\PassOptionsToPackage{unicode}{hyperref}
\PassOptionsToPackage{hyphens}{url}

\documentclass[12pt,letterpaper]{article}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Page layout
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\usepackage[
  letterpaper,
  margin=1in
]{geometry}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Basic packages
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\usepackage{xurl}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\Urlmuskip=0mu plus 2mu
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{iftex}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{float}
\usepackage{caption}
\usepackage{adjustbox}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{calc}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\usepackage{ragged2e}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage{pdflscape}
\usepackage{xurl}
\usepackage{tocloft}
\usepackage{booktabs}

\newcolumntype{Y}{>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}X}
% ------------------------------------------------------------
% APA-like heading hierarchy
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\usepackage{titlesec}

% Level 1: major section

\titleformat{\section}
  {\centering\normalfont\Large\bfseries}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {}


\titlespacing*{\section}
  {0pt}
  {0.15\baselineskip}
  {0.25\baselineskip}
  
\titleformat{\subsection}
  {\normalfont\large\bfseries}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {}

\titlespacing*{\subsection}
  {0pt}
  {1.4\baselineskip}
  {0.6\baselineskip}

\titleformat{\subsubsection}
  {\normalfont\normalsize\bfseries}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {}

\titlespacing*{\subsubsection}
  {0pt}
  {1.0\baselineskip}
  {0.4\baselineskip}
\titleformat{\section}
  {\centering\normalfont\Large\bfseries}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {}

\titlespacing*{\section}
  {0pt}
  {1.2\baselineskip}
  {0.9\baselineskip}

\titleformat{\paragraph}
  {\normalfont\normalsize\bfseries}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {}

\titlespacing*{\paragraph}
  {0pt}
  {1.0\baselineskip}
  {0.35\baselineskip}  

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Fonts
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\ifPDFTeX
  \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
  \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
  \usepackage{textcomp}
  \usepackage{lmodern}
\else
  \usepackage{fontspec}

  \defaultfontfeatures{Ligatures=TeX}

  \setmainfont{lmroman10-regular.otf}[
    BoldFont=lmroman10-bold.otf,
    ItalicFont=lmroman10-italic.otf,
    BoldItalicFont=lmroman10-bolditalic.otf
  ]

  \setsansfont{lmsans10-regular.otf}[
    BoldFont=lmsans10-bold.otf,
    ItalicFont=lmsans10-oblique.otf,
    BoldItalicFont=lmsans10-boldoblique.otf,
    Scale=MatchLowercase
  ]

  \setmonofont{lmmono10-regular.otf}[
    BoldFont=lmmonolt10-bold.otf,
    ItalicFont=lmmono10-italic.otf,
    BoldItalicFont=lmmonolt10-boldoblique.otf,
    Scale=MatchLowercase
  ]
\fi

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Table of Contents + section numbering
% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Use normal \section and \subsection commands so LaTeX can build
% the Table of Contents and PDF sidebar correctly.
%
% For an APA-like report, visible section numbers are hidden in the body.
% The document structure remains intact.

% Show sections and subsections in the Table of Contents.
% Hide subsubsections from the TOC because technical sections become crowded.
\setcounter{tocdepth}{2}

% Hide visible numbering in the body text:
% "What" instead of "2 What"
% "When" instead of "4.1 When"
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{0}

\renewcommand{\contentsname}{Table of Contents}

% Cleaner TOC typography
\renewcommand{\cfttoctitlefont}{\normalfont\bfseries\Large}
\renewcommand{\cftaftertoctitle}{\par\vspace{0.5em}\hrule\vspace{1em}}

% Section entries
\renewcommand{\cftsecfont}{\normalfont\bfseries}
\renewcommand{\cftsecpagefont}{\normalfont\bfseries}
\renewcommand{\cftsecleader}{\cftdotfill{\cftdotsep}}

% Subsection entries
\renewcommand{\cftsubsecfont}{\small\normalfont}
\renewcommand{\cftsubsecpagefont}{\small\normalfont}
\renewcommand{\cftsubsecleader}{\cftdotfill{\cftdotsep}}

% Spacing
\setlength{\cftbeforesecskip}{0.5em}
\setlength{\cftbeforesubsecskip}{0.08em}

% Indentation
\setlength{\cftsecindent}{0pt}
\setlength{\cftsubsecindent}{1.25em}

% Width reserved for section/subsection numbers.
% Since visible numbering is hidden, keep this compact.
\setlength{\cftsecnumwidth}{0pt}
\setlength{\cftsubsecnumwidth}{0pt}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% APA-style tables
% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Captions: bold label ("Table 1.") + italic title.
\captionsetup[table]{%
  labelfont=bf,
  labelsep=period,
  textfont=it,
  font=normal,
  justification=raggedright,
  singlelinecheck=false
}

% Notes under tables.
\newcommand{\tablenote}[1]{\par\noindent\textit{Note.} #1\par}

% Center longtables without centering body text.
\newcommand{\centertables}{%
  \setlength{\LTleft}{\fill}%
  \setlength{\LTright}{\fill}%
}
\centertables
\setlength{\LTcapwidth}{\linewidth}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% APA-style text layout
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\setstretch{1.08}
\AtBeginDocument{\RaggedRight}
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\setlength{\parskip}{0.55em}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Page header
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\usepackage{fancyhdr}

\pagestyle{fancy}
\setlength{\headheight}{15pt}

\fancyhf{}
\fancyhead[R]{\thepage}

\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}

\fancypagestyle{plain}{%
  \fancyhf{}%
  \fancyhead[R]{\thepage}%
  \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}%
  \renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}%
}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Avoid problematic packages from Pandoc conversion
% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Do NOT enable these for this document:
% \usepackage{upquote}
% \usepackage{microtype}
% \usepackage{parskip}
% \usepackage{unicode-math}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Tables
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\newcounter{none}

\makeatletter
\patchcmd\longtable{\par}{\if@noskipsec\mbox{}\fi\par}{}{}
\makeatother

% Allow footnotes inside longtable
\IfFileExists{footnotehyper.sty}{%
  \usepackage{footnotehyper}
}{%
  \usepackage{footnote}
}
\makesavenoteenv{longtable}

\AtBeginEnvironment{longtable}{%
  \small
  \setlength{\tabcolsep}{3pt}%
  \setlength{\LTleft}{0pt}%
  \setlength{\LTright}{0pt}%
}

\AtEndEnvironment{longtable}{\normalsize}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Images + APA figure formatting
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\makeatletter

\def\maxwidth{%
  \ifdim\Gin@nat@width>\linewidth
    \linewidth
  \else
    \Gin@nat@width
  \fi
}

\def\maxheight{%
  \ifdim\Gin@nat@height>0.82\textheight
    0.82\textheight
  \else
    \Gin@nat@height
  \fi
}

\setkeys{Gin}{
  width=\maxwidth,
  height=\maxheight,
  keepaspectratio
}

% Pandoc image wrapper
\newsavebox\pandoc@box
\newcommand*\pandocbounded[1]{%
  \sbox\pandoc@box{#1}%
  \Gscale@div\@tempa{\textheight}{\dimexpr\ht\pandoc@box+\dp\pandoc@box\relax}%
  \Gscale@div\@tempb{\linewidth}{\wd\pandoc@box}%
  \ifdim\@tempb\p@<\@tempa\p@
    \let\@tempa\@tempb
  \fi
  \ifdim\@tempa\p@<\p@
    \scalebox{\@tempa}{\usebox\pandoc@box}%
  \else
    \usebox{\pandoc@box}%
  \fi
}

% Default figure placement
\def\fps@figure{htbp}

% APA-ish figure caption styling:
% - caption on top
% - "Figure X." bold
% - title italic
\captionsetup[figure]{
  position=top,
  labelfont=bf,
  textfont=it,
  labelsep=period,
  justification=centering,
  singlelinecheck=false
}

\makeatother

% Figure notes
\newcommand{\figurenote}[1]{%
  \begingroup
  \captionsetup{font=normal,justification=centering,singlelinecheck=false}%
  \caption*{\textit{Note.} #1}%
  \endgroup
}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Highlighting / underline support from Pandoc
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\ifLuaTeX
  \usepackage{luacolor}
  \usepackage[soul]{lua-ul}
\else
  \usepackage{soul}
\fi

% Remove imported highlight markup from Word/Pandoc.
\renewcommand{\hl}[1]{#1}

\AtBeginDocument{%
  \ifPDFTeX\else
    \renewcommand{\textquotesingle}{'}%
  \fi
}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Layout tolerance
% Helps with long lines from Word/Pandoc conversion.
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\setlength{\emergencystretch}{6em}
\tolerance=2000
\hbadness=4000

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Pandoc list support
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\providecommand{\tightlist}{%
  \setlength{\itemsep}{0pt}
}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Links and PDF metadata
% hyperref should come near the end; bookmark after hyperref.
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{bookmark}

\urlstyle{same}
\Urlmuskip=0mu plus 2mu

\hypersetup{
  hidelinks,
  bookmarksopen=true,
  bookmarksnumbered=false,
  bookmarksdepth=2,
  pdftitle={Hillink}
}

\DeclareRobustCommand{\reflink}[1]{\hyperref[sec:references]{#1}}

% Create real PDF destinations for visually unnumbered headings.
% With secnumdepth=0, hyperref otherwise reuses the previous destination,
% so the PDF sidebar and ToC can jump to the wrong page or caption.
\let\HillinkOriginalSection\section
\let\HillinkOriginalSubsection\subsection
\let\HillinkOriginalSubsubsection\subsubsection
\let\HillinkOriginalParagraph\paragraph

\RenewDocumentCommand{\section}{s o m}{%
  \phantomsection
  \IfBooleanTF{#1}
    {\HillinkOriginalSection*{#3}}
    {\IfNoValueTF{#2}
      {\HillinkOriginalSection{#3}}
      {\HillinkOriginalSection[#2]{#3}}}%
}

\RenewDocumentCommand{\subsection}{s o m}{%
  \phantomsection
  \IfBooleanTF{#1}
    {\HillinkOriginalSubsection*{#3}}
    {\IfNoValueTF{#2}
      {\HillinkOriginalSubsection{#3}}
      {\HillinkOriginalSubsection[#2]{#3}}}%
}

\RenewDocumentCommand{\subsubsection}{s o m}{%
  \phantomsection
  \IfBooleanTF{#1}
    {\HillinkOriginalSubsubsection*{#3}}
    {\IfNoValueTF{#2}
      {\HillinkOriginalSubsubsection{#3}}
      {\HillinkOriginalSubsubsection[#2]{#3}}}%
}

\RenewDocumentCommand{\paragraph}{s o m}{%
  \phantomsection
  \IfBooleanTF{#1}
    {\HillinkOriginalParagraph*{#3}}
    {\IfNoValueTF{#2}
      {\HillinkOriginalParagraph{#3}}
      {\HillinkOriginalParagraph[#2]{#3}}}%
}

% ------------------------------------------------------------
% Final heading spacing override
% ------------------------------------------------------------
\usepackage{titlesec}

\titleformat{\section}
  {\centering\normalfont\Large\bfseries}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {}

\titlespacing*{\section}
  {0pt}
  {1.4em}
  {0.7em}

\titleformat{\subsection}
  {\normalfont\large\bfseries}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {}

\titlespacing*{\subsection}
  {0pt}
  {1.1em}
  {0.45em}

\titleformat{\subsubsection}
  {\normalfont\normalsize\bfseries}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {}

