Socio-economic Levels and Environmental Perception in a Small Town in Argentina

CLAUDIA FEIJOO and FERNANDO MOMO*

Department of Basic Sciences, National University of Luj(m, C.C. 221, (6700) Luj(m, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Summary

In order to determine the environmental problems as perceived by the community of Luj(m (Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina), a survey was carried out. The relationship between environmental perception and socio-economic level was also studied. The most important problems reported by the community were the floods, which occur when the Lujdn river overflows its banks, and the contamination of this river as it flows through Lujdn city. Deficiencies in the tourist infrastructure were also considered to be serious. The least perceived problem was that of industrial air pollution. Positive correlations between environmental perception, socio-economic standing and levels of instruction were observed.

Introduction

In addition to physico-chemical and biological variables, Man is inf luenced by several env i ronmenta l factors inc luding the socio- cultural components that characterize human communities. The perception of the socio-cultural component has always been, and still is, of vital importance for the preservation of man upon earth (Gallopfn, 1981). Man cannot perceive all the environmental variables which act upon him at a given moment, and which shape the real world. Therefore, there exists a perceived world, which would be different for each individual and group,

Claudia Feijo6 is a Lecturer in Ecology at the National University of Luj~n. Her research interests are in environmental perception and ecology of rivers and polluted waters. Prof. Fernando Momo is Professor of Ecology at the same University. His research interests are focused on theoretical ecology and ecological modelling, especially as applied to aquatic ecology.

according to their socio-economic characteristics, and their particular story (Gallopfn, op. cit.).

In the appraisal of environmental quality, subject ivi ty plays an important role; this is frequently neglected by city planners who work out solutions to environmental problems. Some factors could be considered harmful by certain people, and harmless, or even beneficial, by others. Consequent ly , to des ign successful environmental policies and to evaluate problems to include such variables, the participation of the communi ty involved is of great importance. Reciprocally, the planners provide information which might 'enlarge' the world perceived by the c o m m u n i t y (Torres, 1981). In this way, a feedback mechan i sm should be es tabl ished between the planners and the communi ty to develop a more adequate relationship between Man and his environment (Fig. 1).

Few studies on environmental perception have been reported in Argentina; the authors are aware of only two, one was carried out with children (Goldstein, 1989) and the other one was made in San Carlos de Bariloche city (Grigera et al., 1986).

Aims

The aim of this study was to determine and evaluate, through the analysis of a survey, the env i ronmenta l p rob lems perce ived by the community of Luj,Sn (Province of Buenos Aires). The study is restricted to those aspects concerned with the pollution and urban infrastructure of Lu j~ ; the social, economic and cultural problems are not examined. The survey determined the environmental variables perceived by those being surveyed, as well as some characteristics of the

Volume 11, Number 3, 163-170 (1991) 163

I 121 ... ~-- ENVIRONMENT _~ ~-- CON PLANNERS ~ 3 4 COMMUNITY

Fig.1 Hypothetical relationships between planners and the community in the development of participative environmental policies. Interactions with the environment are also taken into account. 1, 'Improvement' of planning; 2, Environmental offer (part of which is perceived); 3, planning; 4, environmental modification; 5, environmental policies, information; 6, 'new' environmental variables, heirarchial re-structuring of variables.

community, as sex, age, socio-economic standing and level of instruction. Preliminary results of this study were presented in the XIVth Argentine Meeting of Ecology (Feijo6 and Momo, 1989).

S u r v e y e d A r e a a n d M e t h o d o l o g y

Surveyed area and sampling methods

Luj~in is situated some 70 krn away from the Federal District of Argentina and has a population of 39,300 (estimate based on the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC), 1981). It lies on the banks of the Luj~in river which causes not only sporadic flooding in parts of the town, but also is great ly contaminated by industrial effluents. In addition, a large number of tourists visit the city, especially at weekends, to visit the historical Basilica and the city museums.

To determine and to evaluate the environmental problems, interview techniques were used, due to the advantages which they possess (Ander-Egg, 1976; Noelle, 1970). A questionnaire, which had to be strictly followed by the interviewers and which included open, semi-open and closed questions, was devised. Some problems originally considered to be very important for the population of Luj~in by the authors were selected, namely:

- Industrial air pollution. - Tourist infrastructure. - River contamination. - Floods. - Noise. - Open spaces.

