The Group for the Integral Development of the Capital City is the central agency for participatory community development in Havana. At the behest of Fidel Castro, the agency constructed and placed on exhibit a very large model of the city. The public is encouraged to visit the model to gain a broad perspective on the city, and contribute suggestions for physical and social development. The agency trains architects in community development and sends them to the neighborhoods, while neighborhood residents are brought to the agency for workshops in building design and neighborhood planning. Through this participatory and interactive process,the option of high rise housing was rejected.
High rises are good for investors in capitalist housing markets, giving a high return on investment.
For a low income society, however, they are too technology and energy intensive, and for a socialist society their size and design isolates neighbor from neighbor. Single family dwellings were also rejected on grounds of cost per unit, and lack of community. The general guideline reached, therefore, was for multi-family buildings, walkups of no more than six stories. For planning purposes Havana is divided into neighborhood units, one of which is La Guinera, which I.I.S. members visited. La Guinera, a municipality in the southern part of Havana is not a cooperative, but is a self-managed community of 24,000 people, with its own physical and social characteristics.