\titlespacing*{\subsubsection}
  {0pt}
  {0.9em}
  {0.35em}

\titleformat{\paragraph}
  {\normalfont\normalsize\bfseries}
  {}
  {0pt}
  {}

\titlespacing*{\paragraph}
  {0pt}
  {0.6\baselineskip}
  {0.15\baselineskip}
% ---============


\title{\textbf{Hillink}}
\author{}
\date{}
\begin{document}
\hypersetup{pageanchor=false}
\begin{titlepage}
\thispagestyle{empty}
\centering

\vspace*{1.2cm}

{\Huge\bfseries Hillink\par}

\vspace{0.45cm}

{\Large Bridging the Geography Tax Through\par}
{\Large Community-Driven Mechanical Infrastructure\par}

\vspace{1.2cm}

\rule{0.78\textwidth}{0.4pt}\par
\vspace{0.25cm}
{\large\bfseries China-Latin America Challenge to Alleviate Poverty 2026\par}
\vspace{0.25cm}
\rule{0.78\textwidth}{0.4pt}\par

\vspace{1.4cm}

{\large\bfseries Group Members\par}

\vspace{0.45cm}

\begin{tabular}{@{}ll@{}}
Frida Irene Conislla Huaracc & \href{mailto:fi.conisllah@alum.up.edu.pe}{fi.conisllah@alum.up.edu.pe} \\
Fernando Andres Montenegro Rivas & \href{mailto:Montenegro.fernando@usach.cl}{Montenegro.fernando@usach.cl} \\
Amanda Flores Maldonado & \href{mailto:aflorem@estudiante.uc.cl}{aflorem@estudiante.uc.cl} \\
João Pedro de Sousa Torres Costa & \href{mailto:joaocosta29@poli.ufrj.br}{joaocosta29@poli.ufrj.br} \\
Sebastian Esteban Peralta Ventocilla & \href{mailto:se.peraltav@alum.up.edu.pe}{se.peraltav@alum.up.edu.pe} \\
\end{tabular}

\vfill

\end{titlepage}
\clearpage
\hypersetup{pageanchor=true}
\setcounter{page}{1}
\section*{Abstract}

Urban poverty in the Global South is not only economic, but also territorial and logistical. In informal settlements, hillside communities, flood-prone margins, and peripheral neighborhoods, geography increases the cost of survival by making essential goods harder to move through routes that formal infrastructure does not reach. This project defines that burden as the \textit{Geography Tax}: the additional physical, economic, temporal, and health-related cost imposed on low-income communities because of where they live.

Hillink proposes a low-cost, cargo-only, non-electric, and modular mechanical transport system designed for community use. Structured through the 5W1H+ Toolkit, the project combines field diagnosis, geospatial analysis, stakeholder engagement, implementation planning, impact evaluation methods, and reference-based feasibility criteria. Grounded in Latin American hillside settlements, especially Villa María del Triunfo in Lima, Hillink offers a practical framework for identifying, testing, and reducing territorial accessibility burdens in vulnerable communities.
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{Abstract}


\vspace{1em}
\noindent\textbf{\textit{Keywords:}} geography tax, peripheral conditions, stairways, multidimensional poverty, hillside communities, transport
\newpage

\tableofcontents

\clearpage

\section{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Introduction}}{Introduction}}\label{introduction}

Latin America is one of the most urbanized regions in the world, yet it
continues to be marked by some of the highest levels of urban inequality
and spatial segregation globally. According to \reflink{UN-Habitat (2022)}, more
than 110 million people across the region live in informal settlements
characterized by precarious infrastructure, territorial exclusion, and
limited access to essential urban services. While poverty is often
measured through income indicators, the reality of informal hillside
communities reveals that poverty is also deeply geographic, where people
live can directly determine their access to mobility, healthcare,
education, economic opportunities, and even basic daily survival.

Across Latin American cities, such as Lima, thousands of low-income
families inhabit steep vertical settlements formed through decades of
unequal urban expansion and exclusion from the formal housing market. In
these territories, geography itself becomes a mechanism of structural
inequality. Residents must frequently transport water, cooking gas,
food, medicine, and construction materials manually through extensive
stair networks and unstable pathways. This daily physical burden
increases living costs, intensifies bodily exhaustion, and reduces the
time and opportunities available for work, education, and community
development.

Despite the scale of this problem, vertical informal settlements remain
significantly underrepresented in global poverty reduction and
infrastructure discussions. Most urban transportation systems are
designed for formal cities with stable electrical grids, high public
investment capacity, and centralized maintenance structures. As a
result, many existing solutions, such as electric elevators, escalators,
or cable car systems, face severe limitations in low-resource
environments due to high operational costs, technical dependency, and
long-term maintenance challenges.

This paper argues that spatial isolation in vertical settlements should
be understood as a neglected structural dimension of multidimensional
poverty. Through the concept of the ``Geography Tax,'' this project
examines how topography and infrastructural exclusion reinforce cycles
of urban vulnerability in Latin America.

This paper is organized through the 5W1H+ Toolbox developed by the
Tsinghua University Latin America Center as an analytical framework for
poverty-reduction research. The toolbox structures poverty analysis
through six interrelated questions: What, When, Where, Why, Who, and
How. This structure is useful because it connects problem identification,
contextual diagnosis, affected populations, causal mechanisms, and
implementation strategies within the same framework (\reflink{Tsinghua
University Latin America Center, n.d.}).

For Hillink, the 5W1H+ structure helps prevent the Geography Tax from
being treated as only a technical mobility problem. The What section
defines the burden being addressed; the Why section explains the
structural causes of territorial exclusion; the When, Where, and Who
sections describe the conditions, territories, and populations affected;
and the How dimension is developed through the proposed Hillink system,
its implementation strategy, stakeholder model, impact evaluation, and
scalability plan. In this way, the toolbox allows the paper to move from
diagnosis to intervention while keeping social context, territorial
constraints, and technical feasibility connected.

In response, this paper introduces \emph{Hillink}, a low-cost mechanical
transport system designed to reduce the physical and economic burdens
generated by territorial isolation in informal vertical settlements.
Through a community-centered and low-maintenance infrastructure model,
the project explores how simple mechanical systems can contribute to
reducing spatial forms of multidimensional urban poverty.

\section{What}

Poverty is a social and cultural phenomenon that is quite complex to
define. First, we find the traditional definition of poverty, which is
related to the lack of income, specifically when total income does not
satisfy the minimum required for subsistence. In order to determine this
minimum, the World Bank calculates the international poverty threshold,
which was established at USD 3 for low-income or underdeveloped
countries and 4.20 USD (\reflink{World Bank, 2025}) for upper-middle-income or
developing countries, a category that includes most Latin American
countries such as Peru, Brazil, and Argentina.

Countries also have their own national poverty thresholds, calculated
according to their own criteria. One of these countries is Peru, where,
according to the criteria of the INEI (\reflink{Instituto Nacional de Estadística
e Informática, 2026}), which are based on the minimum monetary amount
required to cover the basic basket of goods, the poverty line would be
462 soles per month per person, with 25.7\% of the population living
below this line. Chile and Argentina also have their own methods for
measuring monetary poverty. As we can observe, there are different ways
to calculate poverty.

Next, we have the definition of poverty commonly used by international
organizations in their policies, which no longer focuses on the amount
of financial resources people possess, but rather on the lack of
conditions that allow individuals to fully develop their potential. In
this sense, poverty could be defined as the deprivation of essential
services for development, such as education, healthcare, and decent
employment. In summary: ``poverty is not only an economic issue; it is a
multidimensional phenomenon that includes both the lack of income and
the lack of basic capabilities necessary for living.'' (\reflink{Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2012, p. 2}).

As we can observe, poverty has multiple definitions based on different
criteria, ranging from monetary aspects to those related to human
development. It could be argued that there are different types of
poverty depending on the various needs of human beings. For this
project, we will focus on poverty related to geographic isolation and
the negative effects it generates on the human development of people
living under these conditions. The concept of ``geographic tax'' is not
widely used in academia, but it refers to how factors such as geography
and topography affect access to and the cost of goods and services in
the same way that a fiscal tax does. An example of this can be seen in
transportation systems, where bus routes do not reach remote areas of
cities, forcing people to rely on more expensive alternative means of
transportation, which in the long term increases poverty.

The relationship between poverty, territory, and geographic conditions
can be observed in the city of Lima, as shown in the following diagram.

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Monetary Poverty Incidence by District-Province of Lima, 2018}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image11.png}
\figurenote{The map represents the geographic distribution of the districts in Lima Province and their corresponding poverty levels (\reflink{Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática, 2020}).}
\end{figure}

From the previous figure, it can be inferred that most districts located
in hilly areas (Carabayllo, Puente Piedra, Pachacamac) have a high
percentage of poverty compared to those located in more favorable
terrain, such as San Martín de Porres and San Bartolo, which show
moderate poverty levels. This suggests a possible relationship between
geographic conditions, accessibility, and poverty levels in the province
of Lima.

\section{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Why}}{Why}}\label{why}

Urban inequality in Latin America has historically been shaped by
processes of spatial segregation, unequal infrastructure distribution,
and exclusion from formal urban development. According to Chilean urban
sociologist \reflink{Francisco Sabatini (2003)}, spatial segregation is not simply
a geographic reflection of social inequality, but an active structural
mechanism that reproduces poverty by isolating vulnerable populations
from opportunities, services, and urban integration. In this context,
informal hillside settlements emerge not as accidental urban formations,
but as the material consequence of historically uneven urbanization
processes across the region.

During the second half of the twentieth century, accelerated demographic
growth and rural-to-urban migration transformed Latin American cities at
a pace that exceeded the capacity of governments to provide affordable
housing and integrated urban infrastructure. As formal land markets
became increasingly inaccessible for low-income populations, large
sectors of the urban poor were progressively displaced toward peripheral
and geographically precarious territories, particularly steep hillsides
excluded from formal planning systems. According to \reflink{UN-Habitat (2022)},
informal settlements continue to expand throughout Latin America due to
persistent housing deficits, territorial inequality, and fragmented
urban growth.

This process generated a pattern of territorial marginalization in which
geography became directly connected to socioeconomic vulnerability. In
cities such as Lima, many hillside settlements developed without
adequate transportation systems, emergency accessibility, sanitation
infrastructure, or institutional investment. As urban theorist \reflink{David
Harvey (2008)} argues, cities are shaped through uneven processes of
development in which infrastructure, investment, and public resources
are asymmetrically distributed across urban space. Consequently,
difficult topography becomes socially significant not because hillsides
are inherently poor environments, but because urban systems
systematically fail to adapt mobility and infrastructure networks to
these territories.

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Conceptual Framework of the Spatial Segregation Cycle and the Geography Tax}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image15.png}
\figurenote{Adapted from \reflink{Sabatini (2003)} regarding urban segregation mechanisms and integrated with the multidimensional "Geography Tax" framework analyzed in this study.}
\end{figure}

The consequences of this spatial exclusion extend into multiple
dimensions of everyday life. Limited accessibility increases the
effective cost of transportation and essential goods, restricts
emergency response capacity, complicates access to healthcare and
education, and intensifies the physical burden associated with manually
transporting resources across extensive stair networks. Residents
frequently carry water containers, cooking gas cylinders, food supplies,
construction materials, and medicine through steep pathways that require
substantial physical effort and time investment. These burdens
disproportionately affect elderly residents, informal workers, women
responsible for domestic logistics, and households with limited economic
resources.

