doi 10.4067/S0718-83582014000300002

Inner peripheries of Lima: Location and identification of vulnerability-generating neighborhoods. The case of San Cosme¹

Paula Kapstein Lopez² and Edith Aranda Dioses³

2 Chile. Architect, University of Valparaiso.PhD in Urbanism, Technical University of Madrid. Professor, School of Architecture, Northern Catholic University.

3 Peru. Sociologist, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. MSc, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Principal professor at National University of Engineering.

Abstract

A system of inner peripheries has been identified in downtown Lima, comprising a series of old slums that makes up an urban entity with its own characteristics and problems.These slumswere part of the northern periphery of Lima until the 1950s and extended along the course of the Rimac River, the then-border between the district of Lima and the emerging northern extension of the urban area.

The objective of this paper is to demarcate the system of inner peripheries and identify the neighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability within the system.

The methodology used by this research is based both on a cartographic analysis of the growth experienced by Lima from 1940 to 1981 and the study of the urban and social conditions of neighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability. This research describes the case of San Cosme, which by reasons of its age and its geomorphological and urban characteristics is one of the paradigmatic slums of Lima. The findings of this paper support the need to generate a Master Plan on Rehabilitation Strategies aimed at the inner peripheries of Lima.

KEYWORDS: SYSTEM OF INNER PERIPHERIES, VULNERABILITY-GENERATING NEIGHBORHOOD, CARTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF URBAN GROWTH, LIMA.

Introduction

Lima experienced intense growth over the course of the 20th century. According to Matos Mar⁴, this rapid expansion of the population dates back to the 1930s. It was during that period that people began to migrate to Lima, mainly from highly impoverished Andean towns.

The main characteristics of this explosive growth are informality (in terms of housing and the presence of irregular urbanization in the vicinity) and the configuration of a metropolis of nine million inhabitants that concentrates a third of the total Peruvian population which is composed of diverse barriers that generate urban and social fragmentation.

The rapid growth experienced by the city of Lima between 1940 and 1981 was not accompanied by effective planning instruments. This brought about the decline of central spaces, which became highly vulnerable due to: traffic congestion, abandonment on the part of the city and the degradation of housing. From this observation, and the application of methodology based on a graphic detection of borders (both internal and peripheral), this enabled the identification of a system of inner peripheries.⁵That is to say, during the explosive growth of the city certain old peripheral zones ended up located in the inner and central part of the city.

Theoretical framework

This research is based on the dissertation "The Inner Periphery. A Vulnerability Issue that has not been resolved by Chilean Urban Planning"⁶ and addresses some concepts that have taken on a new meaning as the result of the complexity and volume of the city of Lima.

Hypotheses and Objectives

The hypotheses underlying this research are described as follows:

- The inner peripheries of Lima comprise a large area with many connections between the vulnerable neighborhoods that compose this unit. For this reason it can be assumed that this group of inner peripheries make up an urban system;

- The inner peripheries of Lima emerge as the result of massive migrations, mainly from Andean rural towns. In this way, inner peripheries become the physical structure that enables the transition from the rural environment to the urban environment; in other words, these are poor and disorganized spaces that have been able to absorb the rural way of life;

- There are two facts that define the nature of the system of inner peripheries in Lima; on the one hand, the vulnerable neighborhoods that are part of this system show high rates of population growth during the 1940-1981 period; on the other hand, the housing density of these vulnerable neighborhoods is increasing at a speed comparable to that of population growth rates.

In order to verify these hypotheses this research pursues the following objectives:

- Identify the emergence of a system of inner vulnerable areas with stages of urban growth and the development of the metropolitan area of Lima.

- Locate and demarcate the system of inner peripheries; identify then eighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability.

The Urbanization Process in Peru

In Latin America the urban growth process has been strongly influenced by migration from rural zones (since the first decades of the 20th century until the 1990s), which has resulted in high urban concentrations.

The process of Peruvian urbanization shows, in a particular way, the Latin American situation. The strong influence of the Andes on the territory is in evidence by the slow agricultural development of the country and the lack of access of the mountain people to coastal areas; this has resulted in the slow urbanization process of Peru in comparison to other Latin American countries.

On the other hand, and for purposes of discussion, this research analyzed the 1940-2007 period. The year 1940 marked theintensificationof migration flows to Lima and the subsequent population growth, which was recorded in the census conducted that year. Likewise, the last population census, coordinated by the National Statistical Office (INEI), was conducted in 2007.

