Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia
The Pitch
The Civil Association for Equality and Justice (ACIJ) developed an online participatory mapping platform that helped members of informal settlements in Buenos Aires advocate for their right to public services.
The Problem
Informal settlements in Buenos Aires were excluded from maps of the city. This erased recognition of their existence and symbolized their exclusion from public services and infrastructure improvements.
The Process
- Created a website, Caminos de la Villa, that allows residents of informal settlements to make and share maps of their communities and pinpoint where government support is needed
- Hosted workshops in informal settlements to show residents how to effectively use the website and map the issues they faced
- Informed the urbanization process of Buenos Aires’ informal settlements
- Used information collected on the website to advocate for the government budget allocation needed to adequately address community needs
The Impact
- Urbanized four informal settlements since 2017
- Monitors progress and achievements and identifies opportunities for improvement of each urbanized informal settlement
- Tracks government spending to improve the project’s transparency
- Helps ACIJ identify and organize advocacy actions within communities
- Helps residents of informal settlements exercise their rights and receive improved public services and infrastructure from local government
- Helped initiate the local government’s urbanization process by providing them with maps and data from the website
- Spurred local government to begin work on new housing projects for vulnerable communities