Over time, these conditions contribute to the reproduction of
multidimensional poverty through what this paper defines as the
``Geography Tax'': a structural condition in which territorial isolation
systematically increases the physical, economic, and social costs of
daily life for already marginalized populations. In this sense, poverty
is not experienced solely through low income, but through the unequal
distribution of accessibility, infrastructure, and mobility within the
city itself.

The persistence of these conditions also reveals the limitations of
conventional urban infrastructure paradigms in informal vertical
settlements. Existing mobility solutions such as electric elevators,
escalators, and cable car systems generally depend on stable electrical
grids, centralized maintenance systems, long-term public investment, and
continuous technical support. However, these conditions are often absent
in low-resource hillside communities. Environmental factors such as
humidity, unstable terrain, coastal corrosion, and component theft
frequently accelerate infrastructural deterioration and increase
operational costs. As a result, many large-scale mobility projects
become financially unsustainable or operationally fragile over time.

\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\caption{Comparative vulnerabilities between electric infrastructure systems and decentralized mechanical systems.}
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{@{}YY@{}}
\toprule
\textbf{Conventional Electric Systems} & \textbf{Hillink Mechanical System} \\
\midrule
Requires electricity & No electricity required \\
High maintenance costs & Low maintenance \\
Risk of cable/component theft & Simple replaceable parts \\
Requires municipal technical support & Community-manegeable \\
High installation costs & Low-cost infrastructure \\
Operational dependency & Decentralized operation \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}
\tablenote{Created by the authors.}
\end{table}

Therefore, the Geography Tax should not be understood as an isolated
geographic phenomenon, but as the material expression of historically
unequal urban development and infrastructural exclusion. The persistence
of spatial poverty in hillside settlements demonstrates that
conventional urban infrastructure models frequently fail to respond to
the territorial realities of marginalized communities. This structural
limitation reveals the need for locally adaptable, low-cost, and
low-dependency mobility systems capable of operating sustainably within
resource-constrained environments.

\section{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{When}}{When}}\label{when}


Geography, urban conditions, and territory significantly influence human
well-being. According to the economist Carmen Magaly León Segura
(\reflink{León Segura, 2011}) ``territory constitutes a highly important variable for local
development processes.'' Its importance is not limited only to economic
or monetary factors, but also extends to the social sphere, since it is
the space where a large number of social relationships develop among
actors such as neighbors, companies, and organizations that share a
specific place and form a sense of collective identity.

For this reason, geographic isolation and poor urban conditions can
cause significant harm in multiple areas. Geographic taxes represent a
major barrier preventing people from directly accessing a wide range of
essential services, while also affecting many daily activities of local
residents. As a result, people are often forced to improvise solutions
in order to adapt to the difficult context in which they live.

One of the main difficulties that people face daily concerns mobility
within these areas. A clear example of this can be observed in the
settlements located on the outskirts of Lima. Due to the steep geography
of these areas, mobility is highly limited, and there are zones where
urban infrastructure such as sidewalks and bus stops is absent, as shown in the following figure.

\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Slopes and Sandy Areas in Pachacútec}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image4.png}
\figurenote{© César Ponce (julio 2021).}
\end{figure}

The safety conditions of these roads are far from adequate. Dirt roads
and sandy pathways do not meet the necessary conditions to be considered
fully accessible or safe for transit. People who travel through these
areas often get dirty, slip, or even trip and injure themselves, as
explained by different studies on urban mobility in peripheral
settlements (\reflink{Ponce, Román García, \& Chávez Arana, 2022}).

Access routes to these districts are also limited by topographic
conditions. According to the research conducted by Karina Chávez
(\reflink{Chávez, 2021}), the urban configuration of these areas closely matches
the physical characteristics of the hills of Lima. The main avenues and
access roads to these districts are primarily located along the slopes
of ravines, where the terrain is flatter. In contrast, access from other
sides, where the terrain is much steeper, is completely blocked.
Consequently, there is no road connecting the hills from one side to the
other. Instead, neighborhoods are mainly structured vertically, from the
top downward, as shown in the following map.

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Topographic Elements}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image9.png}
\figurenote{Adapted from \reflink{Chávez (2021)}, using Google Satellite and MINEDU data.}
\end{figure}

These conditions also affect the availability of transportation. As
previously established, the worse the topographic conditions of an area
are, the poorer the infrastructure becomes and the less adapted it is
for vehicle access. For this reason, people often rely on local means of
transportation such as mototaxis or simply travel on foot. These
alternative forms of transportation are characterized by being
significantly more expensive, costing up to 12 or even 15 times more
than the average transportation fare, according to the report
(\reflink{Ponce, Román García, \& Chávez Arana, 2022}).

The report also highlights that, in the most vulnerable areas, residents
must travel long distances because bus routes do not pass near these
zones. As a result, people are often required to take more than one
route segment in order to reach their destination, which clearly forces
them to make greater efforts simply to move around the city.

In summary, geography and topographic conditions can be harmful in
countless contexts, especially in matters related to transportation and
mobility, where there is no optimal urban design adapted to these types
of territories. Terrain directly influences the quality of urban
conditions, as shown in the table, which consequently impacts the daily
lives of residents.

\begin{table}[H]
\centering
\caption{Analytical summary according to study areas.}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image5.png}
\tablenote{Adapted from \reflink{Ponce, Román García, \& Chávez Arana (2022)}.}
\end{table}

\section{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Where}}{Where}}\label{where}

The territorial conditions that shape vertical informal settlements
across Latin America are deeply connected to broader processes of uneven
urbanization, peripheral expansion, and socio-spatial segregation.
According to \reflink{Clichevsky (2000)}, contemporary Latin American cities have
experienced increasingly fragmented urban growth patterns associated
with informality, unequal land access, and the progressive displacement
of low-income populations toward geographically precarious territories.
Rather than existing outside the urban system, informal settlements
constitute structurally produced spaces that emerge from historical
inequalities in housing provision, infrastructure distribution, and
territorial planning.

These processes are especially visible in cities characterized by
mountainous and hillside geographies, where accelerated metropolitan
expansion has historically concentrated vulnerable populations in steep
peripheral areas with deficient infrastructural integration. Across
cities such as Lima, Medellín, Rio de Janeiro, La Paz, Valparaíso, and
Quito, hillside settlements frequently develop through gradual
self-construction processes under conditions of limited state presence,
fragmented accessibility networks, and unstable territorial
consolidation. Although these territories differ politically and
geographically, they share common spatial characteristics: steep slopes,
irregular circulation systems, deficient mobility infrastructure, and
unequal access to urban services (\reflink{Clichevsky, 2000; Sabatini, 2003}).

Recent urban morphology research demonstrates that informal hillside
settlements in Latin America evolve through progressive processes of
occupation, transformation, and territorial extension that intensify
urban fragmentation over time (\reflink{Martínez Muñoz \& Maroto Ramos, 2024}).
According to their comparative analysis of settlements in Lima,
Medellín, Mexico City, and Santiago de Chile, early-stage
infrastructural neglect frequently generates long-term spatial
discontinuities that become progressively more difficult to reverse as
settlement density increases. In these contexts, urban accessibility
networks often emerge incrementally and without integrated planning,
producing highly vulnerable mobility systems dependent on stair
circulation, narrow pedestrian paths, and fragmented territorial
connectivity.

This pattern is particularly evident in Lima, Peru, where peripheral
urbanization accelerated dramatically during the second half of the
twentieth century due to rapid rural-to-urban migration and the
inability of formal housing systems to absorb demographic growth. As
low-income populations were progressively excluded from the formal land
market, thousands of households occupied steep peripheral hillsides
surrounding the metropolitan area through processes of incremental
self-construction and informal territorial consolidation. According to
\reflink{Lambert (2021)}, these settlements should not be understood as
spontaneous or chaotic urban forms, but rather as complex territorial
assemblages shaped through interactions between informal practices,
institutional limitations, speculative land dynamics, and uneven state
intervention.

State-led urban management in Lima has historically oscillated between
large-scale planning experiments and progressive institutional neglect.
As documented by \reflink{Martínez Muñoz and Maroto Ramos (2024)}, two major
public interventions during the late twentieth century illustrate this
volatile trajectory: the Proyecto Especial Huaycán (PEH) and the
Proyecto Especial Ciudad Pachacútec (PECP). The PEH initially stood out
as a highly organized, self-managed alternative driven by the
Municipality of Lima, introducing Communal Housing Units (UCV) that
operated under innovative cooperative models for urban equipment
(\reflink{Gyger, 2019; Ricou, 1988}). Similarly, the PECP represented one of the most
ambitious state-driven relocation programs in the 1990s, deploying
multiple government agencies to distribute populations across the
peripheral desert margins (\reflink{Sierra \& Ortiz, 2012}). Nevertheless, both
public projects ultimately succumbed to systemic institutional
abandonment, leaving these communities with heavily fragmented
infrastructure and severe connectivity deficits.

This legacy of state withdrawal directly shapes contemporary vertical
informal settlements, with the Sector Virgen de Lourdes in Villa María
del Triunfo (VMT) serving as a paradigmatic example of unmanaged
peripheral growth since the 2000s. Unlike the planned boundaries of the
PEH or PECP, the morphogenic evolution of VMT's southern hillsides has
occurred almost entirely through incremental self-construction in
extreme topographies (\reflink{Martínez Muñoz \& Maroto Ramos, 2024}). In these
steep terrains, the complete absence of integrated public planning has
caused accessibility limitations to become permanently embedded within
the physical urban fabric. Consequently, everyday mobility in VMT is
dictated by highly precarious pedestrian pathways and disjointed stair
networks, transforming spatial isolation from a mere geographical trait
into a structural mechanism of daily social exclusion.

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Morphogenic Evolution and Territorial Fragmentation Processes in Villa María del Triunfo, Lima}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image17.jpg}
\figurenote{Adapted from \reflink{Martínez Muñoz and Maroto Ramos (2024)}.}
\end{figure}

The territorial conditions observed in VMT are not exclusive to Peru.
Research on Andean hillside urbanization in Quito similarly demonstrates
that peri-urban slopes frequently become spaces inhabited by populations
historically marginalized from formal urban development processes
(\reflink{Amoroso Lavayen, 2025}). According to \reflink{Amoroso Lavayen (2025)}, the
absence of territorially specific planning strategies in Andean hillside
environments has contributed to deficient urban development,
infrastructural vulnerability, ecological degradation, and the
systematic disconnection of local communities from formal urban
governance structures. These findings reinforce the broader regional
pattern in which hillside urbanization produces forms of
multidimensional territorial exclusion extending beyond purely economic
poverty.

The morphology of hillside settlements directly conditions mobility,
accessibility, and the circulation of essential resources within
everyday life. Many sectors remain accessible exclusively through
extensive stair systems and narrow pedestrian pathways that restrict
vehicle circulation, emergency accessibility, and infrastructural
maintenance operations. Residents frequently transport cooking gas
cylinders, water containers, food supplies, medicine, and construction
materials manually across steep terrain under physically demanding
conditions. In high-density settlements with fragmented circulation
systems, these territorial limitations significantly increase
transportation burdens, reduce accessibility to healthcare and
employment opportunities, and intensify everyday physical exhaustion.

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Spatial Accessibility Limitations in Hillside Informal Settlements}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image13.png}
\figurenote{Prepared by the authors.}
\end{figure}

The variables represent a qualitative standardization (scaled 1-5) of
the structural boundaries and transport obstacles described by \reflink{Martínez
Muñoz and Maroto Ramos (2024)} regarding the concrete stairway
dependencies in Villa María del Triunfo (Lima), and by \reflink{Amoroso Lavayen
(2025)} concerning the institutional planning gaps on the Andean slopes
(Quito).