From 1940 to 2007⁷, the relationship between rural and urban population was reversed. In 1940, 65 percent of the total population lived in rural areas and the remaining 35 percent lived in urban areas. These figures changed in 2007, with 26 percent of the population living in rural areas and 76 percent living in urban areas. According to 1961 Census data, the total population of Peru was equally distributed in rural and urban areas, as shown in tabla 1. However, such a trend began to de reversed in 1972, when most of the population became urban. This observation can be verified by analyzing the information provided by table 2, which shows that the annual growth rate of urban population was 5.1 percent, the highest in latest decades (see tables 1 and 2).

Tabla 1. Distribution of the urban and rural population of Peru in census years from 1940 to 2007

Source: INEI, 2008.

Tabla 2. Anual grouwth rates of census population according to their areas of residence

Source: INEI, 2008.

From 1940 to 2007, the urban population of the Lima department and the constitutional province of Callao rose 13 times: from 711,441 to 9,152,700⁸ inhabitants. As for its extension, the city went from being a conurbation connected to other towns such as Callao and Chorrillos to a metropolitan area covering 266,467 ha, thereby increasing its surface 43 times. The information provided reveals an obvious fact: the metropolitan unit of Lima and El Callao grewaccording to extensive and diffuse patterns, thus becoming unsustainable at environmental and urban level.

The factors that supported this explosive and diffuse growth can be summarized as follows: sites that favored informal growth, a good environment and a land regulation that facilitated access to vacant plots.

Driant⁹ points out that, historically, State legislation has reinforced the physical foundations of residential stratification in Lima, thereby contributing to the growth of the city. Colonial power established legislation that ensured the return of unused lands back to the State; today, after five centuries, such an order still remains in force. Likewise, according to Riofrio¹⁰, the Peruvian State did not develop any proper housing policy aimed at the poor people during the XX century; the solution chosen was giving this group of people the freedom to occupy lands and build slums so long as private interests were not affected.

The inequality referred to the size and population of Lima in comparison to the rest of Peruvian cities is an issue derived from the predominant economic position attained by this city during the second half of the 20th century. According to Gonzales de Olarte¹¹, the intense migratory flow is the most visible aspect of its growth; however, a less visible feature is the mobilization of resources and capital from the rest of the regions —and from abroad— to the city of Lima. The latter has contributed to reinforce a process of accumulation of capitalthat is relatively greater than that of the rest of the regions.

Inner Peripheries and Slums in Lima

The concept of Inner Periphery discussed by this paper is based on the definition used by Kapstein¹²:

It is the system composed of those deteriorated urban spaces located in the downtown of the city, which correspond to zones of an old periphery that remained frozen in time: the growth of the urban fabric passed through this area, neglecting its development and enclosing it within the city and as a result this space became the border between different spaces used for different purposes.

This definition implies recalling the systemic approach used to address the inner peripheries described in this paper. In this respect the concept of interstice provided by Hannerz¹³relates to Inner Peripheries, due to the latter being composed of urban interstices belonging to spaces located between one place and another.¹⁴ The capacity to gather vulnerable neighborhoods, disused industries, abandoned spaces, deserted lands and polluted or deteriorated lands derives from the interstitial condition that characterizes the system of inner peripheries.

On the other hand, the concept of slum refers to the organization of dwellers in need of housing who occupy a portion of land and perform collective actions to self-resolve their urban-related and social organization issues (Matos Mar¹⁵). As Matos¹⁶ suggests, thelow-income housing concept emerged in Lima between 1945 and 1949. Such a span of time coincides with the increase in the migration flows from the Andean regions to the coastal cities. Likewise, this period marked the beginning of the organized occupation of land.

This period was chosen as it refers to the emergence of the inner peripheries of Lima. A process which took place between 1940 and 1981 —a period in which the growth of the city reached its peak— and led to the creation of the current metropolitan area except for a few differences in size and population resulting from new encroachments in the northern and southern areas of the city that occurred after 1981 (see figure 1).

The system of inner peripheries of Lima comprises vulnerable neighborhoods related to each other by borders that ensure continuity between them.¹⁷ These neighborhoods are historical slums that may be consolidated or semi-consolidated; however, they share their central location within the city and their closeness to the Rimac River.

Methodology

Methodological Process

The methodology used by this research was divided into two phases. On the one hand, the system of inner peripheries was demarcated according to maps for the census years of 1940, 1950, 1961, 1972 and 1981 —a time span in which the population growth of the city reached its peak. The comparative analysis among these maps was conducted through the use of a single cartographic base; for this purpose, the map of Lima (2012) was considered. This map was used to draw, on a sequential basis, the evolution of the urban plan until reaching the oldest map, which takes us back to 1940 (IGN).¹⁸ Different graphic sources were used to demarcate the urban perimeter of each map; however, a special mention should be given to the work supervised by Architect Luis Sipion (INEI-INADUR).¹⁹

Once the maps were completed, the identification of both inner and peripheral borders was pursued. This was carried out not only to demarcate the limits of the system of inner peripheries, but also to define its current structure, which is based on the existence of neighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability.

