The Evolution of Urban Lending at the Inter-American Development Bank
BOX 4
Favela Bairro I and II, Rio de Janeiro additional favelas and 23.000 households living on illegal subdivisions. The two phases of the Favela-Bairro Program resulted in an investment of over US$600 million and benefited approximately 500.000 people. PROAP is considered an international best practice in dealing with informal settlements. A key factor in the program’s success is that is financed and executed entirely by the municipality (which simplifies execution). Under the leadership of the mayor, a technical committee makes decisions about the investments and a coordination committee ensures that all municipal departments are on board for the execution of the program. Another success factor is the use of modern management techniques, which are essential in a program that si-
multaneously executes between 40 to 50 interventions in neighborhoods located all over the city that are in different phases of execution. Project managers are responsible for keeping the projects on track. They are supported by an integrated information system that gives supervisors full knowledge about the progress and performance of the projects. Community involvement in decision making and in the operation of certain services (for instance community members are hired to collect garbage and undertake reforestation efforts) are factors that facilitate project ownership and construction of the works under the complex geographic and social circumstances of the favelas and illegal subdivisions.
Integrating informal settlements to the formal city enhances the inhabitant’s prospects of improving their social and economic conditions.
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