La Sexta Slum, Rosario, Argentina. Photo Authorship: Ludovico Mack & Franco Lpez.

Because We are Just Not Free Enough

Franco Lpez, Rosario, Argentina.
An interesting recent article for The Atlantic Cities written by Richard Florida addressed the issue of
growing poor megacities in the southern hemisphere, something that an Argentinean architecture
student like myself couldnt resist to read.
The article stands that those concerned with the "Global South" have rightly pointed to the persistent
poverty in some large, dense cities of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Consider the Democratic Republic
of Congos Kinshasa () If urbanization really helps drive economic development, why so many global
cities remain poor?
The fundamental question that Florida asks seems to have been answered (At least for a northern
hemisphere intellectual) by the studies developed by Edward Glaeser in a paper that demonstrates how
the divergence between urbanization and national prosperity has been centered in developing nations
over the last half-century explaining that the growth has been particularly dramatic among particularly
poor places, in Glaeser own words.
Florida states that the specific kind of growth that poor countries happen to experiment is one of
concentrated urbanization in just one mega-region, showing the examples of cities like Dakar, Port-auPrince, Karachi and Kinshasa with 8.4 million inhabitants since the 1960s.
The basic argument that Glaeser exposes, which Florida happens to agree on, argues that the
spectacular increase in slums population in poor countries main cities is the result of a more fully
globalized economy in which trade allows cities to develop despite poor hinterlands. Basically that,
cities like Port-Au-Prince can be fed with imported American rice, as Glaeser explains.
Is in this point that I urge to stop you and remark that they got it all completely wrong.

Glaeser and Florida are missing the most important factor that impulses poor urban concentration.
Even though the arguments previously explained do indeed contribute and allow urban concentration in
developing countries, there is a key element that they are missing. And that key element is big fat
corrupt and interventionist governments.
I happened to live in the second most important city of a developing country, Rosario, Argentina, which
shows exactly that kind of concentrated and poor urban growth around the central area, better shown
in our capital, Buenos Aires.
Ive lived at 300 meters from a dangerous slum, Ive worked teaching little children in another old slum
and my last architectural project (prized 2nd in a national contest) happens to be placed in one slum. I
have friends in slums, I regularly visit slums, Ive seen one slum go bigger, I know the particular family
stories behind those poor people that fill up cold meaningless charts, and I assure you, if you are looking
for something or someone to blame I know exactly where you can find them: Balcarce 50, presidential
headquarters.
Weve suffered more that 80 years of populist governments that pushed up taxes, filled the country with
regulations and discretionally concentrated economic resources in government hands (if not their own).
They have been delivering special favors and subsidies among their friends and supporters making of
Argentina the international heartland of lobby and corruption. The logical result is no other than people
trying to get as close as they can to the main source of welfare and economic wellbeing.
Ive seeing myself how refrigerators were being distributed between poor people in exchange of votes.
Ive worked in companies that had to go to the capital in order to get a subsidy so they can buy a piece
of machine they couldnt buy otherwise, for seeing later how all the same category companies had to
influence the Secretary of Commerce so he allows important mechanical pieces to be imported above
the increasing importing restrictions.
If you want to do something in our country, you need to know someone, youll have to give some favors
and youll need permission. So, the best thing you can do is go straight down to the capital, where
power is being struggled, votes are needed and decisions are being made.
Even my own family is the result of this process. When General Juan Domingo Pern approved the Rural
Worker Statute, among implementing other unjust measures like ceasing land property from my poor
ascendants in order to distributed between political supporters, my grandfathers had to come to the city
to get a job because being a peasant was no longer a viable economic activity.

La Sexta Slum, Rosario, Argentina. Photo Authorship: Ludovico Mack & Franco Lpez. 1958 Film Poster

This scenario well portrayed by Lucas Demares 1958 film Detrs de un largo muro (Behind a long
wall, where a family of farmers has to move to Buenos Aires because of the agricultural economic
situation) is the repeated scene shown once and again in most of poor countries.
Even if your personal economic condition in non-central areas is not being affected by the general
situation, the expanded impoverishment restrains the provision of services to smalls regions around
political centers, where infrastructure is provided, permissions are delivered and scale economies fit the
high costs economic matrixes, decreasing your life standard and forcing you to move. Walking through
the slums you can hear hundreds of stories where this or that family just arrived from the neighbor state
because they couldnt find a job, a welfare program or even just phone signal for their cell phones.

The Storni family, in La Sexta Slum, Rosario, Argentina. Photo Authorship: Ludovico Mack & Franco Lpez.

Then, we can conclude that power concentration over freedom is mainly the most important factor
determining slum growth in poor countries. The rest of the details can be left aside (probably, the story
of my peasant great-grandfather defending his farm from expropriation with his 1912-Winchester rifle
against the army sent by the Peronist-Nazy Flag Hoister local authorities, will fit better another future
article).
If you really want to know why do many global cities remain poor, I perceive the answer: Because we
are just not free enough.
Poor people are being caged in megacities slums, and its not by chance, its government fault.

Little Mili, in La Sexta Slum, Rosario, Argentina. Photo Authorship: Ludovico Mack & Franco Lpez.