An attempt to evaluate the perception of the community to these problems was made. The questionnaire also included some questions about different environmental variables, characteristics of the districts being surveyed, as well as some other aspects which are not analysed here. There were also questions which enabled other environmental problems, not taken into account

by the authors, to be incorporated in the survey by the people interviewed. Information was sought about several socio-economic variables, such as building material of home, number of beds and bedrooms, quantity of people living in each house, level of instruction (education), as well as individual age. With regard to this last question, three age classes were established: 20--30 years old; 31-50 years old; and older than 51. The survey was made during the second part of the year by students and teachers of the National University of Luj~n, specially trained for the occasion.

Three districts of the town considered to be of different socio-economic levels were surveyed: (1) Centre of Luj~in: It is the oldest part of Luj~in, and is the only one that supplies all public services. It is also the commercial district, and, therefore, the value of property is very high. This district suffers the greatest impact of the floods. (2) Sarmiento: A fairly homogeneous district which has been built according to a housing plan subsidised by a trade-union. Electricity, water and telephones are supplied. Its population is made up mainly by employees and skilled workers. (3) Ameghino: Water is the only service supplied. This district is inhabited by people of low economic resources, particularly factory workers, self-employed people of different trades and cirujas (people collecting and commercialising refuse).

The interviewers covered a pre-determined quota according to age and sex, so that the different groups would be equally represented in the overall set of surveys (Table 1). Surveys containing insufficient data to calculate the socio-economic index, as a result of errors made by the interviewers, were eliminated.

In each district, a selection of residential blocks based on a table of random numbers was made; in each block two surveys were made. The interviewers were directed to make an attempt to

164 The Environmentalist

Table 1 Number of surveys carried out in this study, divided according to sex and age. Out of this total, 2g, 31, and 31 correspond to the Ameghino, Sm'miento and Centre Districts, respectively.

Age classes Totals 20-30 yrs 31-50 yrs Over 51 yrs

Women 17 14 16 47 Men 14 14 15 43

Tot~s 31 28 31 90

interview people in the first house in one of the corners o f the se l ec t ed b lock ; should the interviewers fail in this attempt, then they were to try on the second or third house. If all attempts proved to be unsuccessful, then a further attempt was made by the in te rv iewers on another occasion. The same procedure was followed in the opposite comer. Each time the interviewers failed to make an interview, they had to fill in a form indicating the reasons for the failure.

Socio-economic index

To assess if the division of the districts, made in accordance with soc io -economic differences, corresponded to actual facts, an estimate was carried out. Hence, a socio-economic index (SEI) was developed to quantify information regarding different l iving conditions. According to this index the lower the socio-economic level, the higher the value. The SEI was ca lcu la~l by using a weighted sum of variables according to the INDEC method (1984), used to detect families with insufficient basic necessities. To this, some other va r i ab le s were added. The index was calculated according to the following formula:

g SEI = 0.6A + 0.4B + Y. x

X=C where: A = (number of persons - 1)/(number of beds); except for a single person, where A = 1 B = (number o f pe r sons - 1 ) / (number of bedrooms); except for a single person, where A = B . c = House ownership: own, on fiscal land = 4

borrowed = 3 rented or transferred = 2

own, on one's own land = 1 d = Wall building materials: clay or tin plates = 4

wood (lodge) = 3 prefabricated = 2 dry masonry = 1

e = Roof building materials: thatch, clay, tin or cardboard plates = 4

fibro-cement = 3 concrete or masonry = 2

tiles or zinc plates = 1 f = Floor building materials:

earth = 4 cement or brick = 3

mosaic, roof tiles or similar = 2 wood or carpet = 1

g = Level of instruction: without schooling = 2.5

incomplete primary school = 2.0 complete primary school = 1.5

high school (complete or not) = 1.0 university level (complete or not) = 0.5

The SEI figures, grouped in districts, were then compute r -ana lysed (Stat ist ical Graphics Corpora t ion , 1985, 1986), and the boxp l o t technique was used to detect anomalous indices with regard to the different districts.

Data processing

Data recorded in the su rveys were computer-analysed using the STATGRAPHICS program (Statistical Graphics Corporation, 1985, 1986). Answers to easily quantifiable questions were classified in four categories, according to a coded scale, where 3 = high perception of the problem; 1 = moderate perception; -1 = little perception; and -3 = no perception. Answers to questions 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11 were the easiest to quantify. A principal components analysis was made with the different answers.

Once these operations had been carried out, su rveys were c l a s s i f i ed accord ing to pre-established criteria, and based on the answers; accordingly, discriminant analyses for districts, level of instruction, age and sex were made.