These comparative territorial conditions demonstrate that hillside
informal settlements cannot be understood merely as geographically
isolated communities, but rather as territorially fragmented urban
environments where topography, infrastructural inequality, and
socio-spatial exclusion interact dynamically to reproduce long-term
vulnerability. Consequently, mobility constraints within these
settlements are not isolated logistical inconveniences, but structural
manifestations of historically uneven urban development across Latin
America.

Crucially, this specific terrain, the network of narrow pedestrian paths
and long concrete stairways that completely prevent cars from entering,
defines the exact "Where" of this project. While traditional urban
planning often views the extreme slopes of sectors like Virgen de
Lourdes in Villa María del Triunfo as inaccessible areas that justify
state neglect, this research uses these exact physical conditions as the
starting point for a new solution. The straight, continuous lines of the
community staircases provide the perfect space to install a low-cost
mechanical system.

Ultimately, the physical reality of this location directly determines
the design and scope of \emph{Hillink.} Because the terrain lacks stable
electrical grids and faces constant resource scarcity, the intervention
cannot rely on complex, motorized engineering. Instead, it demands a
decentralized, manual, and non-electric mechanism that can be easily
managed by the local community. By aligning the technical solution with
the precise shape of the hills, this project proves that the vertical
margins of the city are not just places of poverty, but the exact spaces
where simple mechanics can break the cycle of exclusion and restore
daily mobility to its residents.

\section{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Who}}{Who}}\label{who}

The population affected by the Geography Tax is not unique to Lima or
Peru. Across Latin America, millions of low-income families inhabit
informal hillside settlements, peripheral flood-prone areas, and
isolated rural-urban margins where geography directly increases the cost
of daily survival.

\hl{In Brazil, favela residents in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo navigate
similar conditions: steep slopes, lack of formal transportation, and the
physical burden of carrying water, gas, and food over long stairways. In
Chile, poblaciones in the cerros of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar present
the same pattern of territorial exclusion. In Argentina, Villa Miseria
in Buenos Aires and ``barrios populares'' in Córdoba face analogous
challenges: narrow pathways, flood risks, and dependence on informal
delivery systems.}

The following figure provides a geographical overview of these affected
areas across the region, showing the spatial distribution of informal
hillside settlements in each country.

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{The Geography Tax Across Latin America}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image6.png}
\figurenote{Prepared by the authors. The icons represent villas (Villa Miseria).}
\end{figure}

Despite national differences, the affected population shares common
characteristics: predominantly low-income families, high rates of
informal employment, limited educational attainment, and precarious
access to basic services. Women and elderly residents bear the greatest
physical burden, as they are primarily responsible for domestic
logistics.

Table 3 synthesizes these characteristics across the four countries, allowing a direct comparison of terrain, transport access, affected groups, employment conditions, basic services, and reliance on informal delivery.

\clearpage
\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\small
\caption{Characteristics of populations affected by the Geography Tax in Latin America.}
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{@{}>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{0.19\linewidth}YYYY@{}}
\toprule
\textbf{Characteristic} & \textbf{Brazil (Favelas)} & \textbf{Chile (Cerros)} & \textbf{Argentina (Villa Miseria)} & \textbf{Perú (Peripheries)} \\
\midrule
\textbf{Terrain} & Steep slopes & Steep hills & Flood-prone / narrow pathways & Steep slopes \\
\textbf{Formal transport access} & Very low & Low & Very low & Low \\
\textbf{Main affected group} & Women, elderly & Women, elderly & Women, children & Women, elderly \\
\textbf{Informal employment rate} & High & High & Very high & High \\
\textbf{Basic services access} & Precarious & Precarious & Very precarious & Precarious \\
\textbf{Reliance on informal delivery} & High & High & Very high & High \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}
\tablenote{Compiled by the authors based on secondary sources: for Brazil, \reflink{IBGE (2024)}; for Chile, \reflink{CASEN (2022)}; for Argentina, \reflink{INDEC (2022)}; and for Peru, \reflink{INEI (2022)} for informal employment data, \reflink{INEI (2025)} for basic services data, and authors\textquotesingle{} fieldwork (2026) for terrain, transport access, affected groups, and informal delivery.}
\end{table}

In conclusion, the map and the table demonstrate that the Geography Tax
is not an isolated phenomenon but a regional structural condition
affecting millions of families across Latin America. Understanding who
these residents are across different countries, in structurally similar
contexts, is essential for designing a solution that is not only locally
relevant but regionally scalable.

This demographic and territorial profile informed the sampling strategy
for the field visit described in Section 5, which focuses on Villa María
del Triunfo as a representative case of the Peruvian peripheries.

\section{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Field
Visit}}{Field Visit}}\label{visit-field}

\hl{The location was the Villa María del Triunfo district (V.M.T.),
specifically in the areas near San Gabriel Alto. This area is known for
being one of the poorest in all of Metropolitan Lima, as can be seen
from the National Registry of Municipalities (RENAMU) in the following
respects. The full RENAMU indicators, including own-source revenue,
waste management, and building permits, are presented in Appendix 2
(Figures A1-A3).}

\subsection*{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Municipal Fiscal
Dependence}}{Municipal Fiscal Dependence}}\label{tax-poverty}

On average, the Lima Metropolitan Area relies on government transfers
for only 38\% of its total funding. This figure is significant because
Villa María del Triunfo tells a very different story. In V.M.T., the
municipality depends on the central government for 75\% of its funding
(\reflink{INEI, 2025}). In other words, three out of every four soles spent by the
local government come from external transfers, not from taxes collected
within the district itself. (See \textbf{Appendix 2, Figure A1} for the
complete comparison of own-source revenue between VMT and Metropolitan
Lima).

The implications of this fiscal dependence are profound. A municipality
with low own-source revenue has limited capacity to invest in
infrastructure, maintain public spaces, or respond to emergencies
without waiting for central government approval or budget allocations.
This creates a cycle of dependency: without local revenue, the district
cannot improve its services; without better services, economic activity
remains stagnant; without economic growth, tax collection does not
increase.

In conclusion, while a middle-class district like San Miguel or Pueblo
Libre funds most of its budget through its own tax revenue, VMT relies
on funds allocated by the central government. A poor district cannot
support itself. This fiscal reality is the first and most fundamental
expression of the Geography Tax at the municipal level: the poorer the
territory, the less autonomy it has to change its own condition.

\subsection*{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Limited Garbage Collection
Services}}{Limited Garbage Collection Services}}\label{lack-of-garbage-collection-services}

Garbage collection is one of the most basic public services, yet in
V.M.T. it operates at a significantly lower standard than in the rest of
Metropolitan Lima. While most districts receive daily or every-other-day
collection, in V.M.T. garbage trucks arrive only twice per week
(\reflink{INEI, 2025}). (See \textbf{Appendix 2, Figures A2} for the complete data on
waste sent to landfills and recycling rates).

The consequences extend beyond discomfort. Accumulated waste in public
spaces becomes a health hazard, particularly for children who play in
the streets and for elderly residents with weaker immune systems. During
the rainy season, uncollected garbage mixes with mud and rainwater,
clogging drainage systems and creating additional flooding risks.
Residents reported that the irregular collection schedule forces them to
coordinate with neighbors or risk having their waste left behind.

\hl{Residents of VMT have their trash on the street for longer (it is
collected less often), and a larger proportion of it ends up in
inappropriate places. Poverty becomes visible through the deterioration
of public space and the irregularity of basic services. The
irregularity of this essential service is not a minor inconvenience; it is a daily
reminder of how territorial exclusion translates into lower-quality
public services.}

\subsection*{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Urban Development
Constraints}}{Urban Development Constraints}}\label{poverty-in-urban-development}

Construction activity is a reliable indicator of economic dynamism and
private investment, when families and businesses invest in building or
improving properties, it signals confidence in the
neighborhood\textquotesingle s future and the presence of disposable
income. In Villa María del Triunfo, this indicator reveals a stark
reality. (See \textbf{Appendix 2, Figure A3} for the complete data on
building permits in VMT compared to the Metropolitan average).

Construction activity in VMT is less than half that of the average
district in Lima. Private investment in housing ---measured through
building permits for single-family homes--- is significantly lower than
the metropolitan average (\reflink{INEI, 2025}). Even more telling is the complete
absence of permits for multifamily buildings, which in other districts
signals the emergence of a real estate market and upward mobility.

The reasons for this are multiple. Steep slopes increase construction
costs significantly, as foundations must be reinforced and materials
must be carried manually or by small vehicles. The lack of formal land
titles in many areas discourages long-term investment, since families
cannot guarantee that the land they improve will remain theirs. And the
absence of reliable public services ---water, sewage, electricity,
garbage collection--- reduces the incentive to build beyond the most
basic shelter.

Private investment in construction serves as an indicator of wealth.
In this context, limited construction activity reflects constrained
private investment, insecure tenure, difficult geography, and weak
public infrastructure. In VMT, the scarcity
of building permits is not a matter of individual choice but a
structural constraint imposed by the very conditions that define the
district: difficult geography, insecure land tenure, and insufficient
public infrastructure. Breaking this cycle requires interventions that
reduce the cost and risk of improving homes in hillside communities.

\subsection*{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Results}}{Results}}\label{results}

\hl{To complement the secondary data from RENAMU, the team conducted
semi-structured interviews in five different communities. A "community"
was defined as a distinct hillside unit (cerro) comprising several
households sharing similar access conditions, stairway networks, and
exposure to the Geography Tax. Rather than seeking statistical
representativeness, the sampling strategy aimed to capture the diversity
of experiences across different elevations and locations within San
Gabriel Alto. Each interviewed household represents one cerro, allowing
the team to identify common patterns across spatially distinct but
structurally similar contexts\emph{.}}

The interviews aimed to capture residents\textquotesingle{} perceptions
of their quality of life, their relationship with the government, their
experiences carrying heavy loads (water, food, gas, construction
materials), accidents related to this activity, and their openness to
the proposed mechanical transport solution. The main findings are
summarized in the following table.

\begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
\captionsetup{hypcap=false}
\captionof{table}{Responses from interviews conducted with various communities in San Gabriel, in the Villa María del Triunfo district.}
\end{minipage}
\begin{longtable}{@{}p{0.30\linewidth}p{0.66\linewidth}@{}}
\toprule\noalign{}
\textbf{Topic} & \textbf{Responses} \\
\midrule\noalign{}
\endfirsthead
\toprule\noalign{}
\textbf{Topic} & \textbf{Responses (continued)} \\
\midrule\noalign{}
\endhead
\bottomrule\noalign{}
\endfoot
\bottomrule\noalign{}
\endlastfoot
\textbf{Regarding the area} & Residents have been living in the area
between 8 and 22 years. The zone lacks basic services: water, sewage,
electricity. Stairs are a mix, some built by residents themselves,
others by the municipality.

In upper areas, there are no stairs at all, only sand and dirt, which
becomes slippery mud during rain. One resident noted that even
municipal stairs have problems: water pools on them, making them
hazardous. \\
\textbf{Regarding the government} & All five residents stated they
receive no support from the government. When asked about the last
public work, only the staircases were mentioned.

One resident said: \emph{"The authorities need to remember those who
live in higher areas. We need basic services to live with dignity."}
Another noted that municipal stairs were built, but only in certain
areas --- above that, residents had to build their own. \\
\textbf{Regarding the carrying of objects and/or food} & All households
transport goods manually. Trip duration ranges from 10 to 20 minutes
one way, depending on the location. Load weight ranges from 5 to 15 kg
per trip. Some residents shop daily (buying 5-6 kg per day), others
shop weekly (10-15 kg at once).

