Temporary Urbanism Is About Survival

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Coping and survival mechanisms materializing in temporary and adaptable ways of using urban spaces are immediate emergency responses to daily problems and needs. Everyday adaptations are temporary because they fluctuate based on individuals’ singular needs along with the rhythms of everyday activities and how they started. Everyday adaptations are moments of resilience. They manifest as modes of claiming or defending specific rights attached to coping and survival — for example, in generating a small income, accessing food and water, or finding shelter. Other claimed rights connect to livability and urbanity needs: the right to green spaces, the right to play and exercise, the right to learn and access information.

Adaptations and improvisations are reactions to a “system” that does not meet needs and expectations; in other words, it is dysfunctional, disrupted, and in crisis. Adaptability, resilience, survival and forms of temporary occupations are all entangled with a strong spatial component: They predominantly occur where available land is inexpensive, unattractive, and in or close to natural hazards, such as flooding, motor-ways and landfills. They concern locations that are perceived as not fit for planned development of higher standards. The temporary nature of such places is entrenched in the nature of those settlements, which can be dismantled, displaced, destroyed, and reconstructed easily; these often occur through violent processes of (often racial) rejection by those holding power and resources.

São Paulo is a perfect example of a city in transition, where severe intersectional inequalities combined with one of the fastest growing metropolitan populations globally converge to make the city a very diverse and fragmented metropolis. Poverty levels are high, with around one-third of the population living in slum conditions combined with widespread squatting and hence illegal use of empty buildings. The informal economy plays a key role for the vulnerable population, with many open spaces, streets, and pavements in the city center used for informal (food) trading. Although not fully regulated and licensed, these activities, as in many cities in less-developed contexts, are tolerated. An important and more unique challenge faced by the city of São Paulo is drug dealing and drug use, with the neighborhood of Luz, where the Teatro de Contêiner Mungunzá is located, being one of the primary hot spots; Luz’s nickname is “crack town.”

Luz is located close to the city center. Despite hosting a range of cultural facilities and being well connected by public transport, it is very deprived and rundown, with high levels of vacancy and informal and illegal activities (including the reselling of stolen goods and drugs, too). As the primary area of dealing and consumption of crack and cocaine in the city, a large proportion of its residents either consume drugs or live on the proceeds of drug dealing. Consumers lie on pavements for most of the day.

To respond to the issue, Luz was provided with a number of treatment/rehabilitation centers, many constructed on vacant lands using temporary structures (i.e., prefabricated construction). Because of its central strategic location and severe socioeconomic issues, Luz has been at the center of the municipality’s attention. Regeneration plans have repeatedly failed, however, because of strong opposition from the local population and local businesses, who fear gentrification and increased control exerted on their (informal) activities.

In this very complex context of weak planning, the Teatro de Contêiner Mungunzá was set up, initially as a temporary project. Its implementation is effectively contributing to a wider attempt to tackle everyday coping and persistent resilience.

Teatro de Contêiner Mungunzá was developed in 2016 on a public plot of land originally used as a police carpark. The company was initially given permission to use the site for temporary uses, for a festival, for two months. In one night, they installed 11 containers and built the theater structure; in a weak planning context, they were then granted approval to stay for a three-year period.

Everything on the site is temporary and adaptable, including the building (made from recycled shipping containers) and materials, the community playground, the gardening and food-growing structures and siting areas. While it was supposed to be a nonpermanent project, the municipality renewed its agreement authorizing the use of the land at the end of 2018. While no end date is indicated, the company, as of now, still has no guarantee of being able to stay on-site indefinitely.

The theater hosts performances in the evening for an external public, and during the day, it provides free artistic and educational activities for the local residents. Some of those activities target the homeless community specifically (including drug users). During the pandemic, when the program had to be stopped, the place became a social hub to provide support, masks, and food to the most vulnerable. Social enterprises were also set up on the site in support of the local community.

Although enclosed, the site and its grounds are kept open for locals who can use it to socialize, rest, or access the bathroom for nondrug use. For residents, particularly children and mothers, the theater has become a safe place where they can play and socialize without fear of violence. The community garden allows food growing. The theater hence acts as a hub to change the dire living conditions of those living in this neighborhood; it constitutes a space for temporary escape from the everyday pressures, where rights to play, socialize, learn, and feel safe are exercised.

In Luz, persistent resilience and adaptability rest on fuzzy and blurred boundaries between the acceptable and unacceptable. Through trust, tolerance and mutual support, everyday resilience occurs in this context.