RT Journal Article
T1 Disconnected, yet in the spotlight: Emergency research on extreme energy poverty in the Cañada Real informal settlement, Spain
A1 Ruiz-Rivas Hernando, Ulpiano
A1 Tirado-Herrero, Sergio
A1 Castaño-Rosa, Raúl
A1 Martínez Crespo, Jorge
AB Cañada Real is a 15-km informal settlement located in Madrid, Spain. With over 8000 inhabitants most dwellers live below the poverty line in informal, low-quality housing. Due to the impossibility to have legal supply contracts with utility providers, Cañada Real settlers have relied on irregular connections to nearby electricity and water distribution networks for decades. However, in October 2020, technical changes implemented by the distribution system operator left some 4000 people without access to power, and more than two years later a large share of them remain in those conditions. Emergency research has been conducted to document the change in living conditions experienced by Cañada Real residents. Census data have been analysed together with primary data from a 39-household survey, data retrieved from electricity service continuity sensors and direct measurements of indoor thermal comfort in 12 households. This set of data provides unique evidence on the impact of a collective disconnection event of an unprecedented magnitude in an EU context. Results give evidence of a case of ‘extreme energy poverty" that existing datasets and indicators fail to capture. The collective adaptation response displayed by a group of residents, who agreed on an intermittent, predictable disconnection schedule, highlights social fabric, self-organization and local capacities as resilience factors that provide temporary relief. Still, collective reconnection appears as a necessary first step to secure a minimum level of material living conditions. Political action is needed to modify the existing framework that marginalizes vulnerable dwellers as non-compliant customers, without any provisions against supply disconnections.
PB Elsevier
SN 2214-6296
YR 2023
FD 2023-08
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10016/38650
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10016/38650
LA eng
NO Sergio Tirado-Herrero acknowledges funding from the 'Ramón y Cajal' program supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant RYC2020-029750-I). Raúl Castaño-Rosa acknowledges for the support provided by Tampere University and The RESCUE-Real Estate and Sustainable Crisis management in Urban Environments-Academy of Finland funded project (number 339711). The article publishing charges were funded by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Read & Publish Agreement CRUE-CSIC 2023).
DS e-Archivo
RD 18 jul. 2024