Carlos Reimers
- Courses4
- Reviews5
- School: Texas A&M University
- Campus: College Station
- Department: Architecture
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Location:
College Station, TX - Dates at Texas A&M University: June 2009 - May 2010
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Biography
Texas A&M University College Station - Architecture
Assistant Professor at The Catholic University of America
Architecture & Planning
Carlos
Reimers
Silver Spring, Maryland
Experience:
Architectural practice for 32 years and architectural education and research during the last 25 years. Experience in architectural design, project production, coordination and management, and construction supervision in residential, office and retail. Design studio instruction in foundational, junior, senior and graduate levels. Direction of final projects and architectural theses. Drawing studios at graduate levels. Seminars in contemporary low-cost/low-income housing design, urban housing typologies, history of North American housing, and architectural research methods.
Specialties:
Architectural Design, Urban Planning and Design. Sustainable Housing. Affordable and Low-Cost Housing, Progressive Development and Incremental Housing. Low income Housing.
Collective and Multifamily Residential Planning and Design. Formal and Informal Housing in suburban and developing areas of Latin America, Asia, and the U.S.A.
Bio:
Carlos Reimers is an architect and planner with a long experience as designer, researcher, and teacher. He is an expert on residential environments, including minimal and emergency housing, affordable and low-cost housing, multifamily residential planning and design, and incremental and informal housing in North America, Latin America, and Asia. His professional practice includes residential (collective and multifamily), commercial, and corporate architecture. Reimers joined CUArch on September 2010. He also taught at the University of Texas at Arlington, Texas A&M University, and Simon Bolivar University in Caracas-Venezuela, where he was the Chair of the School of Architecture from 1997 to 2001. He has been a technical consultant on social and low-income housing for the Inter-American Development Bank and has served as senior housing adviser to many NGOs and low-income community organizations. Carlos Reimers was the 2014-2017 Mid-Atlantic Regional Director of the National Board of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture –ACSA
Experience
University of Texas at Arlington
Visiting Associate Professor
Teaching 2nd and 3rd year design studios and graduate (career change) courses in architectural representation. Research in architectural design & education
The Catholic University of America
Assistant Professor
Coordinator of 2nd, 3rd and 4th year Design Studios (ARPL202, ARPL301, ARPL302, ARPL401, ARPL402). Teaching undergraduate and graduate design studios, and graduate seminars in urban housing typologies and urban design, Professional and Academic Portfolio Design. Research in housing, the future of the city, architectural design & education. Adviser of Graduate Thesis and Member of Thesis Committees
Universidad Simón Bolívar
Tenured Professor, Chair of the School of Architecture
Professor teaching 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th year Architectural Design Studios. Adviser of Thesis Projects and Member of the Juries.
Responsible for academic administration of a 270-student school. Design and evaluation of the Architecture curriculum, proposal and opening of new courses. Evaluation of faculty members. Organization of exchange programs, conferences, workshops and activities with local and international architects. Fund raising, pr. with other architecture schools and foreign universities.Texas A&M University
Lecturer
Teaching foundational, 3rd & 4th year design studios, and courses in History of North American Housing. Residential and Multifamily Housing Planning and Design
Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MS
Urban Studies & Planning
Texas A&M University
PhD
Architecture
Texas A&M University
Lecturer
Teaching foundational, 3rd & 4th year design studios, and courses in History of North American Housing. Residential and Multifamily Housing Planning and DesignMcGill University
MArch
Architecture
Publications
Informal Suburbia
Culture of the Suburbs Research Center, Exeter University, UK.
A relevant number of American cities have been expanding in an unconventional way for a few decades now. Incremental construction of low-income housing built on subdivided rural land in the outskirts of suburban areas is becoming a common sight. Since these developments usually occur in peri-urban areas at a certain distance away from roads and highways coming into the cities, construction has now been going on for a relevant time. For a country like the US, it has been difficult to accept that suburban informal development very much like the one observed in countries of the developing world is going on within their boundaries. As in developing countries, this informal suburban development is less a regional phenomenon than a mechanism used by people to deal with increasing poverty that, stimulated by global phenomena, transcends political boundaries and involves different cultures and societies, as well as economic and political systems. While the practices, methods, and processes that we see in these low-income neighborhoods are similar to those that operate in other geographies of the globe, the issues that they raise and impose on American cities remain unaddressed by rigid zoning, policy controls, and technical approaches to address this kind of “unconventional” development. This paper is based in studies made to several of these settlements using data that spans almost three decades. The study provides a clear picture of the phenomenon and discusses the particular characteristics that informal suburban environments have adopted in the American context. The paper discusses opportunities for effective public and private participation in these areas.
Informal Suburbia
Culture of the Suburbs Research Center, Exeter University, UK.
A relevant number of American cities have been expanding in an unconventional way for a few decades now. Incremental construction of low-income housing built on subdivided rural land in the outskirts of suburban areas is becoming a common sight. Since these developments usually occur in peri-urban areas at a certain distance away from roads and highways coming into the cities, construction has now been going on for a relevant time. For a country like the US, it has been difficult to accept that suburban informal development very much like the one observed in countries of the developing world is going on within their boundaries. As in developing countries, this informal suburban development is less a regional phenomenon than a mechanism used by people to deal with increasing poverty that, stimulated by global phenomena, transcends political boundaries and involves different cultures and societies, as well as economic and political systems. While the practices, methods, and processes that we see in these low-income neighborhoods are similar to those that operate in other geographies of the globe, the issues that they raise and impose on American cities remain unaddressed by rigid zoning, policy controls, and technical approaches to address this kind of “unconventional” development. This paper is based in studies made to several of these settlements using data that spans almost three decades. The study provides a clear picture of the phenomenon and discusses the particular characteristics that informal suburban environments have adopted in the American context. The paper discusses opportunities for effective public and private participation in these areas.
