Another path? : the consolidation of informal settlements in Buenos Aires through the co-production of services
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This thesis investigates the issue of co-production; that is, the joint provision of \nservices involving residents, the local government and private providers. Co-production is a commonly used approach to facilitate access to basic services in \ninformal settlements in the developing world. But, rigorous micro-econometric \nevaluation of its causal effects is rare. This study uses a ‘natural experiment’, \npossible due to strict technical reasons involved in the provision of gas energy to \ninformal neighbourhoods in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, to estimate the \neffects on the social and physical dimension of residents’ investments. Estimates \nare created at three co-production stages: an initial social interaction stage to \nintroduce the service; the connection stage, and; an impact stage several years \nafter programme completion. The research measures effect on housing \nimprovements, participatory involvement associated with the internalisation of \nbenefits, and suggests the presence of collective capacity for furthering \ncollaborative efforts. The latter can be associated with the significant improvement \nin the residents’ reported trust in neighbourhood organisations at the different \nimplementation stages. Importantly, the research measures residual effects by legal \ntenure conditions. Co-production has contributed to an incremental effect only for \ninformal residents’ reported level of trust in the local public sector. Trust in the \nfamily, rather than generalised trust, appears as a significant residual effect of the \nintervention that is positively correlated with the undertaking of housing \nimprovements. \n
Author: Cynthia Goyita
Language: English
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1578418236