Women and elderly residents bear the greatest burden. One resident
stated: \emph{"When you're young you don't feel it, but when you reach
a certain age, it gets harder and harder."} \\
\textbf{Regarding gas} & Gas cylinder prices range from S/ 50 to S/ 70,
depending on the brand and delivery distance. One resident pays S/ 50,
others pay up to S/ 70. Gas is delivered by motorcycle up to a certain
point, but not to the doorstep.

The delivery cost is higher than in lower areas --- what costs S/ 40-50
below can cost S/ 70 in the hills. This is a direct manifestation of
the Geography Tax. \\
\textbf{Regarding accidents} & Several residents reported accidents. One
said: \emph{"Several times, neighbors and also myself have fallen on
the unfinished part of the stairs."} Another mentioned that before
stairs existed, accidents were common.

Rain makes stairs slippery and turns dirt paths to mud. One resident
noted: \emph{"When it rains, if there are no stairs, you slide all the
way down."} Another added that stairs lack railings, increasing danger.
\\
\textbf{Regarding the community and the individual} & Mutual support
among neighbors is limited. Most residents said: \emph{"Very little,
everyone fends for themselves."} However, during emergencies (such as a
death in the family) or community work (faenas), neighbors do
collaborate.

One resident noted that when there is a major task, \emph{"we all pitch
in"}, but daily help is rare because everyone is busy working. \\
\textbf{Regarding our solution} & The question was asked in three of
the five interviews (Interviews 1, 2, and 5). In all three cases,
residents expressed strong interest and approval. One resident said:
\emph{"Yes, I've thought about those little machines that help us
several times."}

Another stated that quality of life would improve, \emph{"especially
for the elderly, because it's quite a struggle for them to carry
things."} A third acknowledged that implementation is difficult given
the narrow stairs but remained hopeful. \\
\end{longtable}
\tablenote{Authors\textquotesingle{} fieldwork, San Gabriel Alto, Villa María del Triunfo, 2026.}

This limited mutual support identified in the interviews informed the
design of Hillink\textquotesingle s operational model. Rather than
relying on voluntary neighbor collaboration, the system is structured
around paid Station-stores with designated Hillink Agents. This ensures
daily reliability without depending on informal community solidarity.

\hl{A video compilation of the interviews, including testimonies on
load-carrying burdens, accidents, gas prices, and receptiveness to the
proposed solution, is available in Appendix 3}\emph{.}

The interview results reveal a consistent and troubling pattern across
all five households. First, the State is largely absent from
residents\textquotesingle{} daily lives, none of the interviewees
reported receiving any form of government support, and public works are
rare, incomplete, or limited to staircases that often lack railings and
proper drainage. This institutional abandonment forces communities to
rely on their own limited resources.

Second, the physical burden of the Geography Tax is real and measurable.
Residents spend between 10 and 20 minutes carrying loads of 5 to 15
kilograms up steep staircases and dirt paths, multiple times per week.
This daily effort produces chronic pain, particularly in hips and backs,
and becomes increasingly debilitating with age.

Third, the economic dimension of the Geography Tax is most visible in
the price of gas. A cylinder that costs S/ 40-50 in lower areas can cost
S/ 70 in the hills, simply because informal delivery workers must climb
the stairs. This price penalty is paid almost exclusively by the poorest
residents, who can least afford it.

Fourth, accidents are frequent and predictable. Unfinished stairs, lack
of railings, and slippery conditions during rain create a hazardous
environment. Several residents reported falls, and some noted that
before stairs existed, accidents were even more common. These are not
isolated incidents but structural consequences of neglected
infrastructure.

Finally, residents are receptive to solutions. In all three interviews
where the question was asked, residents expressed strong interest in a
mechanical transport system. They recognize that such a system could
reduce physical strain, save time, and improve quality of life,
particularly for the elderly. However, they also understand that
implementation faces real challenges, including narrow staircases and
lack of government support.

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{View from Above in One of the Communities of San Gabriel Alto, Villa María del Triunfo}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image16.jpg}
\figurenote{Authors\textquotesingle{} fieldwork, 2026.}
\end{figure}

The photograph above illustrates the physical conditions that
residents navigate daily. Unpaved streets, exposed soil, and steep
slopes are not merely aesthetic features of the landscape, they are
active constraints on mobility, safety, and quality of life.

\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Villa Maria del Triunfo Avenue}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image14.png}
\figurenote{Authors\textquotesingle{} fieldwork, 2026.}
\end{figure}

The image above reflects the broader context of Villa María del
Triunfo: a district where basic infrastructure remains incomplete, and
where the visible deterioration of public space mirrors the
institutional abandonment that residents described in their testimonies.
This is the territory where the Geography Tax is paid daily, on unpaved
streets, steep staircases, and the bodies of those who climb them.

Given these results, we reflect on the reality these people face and
their disconnect from the municipality, the mayor's office, and the
government. We hope to bring about positive change in these people and
their communities through our solution, but it is also necessary to
learn from our mistakes; therefore, we will present the previous
solutions and explain why they did not resolve our current problem at
the time.

\section{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Past Solutions \& Why They Failed}}{Past Solutions \& Why They Failed}}\label{past-solutions-why-they-failed}


\subsection*{Electric elevators}\label{electric-elevators}

Electric elevators are one of the solutions that have been implemented
to improve mobility in the hills of Latin American cities. Among the
most iconic are the elevators of the city of Valparaíso, Chile, a system
of elevators that connects the flat coastal area with the surrounding
hills. The oldest of them is the Concepción Elevator, inaugurated in
1883, which originally operated through a complex hydraulic system that
``worked by means of water tanks located at both ends of the route,
whose function was to counterbalance the load of the cars, made of wood
at that time, in order to produce the ascent and descent of each one''
(Migone \& Pirozzi, p. 55) Its operation relied on a steel cable capable
of withstanding heavy loads. This system was later replicated on other
hills, leading to the construction of a total of 30 elevators in
Valparaíso. However, most of these elevators are currently out of
service due to a wide range of problems.

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Concepción Elevator}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image12.png}
\figurenote{Museo Histórico Nacional.}
\end{figure}

One of the main issues affecting this service is its financial
sustainability. The elevators are not profitable due to their high
maintenance and repair costs, while the low fares charged to users are
insufficient to cover operating losses. For this reason, in 2012 the
Chilean government decided to acquire ten of these elevators because of
their great cultural significance and strategic role in the
city\textquotesingle s mobility system. However, to date, only two of
the ten elevators have been restored, while the remaining ones remain
abandoned (\reflink{La Tercera, 2024}).

The delay in repairing the elevators is largely due to their age.
Finding replacement parts is extremely difficult, and only a small
number of companies possess the expertise required to provide
maintenance services. The modernization of the elevators has also faced
a series of technical challenges. According to engineer Humberto
Miranda, quoted by \emph{The Clinic} (\reflink{The Clinic, 2023}), ``Attempts are
being made to automate machines that are decades old, and in some cases
more than a century old. An electronic control board is replicated and
made operational, but the system has no way of detecting imbalances.
Automation cannot guarantee that the car will not overshoot its
destination.'' The same report also points out that younger operators
often lack the training needed to manage such old mechanical systems.

Even the elevators that remain in operation are not free from problems,
as they have experienced a number of technical failures that have
resulted in serious accidents. One notable example involved the historic
Concepción Elevator, where five people were injured after the directions
of the two cabins, or funicular cars, were inadvertently reversed. As a
result, one car crashed into the upper station while the other slid
downhill, as reported by the news outlet \emph{Emol} (\reflink{Emol, 2020}).

\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Damage Caused by the Accident}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image1.png}
\figurenote{From \emph{Emol} (\reflink{Emol, 2020}).}
\end{figure}

\subsection*{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Cable
cars}}{Cable cars}}\label{cable-cars}

Cable car systems have been proposed or implemented in several informal
hillside settlements across Latin America as a solution to mobility
problems. The most prominent examples include Medellín\textquotesingle s
Metrocable in Colombia, which inspired similar projects in Caracas,
Venezuela, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. However, when evaluated as a
solution for low-resource, low-density, and low-infrastructure
communities such as Villa María del Triunfo, cable cars present multiple
structural limitations that make them unviable for the Geography Tax
problem.

First, cable cars require high upfront investment. Construction costs
include towers, cables, stations, electrical systems, and specialized
rolling stock. In Colombia, Metrocable lines cost between 20 and 40
million dollars per kilometer (\reflink{Henao, 2015}).

Second, cable cars rely on stable power grids. Communities located on
hillsides frequently experience power outages due to illegal
connections, overloaded transformers, and lack of maintenance. In other
words, without electricity, a cable car system becomes unusable.

Third, maintenance costs are often too high for community management.
Cable car components require specialized technicians, regular
inspections, and replacement parts from manufacturers. The Teleférico do
Alemão in Rio de Janeiro perfectly illustrates this problem. Opened in
2011 at a cost of 253 million reais, the system closed in 2016 for what
was supposed to be a six-month maintenance period. By 2021, the stations
were in poor condition, the machinery was rusted, and residents feared
that the abandoned cables might fall onto their homes (\reflink{Extra, 2021}).

\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Deteriorated Cable Car Structure in Complexo do Alemão}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image8.png}
\figurenote{Adapted from \reflink{Extra (2021)}.}
\end{figure}

Fourth, cable cars are vulnerable to component theft and corrosion. This
problem is exacerbated in informal settlements where insecurity is a
constant presence among residents. In the case of Alemão, abandoned
cable cars deteriorate rapidly, becoming dangerous and, over time,
unusable. By 2021, the state government had repeatedly considered
reactivating the system, but fiscal constraints have prevented any
progress (\reflink{G1, 2021}).

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption{Deteriorated Cable Car Structure in Complexo do Alemão}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image7.png}
\figurenote{Adapted from \reflink{G1 (2021)}.}
\end{figure}

Fifth, cable cars only serve specific routes. Most cable car systems
connect a station on the mountainside with another in the valley, but
they do not reach private homes, precisely where the Geography Tax
exists. Residents still have to walk from the cable car station to their
homes, which may be hundreds of meters away and accessible only via
steep stairs.

Finally, cable cars are not designed to transport goods. They are built
for passengers, specifically for tourism, not to carry water, gas
cylinders, construction materials, or bulky goods. In other words, it is
inefficient for a resident with a 15 kg gas cylinder or a bag of cement
to use a cable car designed for standing passengers. This type of
infrastructure does not solve the geographical constraint that defines
the Geography Tax.

\section*{Our Solution: Hillink}

\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{Our Solution: Hillink}

\label{our-solution-hillink}

Hillink is a low-cost, cargo-only, non-electric, modular overhead transport system designed to move essential goods through steep and infrastructure-constrained settlements. Its technical purpose is specific: to reduce the effort, time, risk, and informal cost associated with carrying water, food, cooking gas, medicine, groceries, and construction materials through stairways, slopes, and narrow pedestrian routes.

The system is built around three non-negotiable design constraints derived from the fieldwork in Villa María del Triunfo. First, it must operate without electricity. Second, it must be installable and maintainable with locally available tools, materials, and technical knowledge. Third, it must preserve the stairway as a pedestrian circulation and emergency evacuation route. These constraints define the system architecture more directly than any fixed model or universal installation geometry.