Evolution of dwellings in progressive development projects: case study El Gallo, Ciudad Guayana
Minimum Cost Housing Center, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Progressive development projects are aimed at enforcing the process of dwelling evolution which has been observed in informal settlements by providing conditions that are favorable for housing development. This study suggests that. under these created environments dwelling evolution presented particular characteristics that differentiated it from similar processes in other contexts. A long-term assessment of the phenomenon of dwelling evolution was conducted at El Gallo, a progressive deveopment project in Ciudad Guayana. Venezuela. Dwelling evolution was examined by observing aspects of the process that were relevant to the case study. These included changes in the dwelling area, spatial configuration and functional layout. The case study provided different levels of user participation in the early stages of development that were also considered in the analysis. The findings indicated a marked change from the temporary dwelling to the permanent structure. This process differed from the gradual replacement of initial shacks that is characteristic of informal settlements. The findings also revealed that the early involvement of the user, as well as the utilization of user-responsive designs for the permanent structure, resulted in lesser stages of dwelling evolution and higher degrees of dwelling developrnent.
Informal Suburbia
Culture of the Suburbs Research Center, Exeter University, UK.
A relevant number of American cities have been expanding in an unconventional way for a few decades now. Incremental construction of low-income housing built on subdivided rural land in the outskirts of suburban areas is becoming a common sight. Since these developments usually occur in peri-urban areas at a certain distance away from roads and highways coming into the cities, construction has now been going on for a relevant time. For a country like the US, it has been difficult to accept that suburban informal development very much like the one observed in countries of the developing world is going on within their boundaries. As in developing countries, this informal suburban development is less a regional phenomenon than a mechanism used by people to deal with increasing poverty that, stimulated by global phenomena, transcends political boundaries and involves different cultures and societies, as well as economic and political systems. While the practices, methods, and processes that we see in these low-income neighborhoods are similar to those that operate in other geographies of the globe, the issues that they raise and impose on American cities remain unaddressed by rigid zoning, policy controls, and technical approaches to address this kind of “unconventional” development. This paper is based in studies made to several of these settlements using data that spans almost three decades. The study provides a clear picture of the phenomenon and discusses the particular characteristics that informal suburban environments have adopted in the American context. The paper discusses opportunities for effective public and private participation in these areas.
Evolution of dwellings in progressive development projects: case study El Gallo, Ciudad Guayana
Minimum Cost Housing Center, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Progressive development projects are aimed at enforcing the process of dwelling evolution which has been observed in informal settlements by providing conditions that are favorable for housing development. This study suggests that. under these created environments dwelling evolution presented particular characteristics that differentiated it from similar processes in other contexts. A long-term assessment of the phenomenon of dwelling evolution was conducted at El Gallo, a progressive deveopment project in Ciudad Guayana. Venezuela. Dwelling evolution was examined by observing aspects of the process that were relevant to the case study. These included changes in the dwelling area, spatial configuration and functional layout. The case study provided different levels of user participation in the early stages of development that were also considered in the analysis. The findings indicated a marked change from the temporary dwelling to the permanent structure. This process differed from the gradual replacement of initial shacks that is characteristic of informal settlements. The findings also revealed that the early involvement of the user, as well as the utilization of user-responsive designs for the permanent structure, resulted in lesser stages of dwelling evolution and higher degrees of dwelling developrnent.
After Sites and Services: Planned Progressive Development Strategies in Low Income Housing during the 1990s
School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Planned progressive development strategies and low-income housing have been out of the international development agenda since funding agencies cut-off support to sites and services and similar housing schemes. These projects were among the most widely used approaches to address the need for low-income housing during the 1960s,1970s, and 1980s.The last fifteen years since their abandonment in the mid 1980s have been characterized by the absence of major investments in shelter for the poor in developing countries and the lack of new paradigms in housing. This study argues that planned progressive development strategies in low-income housing were inappropriately abandoned by international sponsors.The prevalent explanation is that projects were discarded because the minimum standards established by governments and donors in these projects made them unaffordable and unsustainable. While this study finds support for this explanation, it also finds that projects became too complex because of the inclusion of many components to the single idea of experimenting with progressive development under controlled conditions of planning. In addition, implementation criteria were too rigid and contrary to the The thesis reviews assessments made to sites and services after international funding of planned progressive developments and shelter projects was withdrawn. The study collected,organized and analyzed evidence about recent planned progressive development strategies that have continued on a small, local scale in several developing countries around the world. The outcome of these recent experiences demonstrates that these simpler strategies were more viable in addressing low-income housing needs, and that projects can be implemented with very little initial investment and without external support. Thus, planned progressive development strategies are still a promising approach to low-income housing.
Informal Suburbia
Culture of the Suburbs Research Center, Exeter University, UK.
A relevant number of American cities have been expanding in an unconventional way for a few decades now. Incremental construction of low-income housing built on subdivided rural land in the outskirts of suburban areas is becoming a common sight. Since these developments usually occur in peri-urban areas at a certain distance away from roads and highways coming into the cities, construction has now been going on for a relevant time. For a country like the US, it has been difficult to accept that suburban informal development very much like the one observed in countries of the developing world is going on within their boundaries. As in developing countries, this informal suburban development is less a regional phenomenon than a mechanism used by people to deal with increasing poverty that, stimulated by global phenomena, transcends political boundaries and involves different cultures and societies, as well as economic and political systems. While the practices, methods, and processes that we see in these low-income neighborhoods are similar to those that operate in other geographies of the globe, the issues that they raise and impose on American cities remain unaddressed by rigid zoning, policy controls, and technical approaches to address this kind of “unconventional” development. This paper is based in studies made to several of these settlements using data that spans almost three decades. The study provides a clear picture of the phenomenon and discusses the particular characteristics that informal suburban environments have adopted in the American context. The paper discusses opportunities for effective public and private participation in these areas.
Evolution of dwellings in progressive development projects: case study El Gallo, Ciudad Guayana
Minimum Cost Housing Center, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Progressive development projects are aimed at enforcing the process of dwelling evolution which has been observed in informal settlements by providing conditions that are favorable for housing development. This study suggests that. under these created environments dwelling evolution presented particular characteristics that differentiated it from similar processes in other contexts. A long-term assessment of the phenomenon of dwelling evolution was conducted at El Gallo, a progressive deveopment project in Ciudad Guayana. Venezuela. Dwelling evolution was examined by observing aspects of the process that were relevant to the case study. These included changes in the dwelling area, spatial configuration and functional layout. The case study provided different levels of user participation in the early stages of development that were also considered in the analysis. The findings indicated a marked change from the temporary dwelling to the permanent structure. This process differed from the gradual replacement of initial shacks that is characteristic of informal settlements. The findings also revealed that the early involvement of the user, as well as the utilization of user-responsive designs for the permanent structure, resulted in lesser stages of dwelling evolution and higher degrees of dwelling developrnent.
