There's an article in today's Clarin about the ongoing construction of 5+ story buildings in Villa 31, the shantytown literally on the wrong side of the tracks, just behind the Retiro bus station. Since January the city government has been trying to restrict the entry of trucks bearing construction materials which has lead the residents to occasionally block the freeway that bisects the neighborhood. The government claims the buildings are unsafe. I've been told that most of the residents work in construction so this claim strikes me as patronizing. I'm not sure these structures would be safe in an earthquake but there aren't any earthquakes here. The real reason for the controls is that this is prime real estate, close to downtown and just across the railroad tracks from the poshest neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Recoleta. The bigger and more established the shantytown gets, the harder it would be to remove it. Villa 31 has been a round for 40+ years and is home to 30,000+ people so I'm not really sure how it could be removed at this point but there's lots of people in Barrio Norte and the mayor's office who'd like to see it happen.
The panorama above I took from the window of a bus as I was leaving Retiro. This is the easiest, safest way to view to neighborhood and really unavoidable if you're entering or leaving by bus. Here below are the same three images a bit larger:
2 comments:
Villa 31 has been around since the late 1920's, and its not at all dangerous to walk around. Thankyou for the sane analysis, its heartening to find at least one expat who hasn't fallen hook line and sinker for the cult of Macri.
Totally, thanks for this critical vision! i'm just writing my tesis about the image of the villa 31.I've worked there, in La Banderita, in adult literacy courses.I'm studying the vision of the medias, so I've read hundreds of articles about it,in various newspapers, and sometimes i feel so desperate... People just stayed stuck to the vision imposed by the ultimate dictature! If you speak spanish I advice you to read this book "Merecer la ciudad", de Oscar Ozlak, and "Prohibido vivir aqui", de Eduardo Blaustein que podés encontrar entero con este link :
http://www.arteuna.com/RRF/Muro_Blaustein.htm
I let my mail, if somebody wants to speak about it i'm open to the debate : elsa.broclain@hotmail.fr
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