Settlement Dynamics case studies (Alessio)

Question 1

Rural challenges in HICs

Answer 1

• Ageing population means a higher dependency ratio
• More government spending on healthcare etc.
• Second home ownership
• lack of job opportunities

Question 2

Threlkeld: What are the issues being faced?

Answer 2

• High levels of second home ownership leading to high house prices
• Lack of funding for local services such as Threlkeld Primary School which are funded on a per-pupil rate

Question 3

Threlkeld: What percentage of homes are second homes?

Answer 3

• 35% of properties in Threlkeld were permanently unoccupied throughout the year in 2022

Question 4

Threlkeld: Bottom-up solutions to these problems

Answer 4

• £700,000 was raised for the construction of Threlkeld Community Hub and Cafe, including:
• a food bank
• youth club as well
• attracting walkers and tourists

Question 5

Threlkeld: larger scale solutions

Answer 5

• £7.9 million investment into the Keswick to Threlkeld railway path, a 5km long paved track connecting the two towns.
• It is expected to bring a** £2 million cash injection to the local economy** by attracting cyclists and walkers to the community centre
• Local occupancy restrictions on new home developments
• the requirement for a proportion to be affordable housing

Question 6

Threlkeld: How is technology being used to crack down on unoccupied properties?

Answer 6

• The Lake District National Park Authority has created an online map of all properties in the Keswick area (incorporating Threlkeld) which have local occupancy restrictions.
• If locals suspect these properties are being let out to tourists or sold as second homes, they can report it through the map.

Question 7

Threlkeld: Evaluating the responses

Answer 7

• Keswick community centre and hub is a long term solution to supporting locals and attracting tourists
• Local occupancy restrictions will likely prevent the situation from worsening, but at the current level the village is suffering significantly from this issue nonetheless, especially as under right to buy schemes some properties are outside of the council’s control (they can’t stop them being rented out as holiday homes)

Question 8

Rio: What is the origin of the problems facing Rio?

Answer 8

• Rio imported 11x more slaves than the US.
• After Slavery’s abolition, socio-economic divisions remained through racist laws.
• There is significant wealth division in the city, 25% live in the favelas.
• Favelas are informal settlements without public transport, sewage systems or official infrastructure

Question 9

Rio: Solution to the problem: Pacification

What was it?

Answer 9

• Beginning in 2008, the Pacifying Police Units (UPP) programme was rolled out across the city’s favelas, including the largest - Rocinha
• Between 2008 and 2011 $560 million was spent on the pacification program.
• By 2016 - 38 pacification units were created and 9500 police officers deployed.
• The effort was intended to bring peace to the crime-ridden favelas ahead of the 2014 world cup and 2016 Olympics

Question 10

Rio: Evaluation of pacification: Failures

Answer 10

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- Killings in 2013 returned to the pre-UPP level, with 3,879 murders in Rio and Baixada Fluminense. (gangs were emboldened by pacification slowing down).

• Government diverted funds during times of crisis (consistently), meaning that after 2008, the police force became thinner and thinner with the last Unit being formed in 2014.
• Police brutality made it difficult for the pacifying officers to communicate with the locals, especially after the death of Amarildo Souza in 2013.
• After his torture/murder, public demonstrations to end pacification occured.
• Rocinha and Complexo do Alemao saw an increase in violence, as gangs fought back.
• In 2009 a police helicopter was shot down.

Question 11

Rio: Evaluation of pacification: Successes

Answer 11

• **By 2012 **the homicide rate in Rio and the surrounding Baixada Fluminense area had dropped by 40% since 2008
• No homicides in Santa Marta from 2008-2013.

Question 12

Rio: What are the two greatest problems facing Rio?

Answer 12

• Social exclusion is a particularly large problem, reflected in the fact that pre-2013 0.001% of Rio’s favelas appeared on google maps, they were essentially a blank spot to anyone who didn’t live in or know the area
• Crime is the largest problem. In 2008 alone there were 3,856 people murdered and 1 in 23 arrests in Brazil ends in a fatality (1 in 37,000 in the US)
• Bolsonaro has repeatedly said “a good criminal is a dead criminal” and police brutality (predominantly against young, poor, black men) is one of the worst in the world