After Sites and Services: Planned Progressive Development Strategies in Low Income Housing during the 1990s
School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Planned progressive development strategies and low-income housing have been out of the international development agenda since funding agencies cut-off support to sites and services and similar housing schemes. These projects were among the most widely used approaches to address the need for low-income housing during the 1960s,1970s, and 1980s.The last fifteen years since their abandonment in the mid 1980s have been characterized by the absence of major investments in shelter for the poor in developing countries and the lack of new paradigms in housing. This study argues that planned progressive development strategies in low-income housing were inappropriately abandoned by international sponsors.The prevalent explanation is that projects were discarded because the minimum standards established by governments and donors in these projects made them unaffordable and unsustainable. While this study finds support for this explanation, it also finds that projects became too complex because of the inclusion of many components to the single idea of experimenting with progressive development under controlled conditions of planning. In addition, implementation criteria were too rigid and contrary to the The thesis reviews assessments made to sites and services after international funding of planned progressive developments and shelter projects was withdrawn. The study collected,organized and analyzed evidence about recent planned progressive development strategies that have continued on a small, local scale in several developing countries around the world. The outcome of these recent experiences demonstrates that these simpler strategies were more viable in addressing low-income housing needs, and that projects can be implemented with very little initial investment and without external support. Thus, planned progressive development strategies are still a promising approach to low-income housing.
Housing diversity and consolidation in low income colonias: Patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of the US-Mexico border
College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Colonias are low-income settlements on the US-Mexico border characterized by poor infrastructure, minimum services, and an active housing construction with a high self-help and self-management component. Housing in colonias is very diverse showing house forms that include temporary and permanent structures, campers, trailers or manufactured houses and conventional homes. Most of this housing does not meet construction standards and codes and is considered substandard. Colonias households are also of diverse nature and composition including single households, nuclear and extended families, as well as multiple households sharing lots. This wide variety of house forms and households in colonias fits poorly within the nuclear household, single family detached housing idealized by conventional low-income housing projects, programs and policies. As a result, colonias marginally benefit from the resources available to them and continue to depend mostly on the individual efforts of their inhabitants. This research identifies the housing diversity and the process of housing consolidation in colonias of the US-Mexico border by looking at the patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of South Texas. Findings showed that housing in colonias is built and consolidated following identifiable patterns of successive changes to the house form. Findings also showed that households in colonias share characteristics that change over time in similar ways. These results suggest similarities of colonias with extra-legal settlements in other developing areas. Based on these findings, the study reflects on possible considerations that could improve the impact of projects, programs and policies directed to support colonias and improve colonias housing.
Informal Suburbia
Culture of the Suburbs Research Center, Exeter University, UK.
A relevant number of American cities have been expanding in an unconventional way for a few decades now. Incremental construction of low-income housing built on subdivided rural land in the outskirts of suburban areas is becoming a common sight. Since these developments usually occur in peri-urban areas at a certain distance away from roads and highways coming into the cities, construction has now been going on for a relevant time. For a country like the US, it has been difficult to accept that suburban informal development very much like the one observed in countries of the developing world is going on within their boundaries. As in developing countries, this informal suburban development is less a regional phenomenon than a mechanism used by people to deal with increasing poverty that, stimulated by global phenomena, transcends political boundaries and involves different cultures and societies, as well as economic and political systems. While the practices, methods, and processes that we see in these low-income neighborhoods are similar to those that operate in other geographies of the globe, the issues that they raise and impose on American cities remain unaddressed by rigid zoning, policy controls, and technical approaches to address this kind of “unconventional” development. This paper is based in studies made to several of these settlements using data that spans almost three decades. The study provides a clear picture of the phenomenon and discusses the particular characteristics that informal suburban environments have adopted in the American context. The paper discusses opportunities for effective public and private participation in these areas.
Evolution of dwellings in progressive development projects: case study El Gallo, Ciudad Guayana
Minimum Cost Housing Center, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Progressive development projects are aimed at enforcing the process of dwelling evolution which has been observed in informal settlements by providing conditions that are favorable for housing development. This study suggests that. under these created environments dwelling evolution presented particular characteristics that differentiated it from similar processes in other contexts. A long-term assessment of the phenomenon of dwelling evolution was conducted at El Gallo, a progressive deveopment project in Ciudad Guayana. Venezuela. Dwelling evolution was examined by observing aspects of the process that were relevant to the case study. These included changes in the dwelling area, spatial configuration and functional layout. The case study provided different levels of user participation in the early stages of development that were also considered in the analysis. The findings indicated a marked change from the temporary dwelling to the permanent structure. This process differed from the gradual replacement of initial shacks that is characteristic of informal settlements. The findings also revealed that the early involvement of the user, as well as the utilization of user-responsive designs for the permanent structure, resulted in lesser stages of dwelling evolution and higher degrees of dwelling developrnent.
After Sites and Services: Planned Progressive Development Strategies in Low Income Housing during the 1990s
School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Planned progressive development strategies and low-income housing have been out of the international development agenda since funding agencies cut-off support to sites and services and similar housing schemes. These projects were among the most widely used approaches to address the need for low-income housing during the 1960s,1970s, and 1980s.The last fifteen years since their abandonment in the mid 1980s have been characterized by the absence of major investments in shelter for the poor in developing countries and the lack of new paradigms in housing. This study argues that planned progressive development strategies in low-income housing were inappropriately abandoned by international sponsors.The prevalent explanation is that projects were discarded because the minimum standards established by governments and donors in these projects made them unaffordable and unsustainable. While this study finds support for this explanation, it also finds that projects became too complex because of the inclusion of many components to the single idea of experimenting with progressive development under controlled conditions of planning. In addition, implementation criteria were too rigid and contrary to the The thesis reviews assessments made to sites and services after international funding of planned progressive developments and shelter projects was withdrawn. The study collected,organized and analyzed evidence about recent planned progressive development strategies that have continued on a small, local scale in several developing countries around the world. The outcome of these recent experiences demonstrates that these simpler strategies were more viable in addressing low-income housing needs, and that projects can be implemented with very little initial investment and without external support. Thus, planned progressive development strategies are still a promising approach to low-income housing.
