An inclusive approach to improving local infrastructure: Lessons from Buenos Aires

An ambitious urban renewal process has been taking place in the informal settlements of Buenos Aires since 2016. When the project began, the ‘Villas’ of the city had no sewers, stormwater drains or clean drinking water systems. Those who lived in the settlements were wary of such interventions, perceiving them as a tactic to drive them out of their homes.

As the government’s plans to enhance the infrastructure, housing and basic public services in these areas took shape, residents and activists wanted to track whether the new measures were in fact delivering tangible benefits for the local community.

The organization, Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ), developed a methodology to examine the budgets and public contracts associated with these projects and to gauge residents’ experiences with the new infrastructure and services. To monitor all the public works that had been promised, ACIJ worked with residents to collect open contracting data from BAObras and other public information, to file access to information requests, and conduct community surveys. They shared their findings with local authorities and contractors at dedicated council meetings, which helped to fast-track the most urgently needed works, and increase residents’ input in planning future projects.

After a successful pilot in Villa 31 in 2021, similar monitoring was carried out in two other settlements: Villa 20 and Playón Chacarita.

This open contracting approach delivered the following results: 

Better infrastructure and service delivery

• Measurable improvements in access to housing, water, electricity and sewage, green spaces, and education and health services, as well as higher satisfaction among recipients of new housing.

Better access to information

• Upgrades to the citizen-focused portal Caminos de la Villa (“Paths of the Villa”) provide a comprehensive overview of works in informal settlements. The platform connects data on tenders, budgets and community monitoring, and reveals gaps in infrastructure projects and access as part of the urbanization process. 

• Communities have generated valuable insights for the government. Housing authorities used ACIJ data and information about Villa 20 for their own assessments and official reports analyzing their work from 2016 to 2023 (pages 7 and 8). This project produced useful data the government didn’t have before, aggregating data from different sectors and agencies and cross-referencing data from contracts, projects, spending, budgets, contractors, project execution, and more.

Greater engagement and participation 

• The new administration of the Housing Institute of the City (IVC) has committed to better organize the information and data on tenders and works to better facilitate access to information requests, including a new spreadsheet designed by ACIJ to respond to the requests with all data from tenders and works.
• Residents are using data to support their requests to the government. In meetings with public officials, they use the data to advocate for high priority public works to be implemented (many have already been awarded).
• Residents in informal settlements have greater awareness of what is happening in their neighborhoods and opportunities to express their concerns. 

Grecia Guzmán, a secondary school teacher and recent architecture graduate, has lived in Villa 20 for most of her life. She joined the urbanization claim process from the start as a technical advisor and coordinator for construction works. She recalls a case where citizens identified a work that was done poorly and the inclusive feedback mechanism allowed them to raise the issue with the local authorities.

 
The contract was subsequently canceled. Grecia has now moved to a new housing complex in Villa 20. 

With a new federal government deprioritizing funding to local infrastructure throughout 2024, it is more important than ever to ensure the money that is available is spent well.

OCP is already working with ACIJ to scale up and replicate this approach both at the national level and in other countries.