Results

Socio-economic index

Using the boxplot technique it was possible to eliminate three surveys (which had been made in the Amegh ino distr ict) f rom the subsequent analyses, as their SEI tumed out to be anomalous (Fig.2).

The total of SEI values was fitted to the normal distribution; the value of g 2 = 7.61 with 5 D.E, which indicates that there is no significant difference with the normal slope. It was possible, the re fore , to apply s u b s e q u e n t ana lys is techniques.

Volume 11, Number 3 (1991) 165

~d~Z m

1600

i

1200 "

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Fig .2

0 F

, I I I SARMIENTO CEN~O AMEGHINO

Boxplotof'~eobtainedsoc~-~onomic indices, ground in dis~c~.

t c o ~ o n e n t 2

0 0 1 0

0 0

A6 0 0 0 0 AIO .. ~A2 o o

0 '0 ~ 0 0

o Oo o - o ~ . - ~ o j ~ o o IIll • • • i

o 1 °°

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districts

! component

A5

A9

Fig.3 Principal components analysis for answers (A2: public transport; A5: noise, A6: industzial air pollution; A8: floods; A9: open spaces; A10: tourism; All: river contamination).

166 The Environmentalist

Figs. 4 and 5 Lujan, the floods of 1987 (Photo. courtesy: Ruben Varela).

The initial assumption, by which the three surveyed districts were considered as having significantly different socio-economic levels, was evaluated comparing the means with a Student's t- test, the results being as follows: Ameghino - Sarmientot = 10.14 v = 54 P < 0.005 Ameghino - Centre t = 6.25 v = 54 P < 0.005 Sarmiento - Centre t = 2.97 v = 60 P < 0.025

It can be' seen that d i f fe rences in socio-economic level between districts (which have been .measured by means of the above- mentioned index) are highly significant.

Principal components analysis

The principal components analysis was made by using a correlation matrix. A negative correlation between the SEI indices and the general degree of percept ion o f the problems was observed (Fig.3). Two groups of answers appeared to be c lose ly cor re la ted ; the f irst group inc luded answers related to public transport, industrial air pollution, tourism and river contamination; and the second one, which included those answers related to floods, noise, and open spaces.

D iscriminant analysis

A discr iminant analysis for the answers was made, taking diverse classification criteria into account. (1) Dis t r ic t (Table 2): The first of the two discriminant functions for the districts accounts for 92.6 percent of the variance, and the most important answers in this function are those related to floods and river contamination (those that have coefficients with the greatest absolute values). In the three districts, the floods were the mos t p e r c e i v e d prob lem and industr ia l air

pollution, the least perceived one. The Sarmiento district is not readily distinguishable; as shown in the classification matrix (Table 2) a large group of people from this district answered in the same way as did people from the Centre district, and a small group answered in a similar manner as the group of the Ameghino district. (2) Level of instruction (Table 3): The most impor tan t answers in the f i rs t o f the four d i sc r iminan t func t ions (53.6 pe rcen t o f the va r i ance) are answers 8 ( f loods) and 2 (deficiencies in public transport). Again, the floods were the most perceived problem in all levels of instruction, and industrial air pollution the least perceived one. (3) Age (Table 4): The first o f the two discriminant functions accounts for 84.2 percent of the variance, and answers 6 (industrial air pollution) and 11 (river contamination) are the most important answers to separate in age classes. The mos t d i f f e r en t i a t ed c lasses are the 20-30 year old people and the people older than 51; answers from the intermediate age class are similar to those from the other age classes (see Table 4, classification matrix). As in previous cases, the most perceived problems were the same; the only exception can be found in ' the younges t age group, where the problem conceming the absence of open spaces shares with the problem related to industrial air pollution at the lowest level of perception. (4) Sex (Table 5): The most impor tant d i sc r imina t ing answers are A l l ( r iver contamination), A8 (floods) and A6 (industrial air pol lut ion) . Answers do not d i f fe r grea t ly according to sex (see Table 5, classification matrix).

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Fig. 6 Typical properties in the Ameghino district of Lujan, Argentina.

Table 2 Discriminant analysis for districts.

Fig. 7 The centre district of Lujan, Argentina.