Housing diversity and consolidation in low income colonias: Patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of the US-Mexico border
College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Colonias are low-income settlements on the US-Mexico border characterized by poor infrastructure, minimum services, and an active housing construction with a high self-help and self-management component. Housing in colonias is very diverse showing house forms that include temporary and permanent structures, campers, trailers or manufactured houses and conventional homes. Most of this housing does not meet construction standards and codes and is considered substandard. Colonias households are also of diverse nature and composition including single households, nuclear and extended families, as well as multiple households sharing lots. This wide variety of house forms and households in colonias fits poorly within the nuclear household, single family detached housing idealized by conventional low-income housing projects, programs and policies. As a result, colonias marginally benefit from the resources available to them and continue to depend mostly on the individual efforts of their inhabitants. This research identifies the housing diversity and the process of housing consolidation in colonias of the US-Mexico border by looking at the patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of South Texas. Findings showed that housing in colonias is built and consolidated following identifiable patterns of successive changes to the house form. Findings also showed that households in colonias share characteristics that change over time in similar ways. These results suggest similarities of colonias with extra-legal settlements in other developing areas. Based on these findings, the study reflects on possible considerations that could improve the impact of projects, programs and policies directed to support colonias and improve colonias housing.
Conflict and Convergence: Urban Informality in Latin America (Symposium Review)
Journal of Architectural Education, Washington, DC
Review of the Symposium "Conflict and Convergence" Organized by Professor Luis Diego Quiros, School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, University of Maryland, October 4–October 5, 2014
Informal Suburbia
Culture of the Suburbs Research Center, Exeter University, UK.
A relevant number of American cities have been expanding in an unconventional way for a few decades now. Incremental construction of low-income housing built on subdivided rural land in the outskirts of suburban areas is becoming a common sight. Since these developments usually occur in peri-urban areas at a certain distance away from roads and highways coming into the cities, construction has now been going on for a relevant time. For a country like the US, it has been difficult to accept that suburban informal development very much like the one observed in countries of the developing world is going on within their boundaries. As in developing countries, this informal suburban development is less a regional phenomenon than a mechanism used by people to deal with increasing poverty that, stimulated by global phenomena, transcends political boundaries and involves different cultures and societies, as well as economic and political systems. While the practices, methods, and processes that we see in these low-income neighborhoods are similar to those that operate in other geographies of the globe, the issues that they raise and impose on American cities remain unaddressed by rigid zoning, policy controls, and technical approaches to address this kind of “unconventional” development. This paper is based in studies made to several of these settlements using data that spans almost three decades. The study provides a clear picture of the phenomenon and discusses the particular characteristics that informal suburban environments have adopted in the American context. The paper discusses opportunities for effective public and private participation in these areas.
Evolution of dwellings in progressive development projects: case study El Gallo, Ciudad Guayana
Minimum Cost Housing Center, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Progressive development projects are aimed at enforcing the process of dwelling evolution which has been observed in informal settlements by providing conditions that are favorable for housing development. This study suggests that. under these created environments dwelling evolution presented particular characteristics that differentiated it from similar processes in other contexts. A long-term assessment of the phenomenon of dwelling evolution was conducted at El Gallo, a progressive deveopment project in Ciudad Guayana. Venezuela. Dwelling evolution was examined by observing aspects of the process that were relevant to the case study. These included changes in the dwelling area, spatial configuration and functional layout. The case study provided different levels of user participation in the early stages of development that were also considered in the analysis. The findings indicated a marked change from the temporary dwelling to the permanent structure. This process differed from the gradual replacement of initial shacks that is characteristic of informal settlements. The findings also revealed that the early involvement of the user, as well as the utilization of user-responsive designs for the permanent structure, resulted in lesser stages of dwelling evolution and higher degrees of dwelling developrnent.
After Sites and Services: Planned Progressive Development Strategies in Low Income Housing during the 1990s
School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Planned progressive development strategies and low-income housing have been out of the international development agenda since funding agencies cut-off support to sites and services and similar housing schemes. These projects were among the most widely used approaches to address the need for low-income housing during the 1960s,1970s, and 1980s.The last fifteen years since their abandonment in the mid 1980s have been characterized by the absence of major investments in shelter for the poor in developing countries and the lack of new paradigms in housing. This study argues that planned progressive development strategies in low-income housing were inappropriately abandoned by international sponsors.The prevalent explanation is that projects were discarded because the minimum standards established by governments and donors in these projects made them unaffordable and unsustainable. While this study finds support for this explanation, it also finds that projects became too complex because of the inclusion of many components to the single idea of experimenting with progressive development under controlled conditions of planning. In addition, implementation criteria were too rigid and contrary to the The thesis reviews assessments made to sites and services after international funding of planned progressive developments and shelter projects was withdrawn. The study collected,organized and analyzed evidence about recent planned progressive development strategies that have continued on a small, local scale in several developing countries around the world. The outcome of these recent experiences demonstrates that these simpler strategies were more viable in addressing low-income housing needs, and that projects can be implemented with very little initial investment and without external support. Thus, planned progressive development strategies are still a promising approach to low-income housing.
Housing diversity and consolidation in low income colonias: Patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of the US-Mexico border
College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Colonias are low-income settlements on the US-Mexico border characterized by poor infrastructure, minimum services, and an active housing construction with a high self-help and self-management component. Housing in colonias is very diverse showing house forms that include temporary and permanent structures, campers, trailers or manufactured houses and conventional homes. Most of this housing does not meet construction standards and codes and is considered substandard. Colonias households are also of diverse nature and composition including single households, nuclear and extended families, as well as multiple households sharing lots. This wide variety of house forms and households in colonias fits poorly within the nuclear household, single family detached housing idealized by conventional low-income housing projects, programs and policies. As a result, colonias marginally benefit from the resources available to them and continue to depend mostly on the individual efforts of their inhabitants. This research identifies the housing diversity and the process of housing consolidation in colonias of the US-Mexico border by looking at the patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of South Texas. Findings showed that housing in colonias is built and consolidated following identifiable patterns of successive changes to the house form. Findings also showed that households in colonias share characteristics that change over time in similar ways. These results suggest similarities of colonias with extra-legal settlements in other developing areas. Based on these findings, the study reflects on possible considerations that could improve the impact of projects, programs and policies directed to support colonias and improve colonias housing.
