Contradictory Urban Issues and Increased Vulnerability in a Pericentral Marginal Space: Left Bank of the Rimac in Lima (Peru)

The article shows the marginal character of the MIRR (Margen Izquierda del rio Rimac, the left bank of the Rimac, Cercado de Lima, Lima, Peru), taking account of its riverside location, its poverty, degradation into slum conditions and high vulnerability to a variety of both natural and anthropogenic risks. However, this space reveals some major priority issues, sometimes contradictory both from the point of view of the people who live there and that of the metropolitan council. These major issues are linked to the immediate proximity of the historical centre and to the advantages procured by a situation for which legislation is absent, particularly for the solid-waste collectors. The strategies developed by the different actors lead to the perpetuation of the marginalization of a space nevertheless situated in a position within the agglomeration, which contributes to the progressive, tragic intensification of vulnerability of the whole population. In the face of this situation, three possible solutions emerge: the status quo, a great push forward by the municipality or a gradual change based on negotiation and compromise.