Squatting on the global highway: Community exchanges for urban transformation

Poor people, especially poor women, are skeptical about the solutions presented to them by professional experts, but they are unable to respond in kind. Despite the priority given to participation and empowerment by development agencies, there have been few opportunities for the poor themselves to develop alternatives and present these to their neighbors. In recent years, much has been done to try to ensure the effective participation of poor people, but in most participatory methodologies and programs, the teaching (and, therefore, a critical part of the learning and synthesizing processes) remains in the hands of professionals.