First discriminant function coefficients: Answers means: District Sarmiento

A2 -0.01987 A2 A5 0.02753 A5 A6 -9.02132 A6 A8 0.87315 A8 A9 0.19950 A9 A10 0.14199 A10 Al l 0.35560 A l l Constant -2.72161

Centre Ameghino Total

0.35484 -0.06452 -0.24000 0.03448 0.16129 0.22581 -0.28000 0.05747

-0.96774 -1.32258 -2.00000 -1.39080 2.48387 2.87097 1.48000 2.33333

-0.41935 0.03226 -1.56000 -0.58621 1.25806 1.06452 0.28000 0.90805 2.38710 1.93548 0.92000 1.80460

Classification matrix: Actual group Predicted group: number (percentage)

Sarmiento Centre Arneghino Total Sarmiento 12 (38.71) 13 (41.94) 6 (19.35) 31 (100.00) Centre 11 (35.48) 17 (54.84) 3 (9.68) 31 (100.00) Ameghino 3 (12.00) 3 (12.00) 19 (76.00) 25 (100.00)

A2: public transport; A5: noise; A6: industrial air pollution; A8: floods; A9: open spaces; A10: tourism; Al l : river contamination.

Table 3 Discriminant analysis for level of instruction (A2: public transport; A5: noise; A6: industrial air pollution; A8: floods; A9: open spaces; A10: tourism; A11: river contamination).

First discriminant function coefficients:

Answers means: Instruction

A B C D E Total

N 13 28 31 13 2 8 7 A2 0.48602 A2 0.30769 0.82143 -0.45161 -0.61538 3.00 0.03448 A5 -0.11565 A5 0.23077 0.32143 -0.16129 0.15383 -2.00 0.05747 A6 "0.06206 A6 -0.84615 -0.53571 -2.09677 -1.84615 -3.00 -1.39080 A8 0.54090 A8 2.53846 2.78571 2.12903 1.61538 2.00 2.33333 A9 0.20641 A9 0.69231 -0.21429 -1.06452 -1.46154 -1.00 -0.58621 A10 0.07391 A10 0.69231 1.42857 1.06452 -0.07692 -1.00 0.90805 Al l 0.10345 Al l 1.92308 2.35714 1.58065 1.23077 0.50 1.80460 Constant -1.31869

A: university level; B: high school; C: complete primary school; D: incomplete primary school; E: without schooling.

168 The Environmentalist

Table 4 Discriminant analysis for age.

First diserirninant function coefficients:

A2 -0.02097 A4 0.04351 A6 0.35415 A8 --0.06503 A9 0.12571 A10 0.02169 A 11 0.32357 Constant 0.11228

Answers means"

Age 20-30 yrs 31-50 yrs Over 51 yrs Total

N 30 26 31 87 A2 0.20000 0 .07692 -0 .16129 0.03448 A5 0.23333 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 -0 .06452 0.05747 A6 - 0 . 5 3 3 3 3 -1 .34615 -2 .25806 -1.39080 A8 2.40000 2 . 3 8 4 6 2 2.22581 2.33333 A9 - 0 . 5 3 3 3 3 -0 .15385 -1 .00000 -0.58621 A10 1.10000 1.00000 0 . 6 4 5 1 6 0.90805 All 2.33333 1.69231 1.38710 1.80460

Classification malrix:

Predicted group: number (percentage) Actual group 20-30 yrs 31-50 yrs Over 51 yrs Total

20-30 yrs 18 (60.00) 5 (16.67) 7 (23.33) 30 (100.00) 31-50 yrs 5 (19.23) 11 (42.31) 10 (38.46) 26 (100.00) Over 51 yrs 5 (16.13) 7 (22.58) 19 (61.29) 31 (100.00)

A2: public transport; A5: noise; A6: industrial air pollution; A8: floods; A9: open spaces; A10: tourism; Al1: river pollution.

Table 5 Discriminant analysis for sex.

Discriminant ftmcdon coefficients:

A2 0.27668 A5 0.29075 A6 -0.29820 A8 0.29828 A9 -0.11316 A10 0.05179 A11 -0.37559 Constant -0.57253

Classification malrix:

Predicted group: number (percentage) Actual group Feminine Masculine Total

Feminine 27 (58.70) 19 (41.30) 46 (100.00) Masculine 16 (39.02) 25 (60.98) 41 (100.00)

A2: public transport; A5: noise; A6: industrial air pollution; A8: floods; A9: open spaces; A10: tourism; All: river contamination.

Discussion

The results obtained in this study led to the conc lus ion that env i ronmen ta l percept ion correlates posit ively with the socio-economic level of the surveyed people. However, the most perceived problem, in general, was that related to the floods of the LujAn river; that was true even

in the Amegh ino dis tr ict , where the socio- economic level is the lowest, and where the impact of the floods is not felt. The particularly effective way in which the news media handled the massive flood which occurred in March 1987 may be the cause of this level of perception, for attention should be drawn to the fact that this survey was carried out between August and November , 1987. Ano the r h igh ly perce ived problem (which appears second in order of importance in most groups) was the Luj,Sn river contamination.