As discussed in the previous section, conventional electric elevators and cable car systems often fail in low-resource hillside contexts because they depend on stable power supply, centralized maintenance, specialized technical support, and costly components. Hillink is designed to bypass these vulnerabilities through mechanical simplicity, local manufacturability, decentralized maintenance, and a cargo-only operational logic.

The system operates through manual mechanical advantage. Its basic components include galvanized steel carrier cables, an independent traction cable, a rolling trolley assembly, a suspended cargo container, manual winches, and terminal stations. These components are commercially available or locally manufacturable, allowing the system to be adapted to different terrain conditions without deep civil works or complex automation.


\subsection*{System Architecture: Spatial Separation and Clearance Requirements}
\label{system-architecture-spatial-separation-and-clearance-requirements}

Hillink is organized around a spatial separation principle: cargo movement occurs above the pedestrian corridor, while stairways remain available for circulation and emergency access. The carrier cables and rolling trolley operate at overhead level, the cargo container travels suspended below them, and the manual winch remains fixed at station level.

The minimum protected pedestrian clearance is defined as 2.30--2.50 m between the stairway surface and the lowest point of the moving cargo container. In inhabited stairway sections, this generally requires carrier cable installation at approximately 3.20--3.50 m above the walking surface. In open hillside segments without pedestrian circulation beneath the route, the cable height may be reduced to approximately 1.50--2.00 m, reducing post height, bending demand, and material use.

This clearance-based logic allows the system to adapt to local terrain instead of relying on a single fixed geometry. Post height, cable elevation, station position, and suspension geometry are therefore defined by the route profile and by the need to preserve safe pedestrian passage.

\subsection*{Structural and Mechanical Components}
\label{structural-and-mechanical-components}

The Hillink system is composed of four main subsystems: the carrier cable structure, the rolling trolley and suspension assembly, the manual propulsion system, and the cargo container with terminal stations. These subsystems separate load support, movement, handling, and operation into distinct mechanical functions.

\paragraph{Structural System}
Two parallel carrier cables support the suspended load and distribute forces across the route. The dual-cable configuration improves lateral stability and creates redundancy relative to the nominal operating load. The traction cable is independent from the carrier cables and performs only the propulsion function. This separation is a passive safety feature: if the traction cable fails, the container remains suspended by the carrier structure rather than falling from the system.

Terminal zones include passive impact absorption using replaceable bumper elements. Their function is to dissipate residual kinetic energy if an uncontrolled downhill movement reaches the lower station. Routine inspection therefore focuses on traction cable wear, pulley condition, anchor integrity, cable tension, and bumper positioning.

\paragraph{Trolley and Suspension Assembly}
The trolley assembly rolls along the carrier cables and transfers the suspended load to the container. Upper pulleys support movement along the carrier lines, while lower retention rollers reduce the risk of disengagement under wind, uneven loading, or vibration. A rigid yoke connects the trolley frame to the container suspension, reducing longitudinal oscillation during acceleration and braking.

The container is suspended through a central pivot and compact dual-chain geometry. This arrangement keeps the cargo floor approximately horizontal across slope variations and reduces pendulum amplitude during operation.

\paragraph{Manual Propulsion System}
Cargo movement is generated by a manually operated self-braking winch connected to the traction cable. The internal ratchet mechanism locks the system if the operator releases the crank, preventing uncontrolled rollback on steep routes. The winch is positioned at station level within an ergonomic operating range and protected inside a locked enclosure when not in use.

Route segments are limited to approximately 50 m to control operator effort, cable sag, drum growth, and anchoring demand. Under normal operating cadence, a segment of this length can be completed in approximately two to three minutes, depending on slope and cargo weight.

\paragraph{Cargo Container and Terminal Stations}
The standard cargo container measures approximately 60 x 60 cm and is designed for routine household logistics, including LPG cylinders, water containers, groceries, medicine, and small construction materials. The mesh enclosure reduces weight, allows visual inspection, improves drainage, and limits wind resistance.

Terminal stations concentrate loading, unloading, winch operation, and routine inspection. Their handling platforms are positioned at approximately waist height to reduce vertical lifting. Station geometry must preserve the pedestrian corridor and should preferably use widened stairway landings, open edges, or existing commercial nodes when available.

\subsection*{Operational Safety and System Resilience}
\label{operational-safety-and-system-resilience}

Hillink’s safety logic is based on fault tolerance rather than automation. Load support and propulsion are mechanically separated, operating speeds are low, transported mass is limited, and the system can stop passively through the self-braking winch. These features reduce the consequences of traction failure, load shifts, or temporary obstruction.

Structural resilience depends on corrosion-resistant components, distributed load paths, adjustable tensioning hardware, and accessible inspection points. In humid or coastal environments, cable condition, pulley wear, anchor integrity, and tension loss should be monitored through routine maintenance. Gradual cable elongation does not necessarily compromise structural safety, but it can alter the clearance profile and must be corrected through periodic tension adjustment.

In seismic or unstable hillside contexts, the system avoids large suspended structures and concentrates loads in a lightweight, segmented architecture. While detailed seismic performance requires pilot validation, the proposed configuration limits kinetic energy, separates critical functions, and supports predictable failure behavior. The main validation requirements are long-term cable behavior, wind response of the suspended container, component wear, route throughput, and maintenance intervals under real operating conditions.

\subsection*{Deployment Typologies and Terrain Adaptation}
\label{deployment-typologies-and-terrain-adaptation}

Hillink is deployed through morphological variations rather than through a single fixed layout. The same mechanical core can be adapted to different terrain conditions by changing route alignment, station placement, support height, and anchoring strategy.

\paragraph{Type A: Confined Stairway Corridor}
This configuration applies to narrow hillside stairways bordered by houses, walls, or dense built edges. The transport path remains above the stairway, and the compact container preserves the required pedestrian clearance. Type A is the most restrictive case and serves as the baseline for the current design.

\paragraph{Type B: Open-Edge Stairway}
This configuration applies where one side of the stairway faces an open slope or ravine. The route can shift toward the open edge, reducing interference with facades and improving clearance flexibility.

\paragraph{Type C: Unbuilt Slope Span}
This configuration connects a lower access point to an upper destination across open hillside terrain. Because no active pedestrian corridor lies beneath the route, longer spans may be possible if cable sag, wind exposure, anchoring capacity, and operator effort remain within acceptable limits.

\paragraph{Type D: Vertical Adaptation}
This configuration addresses abrupt level changes, blocked entrances, narrow passages, walls, or other entry constraints that cannot be solved through a simple inclined route. Because it introduces additional mechanical complexity, it should be used only when required by site-specific conditions.

\paragraph{Type E: Rooftop-Level Network}
This configuration shifts the cargo path to rooftops, terraces, or elevated built surfaces in ultra-dense areas where stairway installation is impractical. It requires structural assessment of host buildings and stronger local coordination before implementation.

These typologies expand Hillink from a single-site proposal into a terrain-adaptable method. The mechanical core remains standardized, while alignment, height, anchoring, and station design respond to local morphology.

\section{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Project
Implementation}}{Project Implementation}}\label{project-implementation}

\subsection*{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Implementation
Phases}}{Implementation Phases}}\label{implementation-phases}

Due to the social, technical and territorial factors described in the
previous sections, Hillink will be implemented through a phased strategy
rather than through an advanced prototype from the outset. This approach
allows the project to move progressively from diagnosis to measurement,
feasibility assessment, community validation, pilot testing and impact
evaluation.

\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\small
\caption{Implementation Phases.}
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{@{}>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{0.23\linewidth}YY@{}}
\toprule
\textbf{Phase} & \textbf{Objective} & \textbf{Expected Output} \\
\midrule
\textbf{Field Diagnosis} & Understand the real problem within the community & Interviews, photos, videos, critical routes, pain narratives, perceived costs and local barriers \\
\textbf{Baseline Metrics} & Convert the diagnosis into measurable pre-intervention data & Cost, time, load, frequency, pain, exhaustion and accessibility indicators \\
\textbf{Applicability \& Feasibility} & Assess whether the site is suitable in different ways & Territorial typology, technical checklist, materials, corrosion risks, permits and constraints \\
\textbf{Community Validation \& Governance} & Confirm acceptance, operation and maintenance capacity & Local responsibilities, use rules, maintenance plan and community ownership \\
\textbf{Pilot Implementation} & Test the module in a specific route or stairway & Initial operational evidence, usage records and technical limitations \\
\textbf{Impact Evaluation} & Compare pre- and post-pilot conditions and build a replication argument & Before/after comparison, impact indicators, lessons learned, and replication criteria \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}
\tablenote{Made by the authors.}
\end{table}

\paragraph{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Field
Diagnosis}}{Field Diagnosis}}\label{a.-field-diagnosis}

Phase A follows a process evaluation logic: before testing Hillink's
impact, the project must verify whether the problem has been correctly
diagnosed. The burden created by difficult access is not experienced
uniformly; it varies according to local routes, household routines,
gender roles, age, informal delivery systems and community governance.
Therefore, the first phase is designed to assess whether all affected
groups have been identified and whether the proposed intervention
addresses the real constraints faced by residents.

This approach is supported by process evaluation literature, which warns
that weak problem analysis or misdiagnosis can lead to misleading
conclusions about whether an intervention works or fails. 3ie emphasizes
that process evaluation helps identify how and why an intervention
produces results, whether the original diagnosis was appropriate, and
whether implementation is shaped by contextual, institutional or
external factors (\reflink{Dixon \& Bamberger, 2022}).

To address this, Phase A will focus on qualitative assessment through
active community immersion and direct field research during the case
study in Villa María del Triunfo, Lima. This follows Gu Dai's
recommendation that Hillink should first understand the real struggles
of the community before moving toward advanced technical design. The
phase will be organized around two core activities:

\textbf{Semi-Structured Community Interviews:} engaging in open dialogue
with neighborhood assembly representatives, local leaders and community
cooperative heads to map existing governance, historical mutual-aid
systems, informal transport arrangements and practical expectations.

\textbf{Everyday Life Experience Mapping:} speaking directly with
vulnerable and operationally relevant groups, especially elderly
residents, women, caregivers and informal delivery workers, to collect
testimonies on daily transport burdens, physical strain, chronic pain,
time loss, informal delivery costs and dependence on third parties.

This phase is also consistent with stakeholder engagement and
development planning guidance. The IFC manual supports early and
context-sensitive consultation with affected communities, while UNDP
identifies inadequate stakeholder involvement as one of the common
reasons why programmes and projects fail. UNDP also recommends
stakeholder analysis to identify risks, conflicts, opportunities,
vulnerable groups and actors who are often excluded from planning
processes (\reflink{International Finance Corporation, 2007; United Nations
Development Programme, 2009}).

For Hillink, this means that interviews and route observation are not
preliminary anecdotes. They are the empirical basis for defining the
project's technical requirements, social risks and baseline indicators.
The field diagnosis will help identify who carries goods, who pays for
informal transport, who depends on others, which routes are most
critical, and which groups experience the greatest physical, temporal
and economic burden.

This step is also important for future scalability. A strong
documentation method allows Hillink to distinguish between what is
specific to Villa María del Triunfo and what may be transferable to
other contexts. Process evaluation literature supports this logic
because it emphasizes the role of context, institutional structures and
external factors before drawing conclusions about impact or replication
(\reflink{Dixon \& Bamberger, 2022}).