The second part of this methodology corresponds to the identification of these neighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability. This was achieved by conducting field visits and interviews to local leaders and neighbors from many slums belonging to this system. Likewise, the origins and emergence of each of these slums were also analyzed. This research provides a definition of a vulnerability-generating neighborhood and chooses four of these units; this paper particularly focuses on the neighborhood of San Cosme. The analysis of this unit also provides observations on the origin and history of other areas of this system.

Finally, the analysis of the urban and social conditions of the neighborhoods belonging to the system of inner peripheries sheds light on the need to reverse the vulnerability of this area based on the understanding that this space is also part of the metropolitan area of Lima.

Methodological Reflections

The city is an artificial construct that reflects the conditioning of the physical environment and patterns transmitted through techniques (construction and settlement methods) and culture (ways of interpreting the world). It is from here that urban science is a discipline which mixes various aspects of knowledge with other operational aspects of processing methods of the physical environment and, ultimately, the city (such as urban planning). Such a dichotomy is outlined in this paper. In this sense, the initial approach of this urban-oriented research and the analysis of cases deal with these two perspectives; in other words, this paper uses a quantitative approach to address the issues discussed herein and it offers a complementarily qualitative analysis that includes different approaches.

This research is intended to place the concept of vulnerability withinthe urban development domain. In order to do so we rely on social and physical approaches with the aim of focusing the methodological process on the identification of vulnerability problems within the city of Lima.

Vulnerable neighborhoods comprising the system of inner peripheries

Cartographic Analysis and the Location of the System of Inner Peripheries

Inner peripheries are old peripheral zones that were incorporated within the urban fabric as the result of the expansion of the city. This was verified by analyzing maps dating back to the 20th century which documents a process of increasing urban growth. Chief among these maps is a diagram from 1908 that depicts the configuration of a territorial triangle that comprised Lima and its seaside area. The Pilot Plan of 1949 also shows some characteristics that contributed to define the expansion of the city (see figures 1 and 2).

Figure 1. Map of Lima, Associated Electric Companies, 1908

Source: "Maps of Lima 1613-1983", J. Gunther Doering, 1983.

Figure 2. Pilot Plan of Lima, 1949

Source: Pilot Plan of Lima. National Office for Land Planning and Urban Development. Supreme Decree n° 256, September 12, 1949.

Apart from showing the then-built up areas, the Pilot Plan of 1949 also provides information regarding projection areas, half-built areas, industries and the projection of areas for industrial purposes. This Plan, developed by the National Office for Land Planning and Urban Development, was intended to identify the borders of the city and define the areas that would be used by the new housing units built by the State. Figure 2 clearly shows the undeveloped areas by 1949. This map also shows most of the then-unclassified lands belonging to the area north of the bisecting line that runs through the territorial triangle, which corresponds to Brazil Avenue (see figure 2).

On the other hand, the closeness to the harbor —and its need of non-qualified workforce— was another factor that turned the banks of the Rimac River into one of the first slums of the city. In addition, these were poor-quality land plots due to their closeness to the industrial district, which had already been defined in the Pilot Plan of 1949.

Location and Demarcation of the System of Inner Peripheries

Location and Demarcation was achieved throughthe identification of a system of inner peripheries —located within the historic city center— that runswest to east (from the ocean to the highlands), and adjacent to the course of the Rimac River. This urban system emerges as a unit due to the nature of the elements that ensure its continuity (such as the Rimac River and some roads). However, this system is also a highly fragmented universe composed of contrasting areas that are not connected to each other. The first definition of the perimeter of this area was carried out through the identification of the streets that marked a change in land use. In the cases where this was not possible, the different elevation heights of the ground were identified allowing the categorization of unused areas, as in the case of the San Cristobal area (zone B, figure 3).

This system can be divided into three large areas. All of them were part of the northern periphery of Lima during the expansion process experienced by the city over the 20th century (see figure 3).

Figure 3. Identification of the System of Inner Peripheries

Source: Elaborated by the author based on the map of Lima issued by the National Geographic Institute, 2012.

- A. The western area located along the course of the Rimac River, between Elmer Faucett Avenue and the Alfonso Ugarte Street bridge. This zone comprises the districts of Callao, San Martin de Porres and Lima.