Conflict and Convergence: Urban Informality in Latin America (Symposium Review)
Journal of Architectural Education, Washington, DC
Review of the Symposium "Conflict and Convergence" Organized by Professor Luis Diego Quiros, School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, University of Maryland, October 4–October 5, 2014
Roaming the Boundaries: The Less Explored Roles of Architects in the Low-Income Settlements of Texas
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Washington. DC
Growing poverty and its consequences are one of the most difficult global realities increasingly affecting contemporary America. Rural Texas has been familiar with this reality for years.Low-Income peri-urban development in rural land with limited access to services, facilities,and infrastructure is characteristic around several cities in Texas. Known more for its relationship to the Texas border, records of this type of development in the US date back to the beginning of the 20th century.This paper supports that the effective participation of professionals of the built environment in housing the growing poor sector relies in: a) a better understanding of the issues that stimulate low-income groups to seek for alternatives to conventional housing,b) the incorporation of the strengths of low-income groups to participate in producing their housing, and c) the need for novelty and entrepreneurship in the ways strategies can be articulated to contribute to this process.
Informal Suburbia
Culture of the Suburbs Research Center, Exeter University, UK.
A relevant number of American cities have been expanding in an unconventional way for a few decades now. Incremental construction of low-income housing built on subdivided rural land in the outskirts of suburban areas is becoming a common sight. Since these developments usually occur in peri-urban areas at a certain distance away from roads and highways coming into the cities, construction has now been going on for a relevant time. For a country like the US, it has been difficult to accept that suburban informal development very much like the one observed in countries of the developing world is going on within their boundaries. As in developing countries, this informal suburban development is less a regional phenomenon than a mechanism used by people to deal with increasing poverty that, stimulated by global phenomena, transcends political boundaries and involves different cultures and societies, as well as economic and political systems. While the practices, methods, and processes that we see in these low-income neighborhoods are similar to those that operate in other geographies of the globe, the issues that they raise and impose on American cities remain unaddressed by rigid zoning, policy controls, and technical approaches to address this kind of “unconventional” development. This paper is based in studies made to several of these settlements using data that spans almost three decades. The study provides a clear picture of the phenomenon and discusses the particular characteristics that informal suburban environments have adopted in the American context. The paper discusses opportunities for effective public and private participation in these areas.
Evolution of dwellings in progressive development projects: case study El Gallo, Ciudad Guayana
Minimum Cost Housing Center, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Progressive development projects are aimed at enforcing the process of dwelling evolution which has been observed in informal settlements by providing conditions that are favorable for housing development. This study suggests that. under these created environments dwelling evolution presented particular characteristics that differentiated it from similar processes in other contexts. A long-term assessment of the phenomenon of dwelling evolution was conducted at El Gallo, a progressive deveopment project in Ciudad Guayana. Venezuela. Dwelling evolution was examined by observing aspects of the process that were relevant to the case study. These included changes in the dwelling area, spatial configuration and functional layout. The case study provided different levels of user participation in the early stages of development that were also considered in the analysis. The findings indicated a marked change from the temporary dwelling to the permanent structure. This process differed from the gradual replacement of initial shacks that is characteristic of informal settlements. The findings also revealed that the early involvement of the user, as well as the utilization of user-responsive designs for the permanent structure, resulted in lesser stages of dwelling evolution and higher degrees of dwelling developrnent.
After Sites and Services: Planned Progressive Development Strategies in Low Income Housing during the 1990s
School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Planned progressive development strategies and low-income housing have been out of the international development agenda since funding agencies cut-off support to sites and services and similar housing schemes. These projects were among the most widely used approaches to address the need for low-income housing during the 1960s,1970s, and 1980s.The last fifteen years since their abandonment in the mid 1980s have been characterized by the absence of major investments in shelter for the poor in developing countries and the lack of new paradigms in housing. This study argues that planned progressive development strategies in low-income housing were inappropriately abandoned by international sponsors.The prevalent explanation is that projects were discarded because the minimum standards established by governments and donors in these projects made them unaffordable and unsustainable. While this study finds support for this explanation, it also finds that projects became too complex because of the inclusion of many components to the single idea of experimenting with progressive development under controlled conditions of planning. In addition, implementation criteria were too rigid and contrary to the The thesis reviews assessments made to sites and services after international funding of planned progressive developments and shelter projects was withdrawn. The study collected,organized and analyzed evidence about recent planned progressive development strategies that have continued on a small, local scale in several developing countries around the world. The outcome of these recent experiences demonstrates that these simpler strategies were more viable in addressing low-income housing needs, and that projects can be implemented with very little initial investment and without external support. Thus, planned progressive development strategies are still a promising approach to low-income housing.
Housing diversity and consolidation in low income colonias: Patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of the US-Mexico border
College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Colonias are low-income settlements on the US-Mexico border characterized by poor infrastructure, minimum services, and an active housing construction with a high self-help and self-management component. Housing in colonias is very diverse showing house forms that include temporary and permanent structures, campers, trailers or manufactured houses and conventional homes. Most of this housing does not meet construction standards and codes and is considered substandard. Colonias households are also of diverse nature and composition including single households, nuclear and extended families, as well as multiple households sharing lots. This wide variety of house forms and households in colonias fits poorly within the nuclear household, single family detached housing idealized by conventional low-income housing projects, programs and policies. As a result, colonias marginally benefit from the resources available to them and continue to depend mostly on the individual efforts of their inhabitants. This research identifies the housing diversity and the process of housing consolidation in colonias of the US-Mexico border by looking at the patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of South Texas. Findings showed that housing in colonias is built and consolidated following identifiable patterns of successive changes to the house form. Findings also showed that households in colonias share characteristics that change over time in similar ways. These results suggest similarities of colonias with extra-legal settlements in other developing areas. Based on these findings, the study reflects on possible considerations that could improve the impact of projects, programs and policies directed to support colonias and improve colonias housing.
