Colonia (border settlement)
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Colonias, as used along the U.S.-Mexican border, refer to rural, unincorporated settlements which often lack basic infrastructure and which are marked by poverty.
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[edit] History
The word "colonia" itself originally comes from Spanish for "neighborhood" or "community". In Spanglish, the English-Spanish mix, colonia began to be used to refer to a primarily to Mexican neighborhoods. Since these Hispanic neighborhoods were less affluent, the word also connoted poverty and substandard housing.[1]
After NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) was signed, colonias became an English word primarily referring to the new slums that developed on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. After NAFTA was passed, neither the U.S. nor Mexico provided housing for the population explosion of low wage workers created on both sides of the border through the maquiladora industry.[2]
Currently, Texas has the largest concentration of people (approximately 400,000) living in colonias on the U.S. side of the border.[3] New Mexico has the second largest, followed by Arizona and California.[4]
[edit] Descriptions
The Texas legislature has defined colonias as: a) subdivisions, b) lacking essential elements of infrastructure, and c) near the Mexico border.[5]
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines a colonia as an unincorporated community located within 150 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, with a population of less than 10,000 that is low and very low income, and which lacks safe, sanitary and sound housing, as well as services such as potable water, adequate sewage systems, drainage, streets and utilities.
Colonias are usually found in rural areas. Subdivisions are usually created out of cheap farmland. Usually it is not in a city's interest to annex a colonia because it would subsequentally be required to provide it with such city services as water, electricity, and sewage, even though the tax revenue from annexed colonias would probably not cover the cost of installation and use of services. Counties, under whose jurisdiction colonias tend to be, are usually not required to render such services.
In contrast with shantytowns in other parts of the world, however, most residents actually do legally own the land on which they reside.
[edit] Advocacy groups
Housing and community advocacy organizations such as the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service (TxLIHIS), an affordable housing advocacy nonprofit organization [6], and the Colonias Development Council[7] in New Mexico, work to alleviate poverty in colonias by promoting self-help housing programs that provide colonia residents with resources to build their own homes, fostering community empowerment and raising public awareness.
[edit] See also
- Pueblos jóvenes: name given to the vast shantytowns that surround Lima, Peru
- Villa miseria: name given to a shantytown in Argentina
- Favela: name given to a Brazilian shantytown or slum, primarily in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Cortiço: Portuguese term commonly used in Brazil and Portugal to describe a poor area of urban housing.
[edit] References
- Pepin, Madeleine, "Texas Colonias: An Environmental Justice Case Study" [8]
- Huntoon, Laura and Becker, Barbara, 2001, "Colonias in Arizona: A Changing Definition with Changing Location" [9]