- B. The area comprising part of the districts of Rimac and San Juan de Lurigancho, located on the north bank of the river.

- C. The southern area of the river, which is delimited by the Rimac River, the Evitamiento road, part of the Central highway, Nicolas Arriola Avenue, Mexico Avenue and Grau Avenue. This is the largest zone and comprises most of the district of El Agustino and part of the districts of Santa Anita, Ate Vitarte and La Victoria.

The initial demarcation shown by figure 3 was corrected through a cartographic study intended to define the perimeter of the system of inner peripheries of Lima (figure 4:images a, b, c, d and e). Such an exercise consisted in representing the peripheral limits (white) and the inner limits²⁰ of each map analyzed (1940, 1950, 1961, 1972 and 1981).

Figure 4. Demarcation of the System of Inner Peripheries: the Peripheral Borders (white) become Inner Borders (red) as the City Expanded

Source: Elaborated by Paula Kapstein.

In the case of Lima, it is appropriate to talk about the system of inner peripheries due to the size of the metropolitan unit and the expansion process experienced by such a unit; therefore, the definition of a vulnerable inner area depends onrecognizing that this is not an isolated zone (as in the case of smaller cities with different growth dynamics), but a complex urban territory with clearly differentiated places that are connected to each other, thus forming a system.

Finally, this system of inner peripheries is a vast area located around the historic city center. This system covers 2,710 ha²¹ and comprises of nine districts²², namely, Callao, Cercado de Lima, San Martin de Porres, Rimac, San Juan de Lurigancho, El Agustino, Santa Anita and La Victoria. This delimited area has a population of about half a million inhabitants²³ (see figure 7).

Below are the first five maps corresponding to 1940, 1950, 1961, 1972 and 1981 —a time span in which the urban growth of the city reached its peak.

From 1940 to 1950—parallel to the urbanization process within the "territorial triangle"—the city began to expand towards the northern border, which is defined by the Rimac River. This resulted in the emergence of the first slums in the foothills of the city.

As for the map of 1950, there are still unused zones in the area surrounding El Callao, the District of Lima and San Miguel. However, these areas were almost completely urbanized by 1961. Likewise the map of 1961 shows an urban sprawl extending northwards from the metropolis. It is also possible to see that some former peripheral borders are now located within the city.

From 1961 to 1972, the city began to expand southwards and the northern area became consolidated thus continuing its expansion. The borders located within the triangle became diversified and all of them were already enclosed within the city. Likewise, the river was no longer the border that divided peripheral and central areas and also became part of the inner area of the metropolis. Therefore, it is possible to say that the 1960s marked the emergence of the system of inner peripheries of Lima.

Between 1972 and 1982 the city began to expand towards a new direction: the central Sierra. Such an expansion relied on the central highway and the railway system; the following maps show the extension of the new peripheral borders.

This cartographic exercise contributed to define the perimeter of the system of inner peripheries; such a goal was achieved through the identification of the position of peripheral borders once the system was finally completed at the beginning of the 1980s (see figure 5).

Figure 5. Final Demarcation of the System of Inner Peripheries of Lima

Source: Elaborated by the author.

With respect to the focal points of degradation discovered is the importance of the Rimac River. This river has been regarded by the city administration as a residual space that should be kept hidden from view: such concealment is reinforced by the almost continuous walls and fences built on the streets that run parallel to the river. There is also a series of sources of degradation located along this course of water: abandoned industries, deserted lands and waste dumps.

On the other hand, topography has been a decisive factor in the location of the first peripheral slums that appeared in Lima. This is verified by the settlements established in the San Cosme, El Pino and El Agustino hills during the 1940s. The lack of flat terrain in these areas triggered a steep rise in housing density, thereby leading to the emergence of neighborhoods where the street is the space where private and public spheres converge; according toAranda²⁴, such a concurrence generates new forms of social integration.

Neighborhoods that act as Focal Points of Vulnerability

The location of the analyzed neighborhoods is displayed on the map entitled neighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability (figure 6). These neighborhoods are old slums that, historically, have undergone a double process. On the one hand, they have become consolidated as they have been provided with basic services with most of them being surfaced with asphalt and provided with street lighting,but on the other hand, the vulnerability issues common to these areas such as crime, the lack of security and physical risk resulting from poorly developed infrastructure or the lack of accessibility have either persisted or even widened.

Figure 6. Map depicting the relationships among the neighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability within the system of inner peripheries

Source: Elaborated by Paula Kapstein.

