Traversing the Plane - II

-Jeff Nadeau-

Okay. Getting to a set of general principles, exemplified by previously-discussed modes of transport that seem more or less suited to the unplanned or underplanned urban environment, that may guide the creation of a survival kit.

Ease of maintenance. Where investment is hard to secure, and as a result of the perennial struggle to keep up with demand on limited resources, infrastructure has to have a long service life. Maintaining any kind of economic viability (particularly working with the narrow margins frequently encountered in subsistence urbanity) means downtime has to be minimized.

It is important for the machine in question, then, to be mechanically simple- as are most small motorcycles- and to have a plentiful parts supply such that components are affordable and easy to find, as is the case with the Toyota Corolla.

Local autonomy means not waiting for a central office, general policies, remote technician or foreign intervention. Partially a matter of ease of maintenance, such that a local handyman can fix a Honda C90 without the input of Honda-certified mechanics. In a marginalized community, the ability to do without outside help or expertise makes the difference between empowerment and dependence.

Not to attempt to make myself redundant here, but the ultimate urban survival kit- where promoting self-sufficiency is a priority- would include solutions that could be put into action by the illiterate and the unskilled as easily as by architects and engineers.

Redundancy. The reason the publicar works better than a similarly extensive bus system is that several old compact cars can be had for the price of one bus, and where gaps occur the system is not unduly burdened. If a single car breaks down- as they inevitably will over a lengthy service life- only four to six passengers are set back, and not fifty as would be the case in a bus.

I was surprised this week to find out that Santo Domingo completed and opened its subway line this year. This is fantastic news, considering in 2006 it didn't look like it would ever be finished. Then I think of the innumerable blackouts that the city suffers. Is it really a good idea to put large numbers of commuters underground and at the mercy of one system relying on numerous other unreliable systems?

Similarly, a shelter designed for subsistence urbanity cannot be overly specific and reliant on particular building materials or site characteristics or adjacent services which may or may not be present. For implementation in an atmosphere of shortages and fixed resources, solutions need to have some tolerance for variation in their execution.

Cost. This one is obvious but ought to be addressed for the sake of completeness.

Just to tie this in to a previously-mentioned issue- in addition to the questionable reliability of the Santo Domingo metro system there is also the question of the exorbitant expenses involved in its construction and the likely operating costs. With the dire state of education and security in the city, and the more or less functional network of motoconcho, publicars and guagua providing affordable transportation, could those millions not have been better spent?

Traversing the Plane - I

-Jeff Nadeau-

Okay. “Think Discovery Channel.”

Proceeding from my earlier post highlighting the political and economic isolation of non-planned urban settlement, I’m going to lay out an informal survey discussing how people get from one Point to another, across the Plane and in the absence or shortage of Lines.

I think if Don were describing this, he’d call it a bit shaggy—on the other hand, this is not metaphorical or hypothetical. My research here is essentially all fieldwork: a relatively short two-month period of participant observation in various forms of public transport in Santo Domingo.

The humblest conveyance with which I am acquainted (barring perhaps the donkey and cart which, while occasionally in evidence on the streets, really have no place in four-lane traffic in a city of 2.2 million) is the motoconcho. Essentially this is a motorcyclist for hire, frequently on a Chinese-made 125cc two-stroke or the ubiquitous Honda Cub. Being a small vehicle, it can better navigate congested roads (common in countries with underdeveloped infrastructure) than a car. Transportation along similar principles can be found worldwide- perhaps most iconically in Africa, and also in the autorickshaws of southern Asia.

Flickr, niniferrose's photostream, http://www.flickr.com/photos/niniferrose/.

They are inexpensive to buy and operate, and thus accessible to individual entrepreneurs. They are also simply constructed. This is especially advantageous in informal economies where income-generating work is scarce- one might not take a faulty bike to a shop, but rather to a mechanically-inclined neighbour in exchange for a service or a favour.

In a world short on capital, goods are fixed many times before they are replaced and it is not uncommon to see vehicles with a service life of decades. This was most evident in the publicar system of Santo Domingo: a fleet of well-worn cars operating on several fixed routes across the city, stopping to collect passengers whenever flagged down. These vehicles- usually late-model Japanese imports like Toyota Corollas- were often falling to pieces, some approaching thirty years old, and still crossing the city dozens of times a day.

Publicar - source lost, but a good view of a little-documented subject.

Though crowded, with cars picking up passengers literally until no more will fit, this system worked remarkably well. Publicar ridership was cheap, it seemed popular, and it combined the stop-anywhere freedom of a taxi with the cost-effectiveness of a fixed route laid out according to rider demand.

I can also claim some familiarity with the public buses known as guagua or as voladoras, "flyers," a name which a local friend attributed to the recklessness of the drivers. These don't differ too much from the public buses we are accustomed to in Canada, aside perhaps in terms of overcrowding and driver professionalism.

There is also the informal transportation provided by good samaritans- trucks operating at below capacity, or serving as de facto school buses in some areas- again, while an interesting case and certainly deserving of some attention, this is just an informal institution.

The motoconcho and the publicar, on the other hand, are effective examples of cellular organization and should illustrate some general principles relating subsistence urbanity that I will discuss in my next entry.