Conflict and Convergence: Urban Informality in Latin America (Symposium Review)
Journal of Architectural Education, Washington, DC
Review of the Symposium "Conflict and Convergence" Organized by Professor Luis Diego Quiros, School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, University of Maryland, October 4–October 5, 2014
Roaming the Boundaries: The Less Explored Roles of Architects in the Low-Income Settlements of Texas
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Washington. DC
Growing poverty and its consequences are one of the most difficult global realities increasingly affecting contemporary America. Rural Texas has been familiar with this reality for years.Low-Income peri-urban development in rural land with limited access to services, facilities,and infrastructure is characteristic around several cities in Texas. Known more for its relationship to the Texas border, records of this type of development in the US date back to the beginning of the 20th century.This paper supports that the effective participation of professionals of the built environment in housing the growing poor sector relies in: a) a better understanding of the issues that stimulate low-income groups to seek for alternatives to conventional housing,b) the incorporation of the strengths of low-income groups to participate in producing their housing, and c) the need for novelty and entrepreneurship in the ways strategies can be articulated to contribute to this process.
Creating the Environment for Social Engagement: the experience of Venezuela
Routledge
During the end of the twentieth century, Venezuela set up the policy, financial and institutional framework to stimulate and enable social engagement in the production of affordable housing for the low-income sector of the population. The limited reach and relatively small impact of more than six decades of heavily subsidized public housing programs led the government to propose a shift on the paradigm in social housing delivery. The conventional mechanism of mass-produced housing was to be progressively replaced by a participatory model involving key actor across the community in the organization, planning, funding, design, construction and management of social housing projects. An innovative strategy to increase social equity and to develop a more efficient housing delivery system was carefully planned and implemented by government authorities and specialists to empower community to have an active role in the productions of their built environment. This chapter is a comprehensive account of the experience and a critical examination of its eventual impact and outcomes.
Informal Suburbia
Culture of the Suburbs Research Center, Exeter University, UK.
A relevant number of American cities have been expanding in an unconventional way for a few decades now. Incremental construction of low-income housing built on subdivided rural land in the outskirts of suburban areas is becoming a common sight. Since these developments usually occur in peri-urban areas at a certain distance away from roads and highways coming into the cities, construction has now been going on for a relevant time. For a country like the US, it has been difficult to accept that suburban informal development very much like the one observed in countries of the developing world is going on within their boundaries. As in developing countries, this informal suburban development is less a regional phenomenon than a mechanism used by people to deal with increasing poverty that, stimulated by global phenomena, transcends political boundaries and involves different cultures and societies, as well as economic and political systems. While the practices, methods, and processes that we see in these low-income neighborhoods are similar to those that operate in other geographies of the globe, the issues that they raise and impose on American cities remain unaddressed by rigid zoning, policy controls, and technical approaches to address this kind of “unconventional” development. This paper is based in studies made to several of these settlements using data that spans almost three decades. The study provides a clear picture of the phenomenon and discusses the particular characteristics that informal suburban environments have adopted in the American context. The paper discusses opportunities for effective public and private participation in these areas.
Evolution of dwellings in progressive development projects: case study El Gallo, Ciudad Guayana
Minimum Cost Housing Center, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Progressive development projects are aimed at enforcing the process of dwelling evolution which has been observed in informal settlements by providing conditions that are favorable for housing development. This study suggests that. under these created environments dwelling evolution presented particular characteristics that differentiated it from similar processes in other contexts. A long-term assessment of the phenomenon of dwelling evolution was conducted at El Gallo, a progressive deveopment project in Ciudad Guayana. Venezuela. Dwelling evolution was examined by observing aspects of the process that were relevant to the case study. These included changes in the dwelling area, spatial configuration and functional layout. The case study provided different levels of user participation in the early stages of development that were also considered in the analysis. The findings indicated a marked change from the temporary dwelling to the permanent structure. This process differed from the gradual replacement of initial shacks that is characteristic of informal settlements. The findings also revealed that the early involvement of the user, as well as the utilization of user-responsive designs for the permanent structure, resulted in lesser stages of dwelling evolution and higher degrees of dwelling developrnent.
After Sites and Services: Planned Progressive Development Strategies in Low Income Housing during the 1990s
School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Planned progressive development strategies and low-income housing have been out of the international development agenda since funding agencies cut-off support to sites and services and similar housing schemes. These projects were among the most widely used approaches to address the need for low-income housing during the 1960s,1970s, and 1980s.The last fifteen years since their abandonment in the mid 1980s have been characterized by the absence of major investments in shelter for the poor in developing countries and the lack of new paradigms in housing. This study argues that planned progressive development strategies in low-income housing were inappropriately abandoned by international sponsors.The prevalent explanation is that projects were discarded because the minimum standards established by governments and donors in these projects made them unaffordable and unsustainable. While this study finds support for this explanation, it also finds that projects became too complex because of the inclusion of many components to the single idea of experimenting with progressive development under controlled conditions of planning. In addition, implementation criteria were too rigid and contrary to the The thesis reviews assessments made to sites and services after international funding of planned progressive developments and shelter projects was withdrawn. The study collected,organized and analyzed evidence about recent planned progressive development strategies that have continued on a small, local scale in several developing countries around the world. The outcome of these recent experiences demonstrates that these simpler strategies were more viable in addressing low-income housing needs, and that projects can be implemented with very little initial investment and without external support. Thus, planned progressive development strategies are still a promising approach to low-income housing.
Housing diversity and consolidation in low income colonias: Patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of the US-Mexico border
College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Colonias are low-income settlements on the US-Mexico border characterized by poor infrastructure, minimum services, and an active housing construction with a high self-help and self-management component. Housing in colonias is very diverse showing house forms that include temporary and permanent structures, campers, trailers or manufactured houses and conventional homes. Most of this housing does not meet construction standards and codes and is considered substandard. Colonias households are also of diverse nature and composition including single households, nuclear and extended families, as well as multiple households sharing lots. This wide variety of house forms and households in colonias fits poorly within the nuclear household, single family detached housing idealized by conventional low-income housing projects, programs and policies. As a result, colonias marginally benefit from the resources available to them and continue to depend mostly on the individual efforts of their inhabitants. This research identifies the housing diversity and the process of housing consolidation in colonias of the US-Mexico border by looking at the patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of South Texas. Findings showed that housing in colonias is built and consolidated following identifiable patterns of successive changes to the house form. Findings also showed that households in colonias share characteristics that change over time in similar ways. These results suggest similarities of colonias with extra-legal settlements in other developing areas. Based on these findings, the study reflects on possible considerations that could improve the impact of projects, programs and policies directed to support colonias and improve colonias housing.
