Over the past two days, MSc Environment and Sustainable Development students have examined, reflected-upon and interrogated social, environmental and political conditions in Lima, Peru. On Sunday, DPU staff and students were introduced to Lima first by urban environmental expert, Liliana Miranda, and by architect and urban planner with the Instituto de Desarollo Urbano CENCA, Carlos Escalante. The group toured the city by bus and on foot; visiting three of the chosen research districts: Cantagallo, Barrios Altos and Jose Carlos Mariategui.

The stark divide between San Juan de Miraflores (left) where residents access an average of 20-30 litres of water per day and the Surco District (right) where residents enjoy 460 litres per day. (photo by Chris Yap)

First the group walked to a hilltop overlooking the divide between the 'invaded' San Juan de Miraflores and the affluent Surco District (pictured above). The houses in San Juan de Miraflores were built in accordance with the 1961 Law of Marginal Settlements and Popular Neighbourhoods, which gave communities the right to built houses and improve marginal land around the city, so long as the settlements respected the interests of the private sector, state property and agricultural land. Decades on, the settlement is still severely lacking in basic services and infrastructure.

The tour of the city was the first opportunity for many of the students to explore the sites that they have been examining for the past months. 

Today students presented their diagnostic, pre-fieldtrip videos to research partners from each of the four districts. The feedback and discussions that followed challenged the research hypotheses of each of the groups. The discussions will influence and inform the first stages of the fieldwork, starting tomorrow...

MSc students Eva Filippi and Marco Trombetta presenting their videos and case study to research partners from the four districts.