the companies which are providing the services, for example interposing international complaints and promoting pacific protests against the state and the companies. However the most important alternatives in this regard are being carried out by the communities based on community systems and initiatives with the technical support and legal advice from the local government; these alternatives are the result of social and community organization as an element of social cohesion in the communities.

Nevertheless, in this conflict of economic interest affecting the poorest areas of the city, the urban fragmentation also is generating violence especially when criminal organizations are involved. These groups have realized that who controls the home utilities controls the territory,

the

communities

and

everything

related to these areas, where they decide who can be connected to the services and the change in the prices of the services; if can I say so, violence generates more violence. From the same perspective the illegal connection to the services

is

another

alternative

to

these

communities which is extremely dangerous because the electric energy is taken from the main line directly to the houses. These alternatives cannot be thought as feasible in the development of a city which is trying to build urban policies related to home utilities based on

Image 5: People disconnected from utilities: The face of the poverty in MedellĂ­n (Source: Agencia de Prensa IPC, 2010).

human rights.

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From my point of view the current mechanism for the providing of public services and home utilities as products for sale in the market is not feasible anymore because is originating many social th

problematic. I think is unbelievable that in the 20 century the company in charge of the providing the services does not have alternatives for the most vulnerable communities as, for example, the real guarantee of the minimum supply under any circumstance. For me is clear that the variety of alternatives mentioned before are themselves the most strongest argument for concluding that the public services and home facilities in MedellĂ­n urgently requires a different approach from the local normative and the Colombian law because are fundamental in the development of a society without violent forms of organization, providing services and rights to the entire population without distinction, understanding the importance of the city as a whole.

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Image 5: Neither myth neither legend, people disconnected from utilities are a reality in MedellĂ­n (Source: Kavilando, 2014).

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