Conflict and Convergence: Urban Informality in Latin America (Symposium Review)
Journal of Architectural Education, Washington, DC
Review of the Symposium "Conflict and Convergence" Organized by Professor Luis Diego Quiros, School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, University of Maryland, October 4–October 5, 2014
Roaming the Boundaries: The Less Explored Roles of Architects in the Low-Income Settlements of Texas
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Washington. DC
Growing poverty and its consequences are one of the most difficult global realities increasingly affecting contemporary America. Rural Texas has been familiar with this reality for years.Low-Income peri-urban development in rural land with limited access to services, facilities,and infrastructure is characteristic around several cities in Texas. Known more for its relationship to the Texas border, records of this type of development in the US date back to the beginning of the 20th century.This paper supports that the effective participation of professionals of the built environment in housing the growing poor sector relies in: a) a better understanding of the issues that stimulate low-income groups to seek for alternatives to conventional housing,b) the incorporation of the strengths of low-income groups to participate in producing their housing, and c) the need for novelty and entrepreneurship in the ways strategies can be articulated to contribute to this process.
Creating the Environment for Social Engagement: the experience of Venezuela
Routledge
During the end of the twentieth century, Venezuela set up the policy, financial and institutional framework to stimulate and enable social engagement in the production of affordable housing for the low-income sector of the population. The limited reach and relatively small impact of more than six decades of heavily subsidized public housing programs led the government to propose a shift on the paradigm in social housing delivery. The conventional mechanism of mass-produced housing was to be progressively replaced by a participatory model involving key actor across the community in the organization, planning, funding, design, construction and management of social housing projects. An innovative strategy to increase social equity and to develop a more efficient housing delivery system was carefully planned and implemented by government authorities and specialists to empower community to have an active role in the productions of their built environment. This chapter is a comprehensive account of the experience and a critical examination of its eventual impact and outcomes.
Beyond the Trailer: Rethinking Affordable Manufactured Housing in the U.S.
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Washington, DC
There are possibilities in low-income housing that the manufactured housing industry has not considered or explored sufficiently.Residential low-income areas on the periphery of some American cities show an elaborate spatial complexity, building creativity, and growing ingenuity in the way housing is built and completed through time. One of the most important characteristics that makes housing in these areas interesting is its incremental character. Decisions on investment in housing are gauged by carefully balancing between housing needs and the household’s available resources.Housing is then built in two or more stages in an incremental process of continuous improvement. Some of these residential environments show great potential to consolidate into good urban habitats and become incorporated into cities as healthy neighborhoods.Prefabricated housing and the manufactured housing industry has a modest presence in this context. However,manufactured housing has the potential of a bigger share of this housing stock because its capacity to preserve its value, relative tradability, and higher fabrication standards This paper is based on a study on the long term changes operated in low-income housing located in the peri-urban areas of Texas. The study identified the characteristics and types of investments made by households in their housing including spatial priorities, housing typologies and technologies, and type of investments made in housing in time.This paper explores avenues for the manufactured housing industry to expand its offer of affordable housing by developing new products that integrate many of the notions operating in low-income housing environments observed in this study and in many places across America. The paper proposes concrete examples on how this could be done.
Informal Suburbia
Culture of the Suburbs Research Center, Exeter University, UK.
A relevant number of American cities have been expanding in an unconventional way for a few decades now. Incremental construction of low-income housing built on subdivided rural land in the outskirts of suburban areas is becoming a common sight. Since these developments usually occur in peri-urban areas at a certain distance away from roads and highways coming into the cities, construction has now been going on for a relevant time. For a country like the US, it has been difficult to accept that suburban informal development very much like the one observed in countries of the developing world is going on within their boundaries. As in developing countries, this informal suburban development is less a regional phenomenon than a mechanism used by people to deal with increasing poverty that, stimulated by global phenomena, transcends political boundaries and involves different cultures and societies, as well as economic and political systems. While the practices, methods, and processes that we see in these low-income neighborhoods are similar to those that operate in other geographies of the globe, the issues that they raise and impose on American cities remain unaddressed by rigid zoning, policy controls, and technical approaches to address this kind of “unconventional” development. This paper is based in studies made to several of these settlements using data that spans almost three decades. The study provides a clear picture of the phenomenon and discusses the particular characteristics that informal suburban environments have adopted in the American context. The paper discusses opportunities for effective public and private participation in these areas.
Evolution of dwellings in progressive development projects: case study El Gallo, Ciudad Guayana
Minimum Cost Housing Center, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Progressive development projects are aimed at enforcing the process of dwelling evolution which has been observed in informal settlements by providing conditions that are favorable for housing development. This study suggests that. under these created environments dwelling evolution presented particular characteristics that differentiated it from similar processes in other contexts. A long-term assessment of the phenomenon of dwelling evolution was conducted at El Gallo, a progressive deveopment project in Ciudad Guayana. Venezuela. Dwelling evolution was examined by observing aspects of the process that were relevant to the case study. These included changes in the dwelling area, spatial configuration and functional layout. The case study provided different levels of user participation in the early stages of development that were also considered in the analysis. The findings indicated a marked change from the temporary dwelling to the permanent structure. This process differed from the gradual replacement of initial shacks that is characteristic of informal settlements. The findings also revealed that the early involvement of the user, as well as the utilization of user-responsive designs for the permanent structure, resulted in lesser stages of dwelling evolution and higher degrees of dwelling developrnent.