A neighborhood that act as focal points of vulnerability is considered as informal slum of more than fifty years old suffering from physical and urban deprivation. All these characteristics translate intoa low quality of life, the emergence of social problems, endogenous poverty, pollution and the lack of urban structures. At the same time, and due to their own disorganization and fragmentation, these neighborhoods may directly affect the degradation process of other slums located within the system of inner peripheries²⁵. In other words, the neighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability are those slumswith the higher degradation level within the system of inner peripheries, which comprises ten vulnerable neighborhoods.

The neighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability identified within this system are: Villa Maria del Perpetuo Socorro (Cercado de Lima, MIRR area), Leticia (Rimac), Las Terrazas de Catalina Huanca (El Agustino) and San Cosme (La Victoria). Below is a brief summary of San Cosme, a neighborhood that, due to its own geomorphological configuration, emerges as an Inner Periphery contained within a larger Inner Periphery.

Figure 6 shows the system of inner peripheries composed of three subsystems: the first comprises of San Martin de Porres and Mirones and the other comprises of San Martin de Porres and Villa Maria; the second subsystem is composed of parts of San Juan de Lurigancho, Leticia and Cantagallo —and maintains a relationship with Barrios Altos, located on the other side of the Rimac River; and the third is located away from the river and comprises of four slums: Las Terrazas de Catalina Huanca, San Pedro de Ate, San Cosme and El Pino. The latter subsystem has some integrated streets that ensure its continuity: the Mexico and Riva Agüero avenues that extend from the downtown of the city to El Agustino, and the Via del Evitamiento, which runs from behind the hill to the rest of the city. This subsystem is located in a peripheral position within the system of inner peripheries.

Map 6 also shows the neighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability. The first, Villa Maria del Perpetuo Socorro, is located in the area comprising Caqueta Avenue and Callao; the second vulnerable neighborhood, Leticia, is located in the central zone; lastly, the zone of El Agustino contains two focus of vulnerability: Las Terrazas de Catalina Huanca and San Cosme.

San Cosme (La Victoria)

The analysis of the neighborhood of San Cosme was conducted through a literature review regarding its origin and emergence. There followed field visits and interviews with local leaders conducted in order to identify the needs and weaknesses of this neighborhood.This phase also included guided walks with staff from the Division for Social Promotion at the Municipality of La Victoria, which took place in May, 2013²⁶.

The slum of San Cosme can be easily identified as it covers the hill that bears the same name, which is located in front of another hill El Pino that was inhabited after successive settlements that occurred during the 1950s. As Matos Mar suggests²⁷, the origin of San Cosme dates back to 1946 and is related to a popular urban movement that became notorious within the context of the political volatility sparked by the triumph of the National Democratic Party. Back then the San Cosme hill was in the hands of the Canepa brothers, who also owned the farm "El Pino". In 1946 the wholesale and retail trade activity carried out in the neighborhood of Manzanilla was transferred to its current location in La Victoria, next to San Cosme. This event led to the arrival of merchants and workers into the areas surrounding their source of employment.

As Matos Mar²⁸ points out, on July 1946 a group of people working in the wholesale area (including some immigrants from the Sierra) settled along the San Pablo Avenue at the foothills of San Cosme. In September that year a group of neighbors agreed to settle the hill. However such an action was not completed due to a lack of support by the rest of settlers. Then, on September 24 1946 the first organized invasion was carried out by approximately 120 individuals who climbed the hill to build the first dwellings. According to Victor Calderon, the local leader of San Cosme²⁹, thissettlement marked the birth of the "Association of Residents of San Cosme", an entity that still exists today.

This neighborhood movement was so powerful that it in achieving what other slums could not: the support of the State.This cooperation effort enabled the consolidation of San Cosme, which would lead to an increase in population density as the result of migrations from the Sierra and other parts of Lima over the following decades.

In 1957, the same year in which Matos Mar conducted the census of slums in Lima, San Cosme had a population of 5,674 inhabitants. In 2007, the number of inhabitants in this neighborhood rose to 19,744 (INEI, 2007). These figures show that the population in this area grew by 3.47 times (an increase of 248 percent); in the case of Lima, while the 1961 census conducted by the National Statistical Institute gave a total population of 1,957,267 inhabitants, the 2007 census revealed a total population of 9,152,700 inhabitants —which grew by 4,68 times. In other words, there was an increase of 368 percent during the period spanning 1961 to 2007.

The metropolis has grown at a dizzying pace. However, San Cosme has also experienced a steep population increase. Though it has not reached the growth rates of the metropolis, San Cosme has completely covered the available surface, thus giving rise to an Inner Periphery that has a higher density when compared to the surrounding neighborhoods. This observation confirms one of our hypotheses: the population growth rates of neighborhoods that act as focal points of vulnerability may reflect the average growth of the metropolis during the period analyzed.

