Alfredo Brillembourg on How We Should Tackle Urban Poverty

Alfredo Brillembourg, co-founder of Urban-Think Tank, argues for mapping cities in order to cost-effectively utilize space to reinvest in public housing and services. Citing examples from both Prague and Caracas — where much of his work has been focused — Brillembourg notes that it is not urban housing that has failed, but the lack of continued state investment in public housing. The further failure to provide anything in addition to housing, such as markets and municipal centers, has led to the unrest seen in places like Paris’ banlieues. Brillembourg argues for investment in informal settlements that allow for communities to shape their spaces as they grow — an important aspect of many informal settlements in the global south — rather than confinement and restriction to urban peripheries.

Alfredo Brillembourg is the co-founder of Urban-Think Tank, and has taught at universities in Venezuela, the U.S., and Switzerland. He has been a recipient of numerous awards, including the Golden Lion for best project at the 2012 Venice Biennale. U-TT’s projects have included vertical gyms and metro cable cars in Caracas and a study of Torre David, a well-known squatter-inhabited skyscraper in the city’s business district.

http://u-tt.com

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