The def ic ienc ies in a sui table touris t infrastructure were also considered to be very impor tan t , e spec ia l ly by people f rom the Sarmiento and Centre districts.

The leas t pe rce ived problem was that conceming the industrial air pollution. Possibly the absence of large contaminating factories in the urban a r e a (a l though there are many such factories in the outskirts of Luj~m) leads people to minimize this problem.

Average perception of most of the studied problems decreases from the Sarmiento to the Ameghino districts - the Centre district included. In the last district, however, the perception of the problems related to noise and to the shortage of open spaces is greater than in the two other districts.

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Fig. 8 Typical properties in the Sarmiento district of Lujan, Argentina

As regards the level of instruction (which has been included as a variable in the SEI index calculation), it can be concluded that the higher the level of education, the greater will be the ability to perceive negative environmental factors; this suggests that education can be an important element to solve environmental problems. In addition, it should be pointed out that a large group of people in the Centre district possess higher levels of education.

The similarity between answers reported from the Sarmiento district and those from the Centre district is a very interesting element to take into account, even though SEI index values from the former district are more similar to SEI values from the Ameghino district. Does this fact indicate social-advancement expectations?

In overall terms, the results seem to show that the community is greatly concerned about the floods and the Lujfm river contamination. This in itself is enough to justify the working out of participative solutions to these problems, which should combine the efforts of the city inhabitants, the authorities and the university.

Acknowledgements

The technical assistance of Jos6 Luis Marazzo and Fernando Bordignon in the handling of the statistical programs is greatly appreciated. We also acknowledge the assistance of Jos6 Escudero, Nestor Quiroga and Alicia Toribio, in the revision of the surveys, and the help of Cora Silberstein in the first stages of this study. We thank Professor Leonardo Malacalza and Dr Alfredo Salibifm for their backing, and for the critical revision of the manuscript , and Gabriela Romano for her interesting comments and criticisms. This project was supported by the National University of Lujfm

Fig. 9 Lujan river, close to the Basilica, Lujan, Argentina

and the University of Luj~'a Fund, which is duly acknowledged. We specially thank Gladys Fem~hadez, Adonis Giorgi, Sandra Dron, Patricia Quaglia, Beatriz Royau and Gustavo Moleiro, who carried out the surveys, and whose work has been fundamental in the development of this study.

References

Ander-Egg, E. 1976. Introducci6n a los tdcnicas de investigaci6n social. 5th edn. Ed. Humanitas, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Feijo6, C. and Momo, F. 1989. Percepci6n ambiental en Lujfin (Provincia de Buenos Aires). Resf~menes XIV Reuni6n Argentina de Ecologfa, res.153.

Gallopfn, G. 1981. E1 medio ambiente humano. In: Sunkel, O. and Gligo, N. (comp.), Estilos de desarrollo y medio ambiente en America Latina, I, 205-235. Fondo de Cultura Econ6mica, Mexico.

Goldstein, B. 1989. Las ideas de los nifios sobre el medio ambiente. Resf~menes XIV Reuni6n Argentina de Ecologfa, res.150.

Grigera, D., Rornero, C. and Ramassotto, A. 1986. Los problemas ambientales de Bariloche:su detecci6n por medio de una encuesta a un sector de la comunidad. Cuadernos Universitarias nro. 15. Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Centro Regional B ariloche, Neuqu6n.

INDEC. 1981. Censo Nacional de Poblaci6n y Vivienda. Serie A. Resultados provisionales por localidad. INDEC, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

INDEC. 1984. La pobreza en Argentina: lnd&adores de necesidades bhsicas insatigfechos a parth" de datos del censo nacional de poblaci6n y vivienda 1980. INDEC, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Noelle, E. 1970. Encuestas en la sociedad de masas. Alianza Editorial, Mexico.

Statistical Graphics Corporation. 1985. 1986. STATGRAPHICS. Version: 2.0.

Tortes, S. 1981. La incorporaci6n de la dimensi6n ambiental en la planificaci6n regional: Aspectos operacionales. In: Sunkel, O. and Gligo, N. (comp.), Estilos de desarrollo y medio ambiente en America Lat/na, 2, 540-557. Fondo de Cultura Econ6mica, Mexico.

170 The E n v i r o n m e n t a l i s t