As figure 7 suggests, San Cosme has a curved and slightly elongated shape with a southward concavity. Walking through the area, it is possible to see how this curvature allowsthe observation of the slopes of this hill and that of El Pino, and even distinguish the zone of San Pedro de Ate from far away.

Figure 7. Aerial picture of San Cosme

Source: Google Earth, April, 2013.

San Cosme is smaller than El Pino in terms of surface³⁰ and height. San Cosme lacks vehicular roadways; there are only passageways and stairways as can be seen in the aerial photograph figure 7. These images also reveal the high housing density of the area, which is of approximately 320 dwellings/ ha³¹; such a configuration brings more disadvantages than advantages. One of the positive aspects offered by this unit is the social cohesion among neighbors which is generated as the result of the closeness of their dwellings to each other (though this is certainly relative); as for the disadvantages of this area, overcrowding and the presence of contagious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) emerge as problematic issues.Another disadvantage is represented by the low standards of dwellings, which can potentially become slums —different families living in the same dwelling. This situation leads to poor quality of life and promiscuity. As for the neighborhood, apart from a little square with a surfaced soccer pitch located at the top of the hill, there are few meeting spaces (figures 7 and 8).

Figure 8. Pictures of public spaces in San Cosme; these areas are heavily used due to the lack of courtyards

Source: Photo by Paula Kapstein, May 2013.

As Matos Mar suggests in his book about the slums of Lima (1957) —verified by Driant in 1991—, San Cosme is regarded as the first shanty town that emerged in the city as it represented a new model of urban growth. San Cosmedescribes the slum type as it is composed of elements that define the condition of these spaces: neighborhood organization, progressive occupation of land as the result of invasions and entrepreneurship.

Despite being located behind the Rimac River, San Cosme plays an important role within the system of inner peripheries of Lima. Such a role is defined by two factors: its establishment —derived from the organized action of its residents— and the demarcation of the slum —generated by the topography of the hill. These characteristics enabled this neighborhood to evolve as an independent unit, as though it were an urban island. Therefore, it is possible to refer to this area as an Inner Periphery contained within the general system of inner peripheries. Such a feature can be seen in figure 7.

As for vulnerability, San Cosme is mainly affected by social problems: juvenile delinquency and drug abuse. With respect to health, there is a high incidence of tuberculosis³².

In environmental terms, the streets surrounding the wholesale and retail markets of La Parada and the access to San Cosme are affected by hygiene issues. This situation exacerbates the abovementioned problems; however, the streets located within the hill are kept clean. Likewise, the Municipality has been conducting some sanitation and hygiene campaigns in public spaces; this is the case of the "Whitewash your Street" program, which is intended to clean and whitewash the external walls of dwellings.³³

On the other hand, an important number of dwellings are at risk of collapse or slipping due to the poor condition of walls and retaining walls, which are poorly constructed from cheap materials.

This neighborhood emerges as the hub that connects other vulnerable neighborhoods: Las Terrazas de Catalina Huanca, San Pedro de Ate and El Pino.

San Cosme is a paradigmatic case as its vulnerability-generating variables can be found in other vulnerability-generating neighborhoods within the system of inner peripheries.

Conclusions

Overcoming Vulnerability Issues

Demarcating and identifying the areas of downtown Lima that concentrate urban, physical and social problems may contribute to address urban vulnerability. The problem is that Lima has a metropolitan area composed of 49 districts and downtown Lima is composed of 9 districts. What can be done to solve this issue?

Overcoming the problems associated with the system of inner peripheries implies an improvement in urban terms. As Roch³⁴ points out, the city, due to its urban condition, can tackle social vulnerability problems. Such an observation is related to the fact that downtown areas tend to have a network of amenities and a better access to the different services that may facilitate the lives of those living in vulnerable and marginal conditions.

Within the context of the regeneration of the neighborhoods located in the demarcated area, the abovementioned observation allows us to address the importance of having a network of amenities especially designed for the system of inner peripheries. This should be regulated during the planning stage. Thereforethere is an urgent need to create a supra-municipal instrument intended to bind the rest of urban plans elaborated by the different municipalities within the area. Currently there is no coordination at city administration level³⁵ and this translates into a lack of joint initiatives conducted by two or more municipalities.

Despite the above, we cannot refrain from observing the different actors that are tackling the issues related to urban vulnerability in Lima, neighborhood associations, institutions related to city administration, collective groups engaged in urban research (composed of students and professors from different universities), organisms for international cooperation and some private entities. However, there is again a lack of connection which if implemented would dramatically improve the efficiency of these initiatives.