\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\small
\caption{Documentation Methodology.}
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{@{}>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{0.26\linewidth}YY@{}}
\toprule
\textbf{Method} & \textbf{Evidence Produced} & \textbf{Output for Phase B} \\
\midrule
\textbf{Semi-structured interviews} & Testimonies from residents, vulnerable groups and informal delivery actors & Variables for cost, time, pain, effort and accessibility \\
\textbf{Stakeholder \& governance mapping} & Local leaders, community organizations, affected groups and municipal actors & Stakeholder matrix for validation, permissions and maintenance \\
\textbf{Everyday life \& route mapping} & Routines, goods carried, stairs, slopes, access gaps and critical routes & Routes and logistics categories to measure \\
\textbf{Visual documentation \& basic measurements} & Photos, videos, time, steps, load estimates and frequency & Initial baseline values and before/after metric-card material \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}
\tablenote{Made by authors.}
\end{table}

In summary, Phase A provides the qualitative foundation required to
design locally valid baseline indicators in Phase B. It does not measure
Hillink's impact yet. Instead, it identifies which variables actually
matter for the community and prevents the project from imposing
externally defined metrics that may not reflect local reality.

\paragraph{Baseline Metrics}\label{b.-baseline-metrics}

\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\caption{Proposed baseline indicators for Phase A.}
\begin{tabularx}{0.72\linewidth}{@{}>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{0.26\linewidth}Y@{}}
\toprule
\textbf{Indicator} & \textbf{Measurement} \\
\midrule
\textbf{Frequency} & Goods transport recurrence \\
\textbf{Cost} & Informal carrying or delivery expense \\
\textbf{Time} & Route duration \\
\textbf{Load} & Weight carried \\
\textbf{Route difficulty} & Physical barriers \\
\textbf{Physical strain} & Pain or exhaustion \\
\textbf{Dependency} & Need for help \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}
\tablenote{Made by authors.}
\end{table}

Phase A identifies which burdens matter to the community. Phase B
measures those burdens in a structured and comparable way by converting
qualitative evidence into baseline indicators. The output is a baseline
table describing the current burden of essential-goods transport before
the pilot, which will serve as the reference point for later comparison
after Hillink is tested.

The World Bank and IDB impact evaluation framework supports this
sequence. It states that baseline data should be collected before
implementation to establish the initial condition of the outcomes that
the intervention expects to change. It also emphasizes that evaluation
should be connected to a theory of change, results chain and clearly
defined indicators. UNDP reinforces this logic through its results-based
management framework, which links expected results to indicators,
baselines, targets, means of verification and risks (\reflink{Gertler et al.,
2016; United Nations Development Programme, 2009}).

Phase B will not attempt to measure every possible effect of Hillink.
Instead, it will define a minimum viable set of indicators that can be
realistically collected in the field and later compared with post-pilot
data. This avoids excessive data collection, reduces respondent fatigue
and improves the quality of the baseline, consistent with World Bank and
IDB recommendations.

The proposed Phase B baseline indicators are presented below.

\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\small
\caption{Proposed baseline indicators for Phase B.}
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{@{}>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{0.20\linewidth}Y>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{0.18\linewidth}Y@{}}
\toprule
\textbf{Indicator} & \textbf{Measurement} & \textbf{Metric} & \textbf{Source from Phase A} \\
\midrule
\textbf{Transport frequency} & How often households carry essential goods & trips/week & testimonies; routines; frequency records \\
\textbf{Informal transport cost} & Amount paid to carry or deliver goods & local currency/month & testimonies from residents and informal delivery actors \\
\textbf{Transport time} & Time required to move goods from access point to home & minutes/trip or hours/week & route mapping; time records; resident testimonies \\
\textbf{Manual load} & Approximate weight carried by residents & kg/week & goods carried; load estimates; testimonies \\
\textbf{Route difficulty} & Physical barriers along the path & steps, slopes, access gaps, critical routes & route mapping; photos; videos; step counts \\
\textbf{Pain and exhaustion} & Self-reported physical strain after carrying goods & 0-10 scale & testimonies from vulnerable groups \\
\textbf{Accessibility dependency} & Need for help from others to transport goods & yes/no or times/week & testimonies from elderly residents, women, caregivers and vulnerable groups \\
\textbf{Governance feasibility} & Local actors relevant to operation and maintenance & stakeholder matrix & local leaders, community organizations and municipal actors \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}
\end{table}

\paragraph{Applicability \&
Feasibility}\label{c.-applicability-feasibility}

While Phase B measures the current burden of essential-goods transport,
Phase C uses these results to assess whether a specific route or site is
suitable for Hillink implementation. In short, Phase B measures
severity; Phase C evaluates applicability and feasibility. A route may
show high social need through high costs, long travel time, heavy loads
or strong dependency on others, but this is not enough to justify a
pilot. The site must also meet minimum conditions of technical safety,
environmental durability, institutional authorization and local
maintenance capacity.

For this reason, Phase C proposes the use of a Multi-Criteria Decision
Analysis (MCDA). MCDA is a decision-making approach used when
alternatives must be evaluated through several criteria at the same
time. This is appropriate for Hillink because site selection cannot
depend on a single variable: one location may have high social need but
weak technical feasibility; another may be technically viable but serve
too few households; another may have severe physical barriers but high
regulatory risk.

In operational terms, the MCDA will be implemented as a route-level
composite applicability index. This distinction is important: MCDA
describes the broader decision-making framework, while the composite
index is the practical scoring model used to compare candidate routes.
This approach is consistent with UNECE guidance on composite indicators,
which describes composite indicators as tools for combining multiple
dimensions into a single measure through a structured process involving
conceptual definition, selection of dimensions and variables, data
processing, weighting, aggregation, robustness checking and
communication. For Hillink, this means that physical, social, technical,
environmental and institutional variables can be normalized, weighted
and combined transparently, while still allowing the weights to be
adjusted and tested through sensitivity analysis.

Deciding where to test the system requires combining heterogeneous data,
such as terrain, population served, accessibility, environmental risks,
technical restrictions and local permissions. In this sense, Phase C
transforms the baseline indicators from Phase B into a transparent
route-selection framework. This also connects with Tsinghua's 5W1H+
Toolkit, which emphasizes multi-actor and multi-institutional
collaboration in poverty-reduction processes; therefore, a transparent
methodology is essential to support coordination, comparison and future
replication.
% Placeholder removed: missing appendix reference for the Hillink Applicability Index.

% Note: we should acknowledge a particular problem with algorithmic
% decisions. Vulnerability cannot be mathematically standardized, and
% populations scoring right below arbitrary thresholds cannot be ethically
% abandoned. The calculator must be framed as a preliminary sorting guide,
% but the final decision must always incorporate flexible, qualitative
% social criteria to ensure no vulnerable household is left behind by a
% rigid algorithm.

The connection with Phase B is therefore essential. Without baseline
indicators, Phase C risks selecting sites based only on visual
perception or social urgency. With Phase B data, frequency, cost, time,
load, physical difficulty, exhaustion and dependency become measurable
inputs for route comparison. When field evaluation is not yet complete,
Phase C can also use open-data estimates. Digital elevation models,
gridded population datasets, road-network maps and built-up area data
can estimate slope, elevation gain, distance to accessible roads, urban
density and potential population served. Sources such as Copernicus DEM,
WorldPop, GHSL and OpenStreetMap can provide a first analytical layer to
prioritize routes and reduce field investigation costs. These tools to
estimate do not replace community validation or direct measurement, and
increase costs as well. But they can be helpful enough for not being
cited and the geospatial data analysis toolkit can be a interesting
future plan consistent with Hillink's scope.

In this sense, Phase C prevents Hillink from advancing to a pilot based
only on social need. A site should advance only if it combines a
relevant baseline burden with minimum conditions of technical safety,
institutional feasibility, environmental durability and community
maintenance capacity. The final output of this phase will be a
structured route decision: advance, advance with adaptations or do not
advance at this stage.

\paragraph{Community Validation \&
Governance}\label{d.-community-validation-governance}

While Phase C assesses whether a route is technically and territorially
suitable for Hillink, Phase D verifies whether that route can be
implemented through clear stakeholder collaboration. Technical
feasibility alone is not sufficient: a route should not advance to pilot
implementation if affected residents reject the installation, if public
authorization remains uncertain, if no local operator is defined, or if
maintenance responsibilities are unclear.

Stakeholder engagement is the central mechanism through which this stage
establishes community validation and governance. This proposal uses the
IFC handbook \emph{Stakeholder Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook for
Companies Doing Business in Emerging Markets} as a methodological
reference. At this stage, the objective is not to define the full
operational strategy; more concrete plans regarding stakeholder roles,
engagement methods, and implementation procedures will be developed in
Section 8. Therefore, this section presents stakeholder engagement only
as a methodological foundation for community validation and governance.

Following the IFC definition, stakeholders are understood as individuals
or groups directly or indirectly affected by the project, or able to
influence its outcomes (\reflink{International Finance Corporation [IFC],
2007, p. 10}). For Hillink, the basic stakeholder structure has already
been established in the previous sections. However, depending on the
local context, this structure should remain open to additional actors,
including NGOs, universities, funders, landowners, risk-management
authorities, or other institutions whose approval, expertise, or support
may affect implementation.

Rather than treating participation as a one-time consultation, we
propose following the approach presented in the IFC handbook, where
stakeholder engagement is framed as a broader, more inclusive, and
continuous process across the project cycle (\reflink{IFC, 2007, p. 2}). This
process is crucial to reduce the risk that technically valid
infrastructure may become unsustainable due to weak maintenance, unclear
responsibilities, institutional dependency, or limited local ownership.

Continuing from the IFC framework, Hillink should adopt the following
basic premises, followed by brief practical suggestions for their
application.

\begin{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Information disclosure:} explain Hillink early, in simple
  language, including expected benefits, limitations, risks, costs,
  responsibilities, and what is still open to change.

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Our suggestion: a simple one-page visual brief explaining what
    Hillink is, what it carries, what it does not carry, expected risks,
    basic rules, costs, and what is still open to community input.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Stakeholder consultation:} collect feedback from affected
  residents, vulnerable users, operators, delivery workers, local
  leaders, technicians, and public authorities before finalizing the
  pilot.

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Our suggestion: hold small, targeted consultations instead of one
    large meeting: residents on the route, vulnerable users, operators,
    delivery workers, technicians, and local government.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Negotiation and partnerships:} define agreements with local
  operators, station-shops, municipalities, NGOs, universities, funders,
  or technical partners when implementation depends on shared
  responsibility.

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Our suggestion: Create simple agreements with station-shops, Hillink
    Agents, municipalities, technicians, NGOs, universities, or funders,
    depending on who will authorize, operate, maintain, or support the
    system.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Grievance management:} create a simple channel for complaints,
  safety concerns, unfair pricing, misuse, maintenance failures, or
  conflict during the pilot.

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Our suggestion: Set up a basic complaint system: WhatsApp plus a
    physical logbook at the station-shop. Record the issue, date,
    responsible person, response, and resolution status.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Stakeholder involvement in project monitoring:} involve users
  and local actors in checking whether the system is safe, accessible,
  fairly managed, and actually reducing transport burden.

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Our suggestion: Include residents, operators, and technicians in
    short periodic checks on safety, fair pricing, stairway obstruction,
    maintenance, misuse, and actual usefulness.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Reporting to stakeholders:} communicate what was decided, what
  changed after consultation, what problems were found, and what actions
  will be taken next.

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Our suggestion: share short updates on what was changed after
    feedback, how often the system was used, what problems occurred, how
    maintenance funds were used, and what will be adjusted next.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  \textbf{Management functions:} assign responsibility for tracking
  commitments, maintaining records, coordinating actors, updating rules,
  and ensuring that stakeholder engagement continues during the pilot.

