Steps towards a democratic urban planning for San Salvador Metropolitan Area, El Salvador

Abstract

With more than 60% of the metropolitan population vulnerable to various aspects of precariousness and unsatisfied basic needs, and on the brink of an imminent change of the political-administrative term that constitutes the Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, a strategic conjuncture is articulated to reflect on how the processes of social participation can generate a comprehensive and democratic response to traditional urban planning. This essay aims to generate an analysis of the benefits and feasibility for the urban planning technical staff of working together with civil society to generate more horizontal proposals, as well as to review current planning instruments and real estate market situations to identify the relationships and opportunities that may arise in this context. In addition, a proposal of basic guidelines is presented to articulate income methodologies and work with the communities, based on the principle of enhancing their skills and acknowledging local knowledge as well as generating empathy with the population to understand the roots of their place attachment; These guidelines are based on previous experiences and success stories in which citizen participation has allowed the foundation, continuity, and permanence of neighborhood improvement projects in informal settlements and degraded urban areas. The writing ends with recommendations outside of these processes that are considered of great importance to make the process viable, considering issues such as financing, stakeholder management, public policies, and the construction of attractive scenarios for urban development.