The elaboration of an urban regeneration strategy would enable cooperation among efforts that are already in place by the civil society and different entities; likewise, it would also be possible to find a participative methodology aimed at addressing different hierarchically arranged issues on a long-term basis. As Carter³⁶ suggests, the success of urban regeneration lies in having a local, multisectoral strategy capable of operating through the association of different agents. As for this paper, the goal is to propose an effective general strategy on urban regeneration aimed at overcoming the abovementioned problems.

This regeneration strategy emerged as the result of the verification of the hypotheses proposed by this paper and the needs of neighbors, which were identified over the course of different workshops.

Verification of Hypotheses

The first hypothesis alluded to the size and complexity of the system of inner peripheries. This paper verified that the demarcated area comprises neighborhoods with major vulnerability issues and less vulnerable neighborhoods. It was also confirmed that there was no homogeneity regarding the nature and origin of identified problems. However, the neighborhoods belonging to this system are related to each other thanks to the continuity that exists among them, which is defined by the same borders that demarcate and differentiate the total area of the system: the Rimac River and some roadways.

The second hypothesis, which discussed the key role of the system of inner peripheries when moving from the urban to the rural sphere, was also verified. Most of the time, the origin of families defines their economic activity and the type of use given to the public space.

On the other hand, it was also confirmed the fact that housing density is greater in vulnerability-generating neighborhoods than in the rest of the city. This circumstance has to do with the age of neighborhoods and the speed of population growth.

Finally, the needs of the neighborhoods analyzed are always related to urgent issues: lack of hygiene and security on the streets, lack of basic services and access to health care, lack of education among children and youth, severe drug abuse and alcoholism leading to the perpetration of crimes and a high incidence of serious diseases. All these problems are exacerbated by the urban limitation of these neighborhoods: they are separated from the city by real barriers (the river, road infrastructures, walls, fences, etc.) and the lack of studies and awareness on urban regulation and urban planning, thereby hindering their integration and connection to other areas.

Regeneration Strategies

Any strategy aimed at recovering the inner peripheries requires a thorough knowledge of neighborhoods and their problems. This is why this paper defined the current status of this issue to the best extent possible and conducted field visits to relevant neighbor communities. This allowed the development of a methodology for analyzing the vulnerability of neighborhoods that included urban, physical and social problems.

The goal of the vulnerability assessment of neighborhoods located within the system of inner peripheries is to provide the analytical bases for the development of a Master Plan on the Regeneration of the Inner Peripheries of Lima. This Plan would eventually establish a consensus on minimum participation capable of relating basic urban interventions within a hierarchical system. The latter is extremely important as the lack of a justified order intended to prioritize the resolution of problems may result either in the incapacity to address the regeneration of urban areas or the adoption of late and futile responses.

The Master Plan on the Regeneration of Inner Peripheries can be useful when organizing interventions conducted by multidisciplinary teams from different entities. Likewise, it would enable cooperation among the different municipalities and public administrations involved.

Notes

¹ This paper is part of a research conducted at the Faculty of Architecture, Urban Planning and Arts of the National University of Engineering, Lima, Peru, from October, 2011 to June, 2013. This research was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain along the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation (AECID).

⁴ Matos Mar, 2004.

⁵ Kapstein, 2010.

⁶ Kapstein, 2009.

⁷ This paper analyzes the 1940-1981 period, which related to the origin and consolidation of the inner peripheries of Lima. This time span includes three inter-census stages.

⁸ INEI, 2008.

⁹ Driant, 1991.

¹⁰ Riofrio, 1991.

¹¹ Gonzales de Olarte, 1992.

¹² Kapstein, 2009, p. 96.

¹³ Hannerz, 1980.

¹⁴ Kapstein, 2009.

¹⁵ Matos Mar, 2012.

¹⁶ Ibíd.

¹⁷ Historically, these borders generated discontinuities within the urban layout of Lima between the historical district and its expansion towards the north.

¹⁸ This work is a graphic contribution of this research, as there were no digital maps prior to 1972. The source of the 2012 map is the National Geographic Institute (IGN).

¹⁹ Sipion, 1995.

²⁰ The inner borders correspond to the former peripheral limits of the city.

²¹ Surface measured over the map of Lima (2012) prepared by the National Geographic Institute.

²² These districts are not fully incorporated into the system of inner peripheries.

²³ The system of inner peripheries comprises zones from different districts and it has not been registered. The map of Lima for the year 2012 was used to estimate the total population of this system, which was calculated through the verification of the surface of each district contained within the zone of inner peripheries. This resulted in a percentage referred to this relation that is translated into a population of approximately 503,000 inhabitants.

