Samenvatting

In Caracas there is widespread poverty which in the spatial planning context takes on the form of informal settlements. The creation of a Standard Program of Requirements for the sustainable development of informal settlements (barrios) in Caracas, Venezuela, which will help solve this issue, is the goal of my bachelor thesis. Within this research project the ambition is to develop a standardized toolbox of spatial aspects that can be applied to the upgrading of an informal settlement in Caracas, and which leads to sustained growth.

The methodology for the development of the Standard Program of Requirements (SPOR) focuses on answering the central question, “When restructuring a barrio does taking into account of the specific needs of the local population affect the sustainability of the results of the redeveloped settlements?” This leads to an approach that involved an equal partnership between, on one side governmental authorities, with the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) spatial analysis, and on the other the local population of an informal settlement, with a survey in which their views on positive and negative aspects that affect the quality of living in their settlement are documented. The author of this thesis, Erald Smith, in this instance fulfils the role of the governmental authorities and the survey population of the informal settlement Petare, Caracas, is the input of the local population of an informal settlement.
The result of this combined effort is a list of spatial strategies, the SPOR, which represents the overlap of aspects that both parties find important and which forms the input for a spatial development plan in which the ambitions of both parties are realized.

The results of this thesis show that the SPOR is a good method by which a valuable product can be achieved in which both parties share equal input and ultimately also equal responsibilities. Both parties control the development of the settlement from the short to the long term and share ownership of the problems and solutions. This capacity building takes place increasing the chances of sustainable developments.