After Sites and Services: Planned Progressive Development Strategies in Low Income Housing during the 1990s
School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Planned progressive development strategies and low-income housing have been out of the international development agenda since funding agencies cut-off support to sites and services and similar housing schemes. These projects were among the most widely used approaches to address the need for low-income housing during the 1960s,1970s, and 1980s.The last fifteen years since their abandonment in the mid 1980s have been characterized by the absence of major investments in shelter for the poor in developing countries and the lack of new paradigms in housing. This study argues that planned progressive development strategies in low-income housing were inappropriately abandoned by international sponsors.The prevalent explanation is that projects were discarded because the minimum standards established by governments and donors in these projects made them unaffordable and unsustainable. While this study finds support for this explanation, it also finds that projects became too complex because of the inclusion of many components to the single idea of experimenting with progressive development under controlled conditions of planning. In addition, implementation criteria were too rigid and contrary to the The thesis reviews assessments made to sites and services after international funding of planned progressive developments and shelter projects was withdrawn. The study collected,organized and analyzed evidence about recent planned progressive development strategies that have continued on a small, local scale in several developing countries around the world. The outcome of these recent experiences demonstrates that these simpler strategies were more viable in addressing low-income housing needs, and that projects can be implemented with very little initial investment and without external support. Thus, planned progressive development strategies are still a promising approach to low-income housing.
Housing diversity and consolidation in low income colonias: Patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of the US-Mexico border
College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Colonias are low-income settlements on the US-Mexico border characterized by poor infrastructure, minimum services, and an active housing construction with a high self-help and self-management component. Housing in colonias is very diverse showing house forms that include temporary and permanent structures, campers, trailers or manufactured houses and conventional homes. Most of this housing does not meet construction standards and codes and is considered substandard. Colonias households are also of diverse nature and composition including single households, nuclear and extended families, as well as multiple households sharing lots. This wide variety of house forms and households in colonias fits poorly within the nuclear household, single family detached housing idealized by conventional low-income housing projects, programs and policies. As a result, colonias marginally benefit from the resources available to them and continue to depend mostly on the individual efforts of their inhabitants. This research identifies the housing diversity and the process of housing consolidation in colonias of the US-Mexico border by looking at the patterns of house form and household arrangements in colonias of South Texas. Findings showed that housing in colonias is built and consolidated following identifiable patterns of successive changes to the house form. Findings also showed that households in colonias share characteristics that change over time in similar ways. These results suggest similarities of colonias with extra-legal settlements in other developing areas. Based on these findings, the study reflects on possible considerations that could improve the impact of projects, programs and policies directed to support colonias and improve colonias housing.
Conflict and Convergence: Urban Informality in Latin America (Symposium Review)
Journal of Architectural Education, Washington, DC
Review of the Symposium "Conflict and Convergence" Organized by Professor Luis Diego Quiros, School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, University of Maryland, October 4–October 5, 2014
Roaming the Boundaries: The Less Explored Roles of Architects in the Low-Income Settlements of Texas
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Washington. DC
Growing poverty and its consequences are one of the most difficult global realities increasingly affecting contemporary America. Rural Texas has been familiar with this reality for years.Low-Income peri-urban development in rural land with limited access to services, facilities,and infrastructure is characteristic around several cities in Texas. Known more for its relationship to the Texas border, records of this type of development in the US date back to the beginning of the 20th century.This paper supports that the effective participation of professionals of the built environment in housing the growing poor sector relies in: a) a better understanding of the issues that stimulate low-income groups to seek for alternatives to conventional housing,b) the incorporation of the strengths of low-income groups to participate in producing their housing, and c) the need for novelty and entrepreneurship in the ways strategies can be articulated to contribute to this process.
Creating the Environment for Social Engagement: the experience of Venezuela
Routledge
During the end of the twentieth century, Venezuela set up the policy, financial and institutional framework to stimulate and enable social engagement in the production of affordable housing for the low-income sector of the population. The limited reach and relatively small impact of more than six decades of heavily subsidized public housing programs led the government to propose a shift on the paradigm in social housing delivery. The conventional mechanism of mass-produced housing was to be progressively replaced by a participatory model involving key actor across the community in the organization, planning, funding, design, construction and management of social housing projects. An innovative strategy to increase social equity and to develop a more efficient housing delivery system was carefully planned and implemented by government authorities and specialists to empower community to have an active role in the productions of their built environment. This chapter is a comprehensive account of the experience and a critical examination of its eventual impact and outcomes.
Beyond the Trailer: Rethinking Affordable Manufactured Housing in the U.S.
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Washington, DC
There are possibilities in low-income housing that the manufactured housing industry has not considered or explored sufficiently.Residential low-income areas on the periphery of some American cities show an elaborate spatial complexity, building creativity, and growing ingenuity in the way housing is built and completed through time. One of the most important characteristics that makes housing in these areas interesting is its incremental character. Decisions on investment in housing are gauged by carefully balancing between housing needs and the household’s available resources.Housing is then built in two or more stages in an incremental process of continuous improvement. Some of these residential environments show great potential to consolidate into good urban habitats and become incorporated into cities as healthy neighborhoods.Prefabricated housing and the manufactured housing industry has a modest presence in this context. However,manufactured housing has the potential of a bigger share of this housing stock because its capacity to preserve its value, relative tradability, and higher fabrication standards This paper is based on a study on the long term changes operated in low-income housing located in the peri-urban areas of Texas. The study identified the characteristics and types of investments made by households in their housing including spatial priorities, housing typologies and technologies, and type of investments made in housing in time.This paper explores avenues for the manufactured housing industry to expand its offer of affordable housing by developing new products that integrate many of the notions operating in low-income housing environments observed in this study and in many places across America. The paper proposes concrete examples on how this could be done.
El Fenómeno de la Informalidad en Periferias Urbanas de los Estados Unidos de América
Módulo Arquitectura CUC, Vol. 14 No. 1, 33-53
La vivienda informal es un fenómeno usualmente asociado a la periferia de ciudades que combinan pobreza y rápido crecimiento urbano, el cual ha sido característico en América Latina y en muchos otros países en desarrollo. En este artículo se analiza el fenómeno de la informalidad en asentamientos en periferias urbanas de los Estados Unidos de América, específicamente en el estado de Texas, donde desarrollos informales de vivienda conocidos como colonias son habitados por grupos de escasos recursos que no encuentran alternativas dentro de la oferta formal residencial de centros urbanos cercanos. En el artículo se reflexiona sobre el rol que nuevos profesionales de las disciplinas del medio ambiente construido y otros actores de lo urbano están llamados a jugar ante este nuevo reto.