²⁴ Aranda, 2007.

²⁵ Kapstein, 2010.

²⁶ We are grateful to Evelyn Orcon and Wendy Ventura, from the Municipality of La Victoria, for coordinating our visits.

²⁷ Matos Mar, 1977.

²⁸ Ibíd.

²⁹ Declarations made during a visit to San Cosme on May 7, 2013.

³⁰ San Cosme has a surface of 7.5 ha measured according to the map of Lima for the year 2012. Source: National Geographic Institute

³¹ Density estimated according to the aerial picture (figure 7) taken on April, 2013. Such a density has not always been that high; it increased according to population growth. Dwellings have covered the whole surface of the hill, thus leaving no space for courtyards.

³² According to Dr. E. Romualdo, chief medical officer at the health center of San Cosme, there are 1,033 cases of TB per 100,000 inhabitants (these figures represent a 1 percent).

³³ A popular Belgian-funded program conducted by the Municipality of La Victoria. Lime absorbs bacteria and germs from walls.

³⁴ Roch, 2007.

³⁵There is a lack of a multidimensional approach in the elaboration of urban development policies and in the implementation of urban and social improvement programs. However, such an approach may only be realized so long as important measures aimed at decentralizing political forces are implemented.

³⁶Carter, 2000.

Bibliografía

ARANDA DIOSES, Edith. Las cambiantes formas de sociabilidad y de construcción de identidades en Lima metropolitana. [En línea]. Debates en Sociología. (32): 109-123, 2007. ISSN 0254-9220. Disponible en: http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/debatesensociologia/article/view/2562

CARTER, Andrew. Strategy and partnership in urban regeneration. En: ROBERTS, Peter, ed. y SYKES, Hugh, ed. Urban regeneration. Londres, Sage. 2000.

DRIANT, Jean-Claude. Las barriadas de Lima. Historia e interpretación. Lima, IFEA, DESCO. 1991. ISBN 84-89302-09-X

GONZALES DE OLARTE, Efraín. La economía regional de Lima. Crecimiento, urbanización y clases populares. Lima, Instituto de Estudios Peruanos. 1992.

GÜNTHER DOERING, Juan. Planos de Lima 1613-1983. Municipalidad de Lima Metropolitana y Petro Perú, 1983.

HANNERZ, Ulf. Exploración de la ciudad. Madrid, Fondo de Cultura Económica. 1993.

INSTITUTO Geográfico Nacional. Plano de Lima de 2012.

INEI Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas e Informática del Perú. Censo del año 2007, Compendio estadístico año 2008 en www.inei.gob.pe y cartografía digital específica adquirida en Lima, 2013.

KAPSTEIN LÓPEZ; Paula. Vulnerabilidad y periferia interior. Ci[ur] Cuadernos de investigación urbanística. (71), julio 2010. Disponible en: http://www2.aq.upm.es/Departamentos/Urbanismo/institucional/numeros-ciur/ciur-71/

- La periferia interior: un problema de vulnerabilidad no resuelto por el planeamiento urbano en Chile. España, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 2009. Tesis doctoral dirigida por Agustín Hernández Aja y leída en el Departamento de Urbanística y Ordenación del Territorio de la ETSA de Madrid.

MATOS MAR, José. Perú: Estado desbordado y sociedad nacional emergente. Lima, Editorial Universitaria de la Universidad Ricardo Palma. 2012. ISBN 978-612-4059-54-4

- Desborde popular y crisis del estado veinte años después. Lima, Fondo Editorial del Congreso del Perú. 2010. ISBN 9972-890-62-7

- Las barriadas de Lima, 1957. Lima, Instituto de Estudios Peruano. 1977.

OFICINA Nacional de Planeamiento y Urbanismo del Perú. Plan Piloto de Lima, año 1949. Lima, Oficina Nacional de Planeamiento y Urbanismo.

RIOFRÍO BENAVIDES, Gustavo. Producir la ciudad (popular) de los 90. Entre el mercado y el Estado. Lima, DESCO. 1991.

ROCH PEÑA, Fernando. La ciudad histórica como lugar para la convivencia. Inmigración y vida urbana en el barrio de Lavapiés de Madrid. Madrid, Departamento de Urbanística y Ordenación del Territorio de la ETSAM. 2007.

SIPIÓN, Luis et al. Tendencias de crecimiento urbano de Lima metropolitana al año 2015. Lima, INEI, INADUR.1995.

Received: 13.01.14

Accepted: 29.08.14