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Our suggestion: assign one Hillink team member to track
    consultations, commitments, permits, complaints, maintenance
    records, and stakeholder follow-up.
  \end{itemize}
\end{itemize}

The practical rule is that each stakeholder should have a clearly
defined function: validate, authorize, operate, maintain, monitor,
report, finance, or raise concerns.

Finally, the IFC handbook also emphasizes that the government should be
recognized as a key stakeholder (\reflink{IFC, 2007, p. 23}). For Hillink, this
means identifying the minimum institutional pathway required for each
pilot site. This point should not be understood as making government the
central actor of the model, since Hillink is designed for territories
where public presence may be weak or inconsistent. Rather, the purpose
is to clarify the minimum public authorization required for each
implementation scenario.

\paragraph{Pilot Implementation}\label{e.-pilot-implementation}

The output of Phase D is a prerequisite for Phase E. As described above,
without prior acceptance, authorization, use rules, operator definition,
and maintenance responsibility, the pilot would only demonstrate a
mechanism, not an implementable infrastructure model. These constraints
clarify who is
allowed to operate it, what loads are permitted, how risks and
complaints will be handled, and when the test must be stopped or
redesigned.

Given the early stage and time constraints of the project, this phase
should be structured as a
pilot-implementation stage rather than a final engineering deployment.
% Placeholder removed: missing full reference for Pahl et al. (2007).

To support this stage and Hillink project in general, a preliminary 3D
model was developed in the software \emph{Rhinoceros 8}. The model
translates the preliminary engineering implementation suggestion
described in Section 7 into a visual and measurable pilot configuration.
The model is not used as a certified engineering design, and it does not
replace structural calculations, anchoring verification, fatigue
analysis, supplier load ratings, or professional engineering approval.
Instead, it helps in describing the pilot implementation logic and gives
better understanding for later sections.

By organizing the model into material groups, the project can estimate
first-order quantities such as carrier-cable length, traction-cable
length, station height, tube length, platform footprint, container size,
and clearance distance. These quantities support a preliminary bill of
materials and identify the main cost drivers of a pilot installation.
More importantly, they define the physical baseline for Phase F: impact
and scalability can then be assessed not only through user outcomes, but
also through route geometry, implementation cost, maintenance demand,
and replicability across terrain typologies.

\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\small
\caption{Pilot model elements and material assumptions.}
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{@{}>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{0.20\linewidth}YYY@{}}
\toprule
\textbf{Model element} & \textbf{Pilot function} & \textbf{Material assumption} & \textbf{Quantity from model} \\
\midrule
Carrier cables & support suspended load & galvanized steel cable & length \\
Traction cable & move trolley & thinner galvanized steel cable & length \\
Station frame & support/operation point & galvanized steel tube & tube length \\
Trolley & rolling support & welded steel frame + pulleys & unit \\
Cargo container & cargo-only transport & steel angle + mesh & size/area \\
Winch & manual propulsion & self-braking manual winch & unit \\
Platform & loading/unloading & concrete/steel & footprint \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}
\tablenote{Made by the authors.}
\end{table}

\paragraph{Impact Evaluation}\label{f.-impact-evaluation}

Finally, Phase F differs from Phase E by shifting the focus from
controlled pilot implementation to impact evaluation and replication
criteria. While Phase E verifies whether a minimum Hillink module can
operate safely under real route conditions, Phase F asks a narrower and
more rigorous question:

\textbf{Did Hillink reduce the Geography Tax burdens after pilot
implementation?}

The results of a single pilot should not be used to claim that Hillink
represents a universal solution to poverty. Instead, it tests whether
Hillink reduces a measurable burden in a specific place. Phase F should
be understood as a pilot-level impact assessment rather than a
definitive causal evaluation.

The most direct evaluation strategy for this phase is a comparison
before and after pilot implementation. After the pilot, the same
indicators used on previous phases are measured again among users and
affected households. The comparison does not prove universal causality,
but it allows the project to test whether the pilot implementation
changed the burdens it was specifically designed to reduce.

To conduct this evaluation, we propose a set of guiding questions and
quantitative indicators to measure social impact and support the
pre/post comparison:

\begin{itemize}
\item
  Before Hillink, residents had to carry essential goods repeatedly
  through difficult routes. \textbf{After the pilot, did Hillink manage
  to reduce the number of manual carrying trips? Was there a significant
  difference?}

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    indicator: average number of manual carrying trips per household per
    week before and after the pilot.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  In many cases, basic goods became more expensive because delivery
  workers had to climb stairs, slopes, or inaccessible paths.
  \textbf{Did Hillink reduce this extra cost? How much?}

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Indicator: average household savings in delivery or carrying costs,
    measured by comparing the cost of moving the same goods before and
    after the pilot.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  Residents used to spend significant time carrying goods from the last
  vehicle-accessible point to their homes. \textbf{Did Hillink reduce
  this time? How much time is saved?}

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Indicator: average time required to move one standard load from the
    access point to the household before and after the pilot, including
    loading and unloading time.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  Geography Tax made transportation to interrupt work, study, care, or
  rest. \textbf{The residents are now able to do their activities with
  less burden?}

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Indicator: qualitative post-pilot interviews comparing perceived
    routine disruption before and after Hillink.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  Residents had to carry heavy loads such as gas, water, groceries,
  medicine, or construction materials manually\textbf{. How much does
  this carry reduce with Hillink?}

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Indicator: total kilograms transported through Hillink per cycle of
    implementation and estimated kilograms no longer carried manually by
    residents.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  Many routes had an increased risk and exhaustion because of lack of
  infrastructure. \textbf{Has Hillink made transportation safer?}

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Indicator: number of reported safety incidents, near-falls,
    complaints, and obstruction events.
  \end{itemize}
\item
  The field diagnosis identified fatigue, pain, falls, and other
  health-related burdens associated with repeated manual carrying.
  \textbf{After Hillink, to what extent did residents report a reduction
  in these physical and health-related burdens?}

  \begin{itemize}
  \item
    Indicator: data collection on local health-post or municipal records
    on falls, injuries, or musculoskeletal complaints related to load
    carrying.
  \end{itemize}
\end{itemize}

A pilot route will be considered to show high social impact if
post-pilot evidence demonstrates improvement in at least four core
dimensions. The evaluation should maintain a clear focus on vulnerable
groups, including elderly residents, pregnant women, and women
responsible for household supply logistics.

\begin{table}[htbp]
\centering
\caption{Pilot social impact classification.}
\begin{tabularx}{0.72\linewidth}{@{}>{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{0.22\linewidth}Y@{}}
\toprule
\textbf{Classification} & \textbf{Condition} \\
\midrule
Low impact & Improvement in only 1 indicator \\
Moderate impact & Improvement in 2--3 indicators \\
High impact & Improvement in 4+ indicators \textbf{AND} no accidents \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabularx}
\end{table}

If continuous post-pilot evaluation shows consistent improvement and
high social impact, the pilot can justify a second implementation cycle
with technical refinement and site-specific adaptation. This should not
be interpreted as immediate large-scale expansion, but as the basis for
a minimal scalability plan. Such a plan is necessary to reduce future
engineering costs through modularization, prepare stakeholder engagement
for different community and institutional contexts, and test whether
Hillink can reduce the Geography Tax under varied conditions while
preserving safety, affordability, and local ownership. This broader
discussion will be developed in the \emph{Social Impact and Scalability}
section.

\subsection*{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Costs, Maintenance \&
Financing}}{Costs, Maintenance \& Financing}}\label{costs-maintenance-financing}

As described in the technical section, Hillink is intentionally designed as
a low-cost, non-electric, and mechanically simple infrastructure. However,
a module that is inexpensive to build but difficult to inspect, repair, or
maintain would not be appropriate for low-income hillside settlements. For
this reason, cost and maintenance must be treated as a single engineering
problem: the more demanding the route and the higher the operating
frequency, the greater the required reserve for maintenance. Because of
this, the problem introduces another variable: financing strategies, which
will be further discussed in the stakeholder engagement and financing
section.

At this stage, Hillink's cost model should be treated as a preliminary
engineering estimate, not as a final budget. Following the AACE
International \emph{Cost Estimate Classification System}, the estimate
will be classified according to the maturity of project definition
deliverables, since cost accuracy depends on scope definition, design
information, assumptions, and risk analysis rather than on a single fixed
value (\reflink{AACE International, 2016, pp. 3--5}).

For Hillink, this is relevant because each route may require different
terminal anchoring conditions, cable lengths, station layouts, slope
adaptation, access conditions, and maintenance needs. The 3D model can
support the first estimate by extracting approximate route geometry and
material-driving quantities. However, these outputs remain conceptual until
supplier quotations, detailed drawings, and pilot data are available.
Therefore, the estimate should be understood as a route-based cost
structure rather than as a final bill of quantities.

Cost viability should then be tested through a simple lifecycle check. A
pilot or future implementation should only be considered feasible if,
within a defined service period, the available revenue, collective funding
capacity, or maintenance fund can cover the initial investment plus
operation, management, maintenance, and replacement costs. This does not
imply premium pricing for residents. It means that Hillink must preserve
safe operation without depending on uncertain external support.

Modularization is the main engineering strategy for reducing long-term
cost. Hillink includes repeated components that can be standardized across
routes, such as:

\begin{itemize}
\item Cargo container;
\item Pulley assembly;
\item Winch unit;
\item Cable system.
\end{itemize}

Site-specific elements, such as foundations, anchoring points, support
spacing, post height, and route alignment, should be adapted to each
location. This reduces design and procurement costs over time without
assuming that one fixed geometry can fit all hillside settlements. This
modular strategy also improves maintenance. If repeated components are
standardized, the community does not need a different maintenance logic for
every installation. The same inspection checklist, spare parts list,
lubrication routine, and replacement procedure can be reused across routes.

To move from a conceptual design to a financially accessible pilot, a
transparent route-based cost basis is required. The current 3D model is
therefore used to extract preliminary quantities from the proposed pilot
configuration. These quantities do not yet constitute a final bill of
quantities, but they help transform the estimate from a generic prototype
price into a route-specific cost structure. The estimate made from the
model is described in Table~\ref{tab:route-cost-estimate}.

\clearpage
\begin{landscape}
\begingroup
\small
\setlength{\tabcolsep}{2pt}
\begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
\captionsetup{hypcap=false}
\captionof{table}{Preliminary route-based cost estimate for the Hillink pilot configuration.}
\label{tab:route-cost-estimate}
\end{minipage}
\begin{longtable}{@{}p{2.7cm} p{2.0cm} p{1.25cm} p{1.0cm} p{2.8cm} p{1.55cm} p{1.55cm} p{3.7cm}@{}}
\toprule
\textbf{Line item} &
\textbf{Category} &
\textbf{Quantity} &
\textbf{Unit} &
\textbf{Unit cost key} &
\textbf{Unit cost (USD)} &
\textbf{Direct cost (USD)} &
\textbf{Notes} \\
\midrule
\endfirsthead
\toprule
\textbf{Line item} &
\textbf{Category} &
\textbf{Quantity} &
\textbf{Unit} &
\textbf{Unit cost key} &
\textbf{Unit cost (USD)} &
\textbf{Direct cost (USD)} &
\textbf{Notes} \\
\midrule
\endhead
\bottomrule
\endlastfoot
Carrier cables (2 lines + 10\% allowance) & Standard core & 53.83 & m & Carrier cable 3/8 in galvanized & \$4.50 & \$242.24 & From Rhino carrier span; allowance for fixation/tensioning \\
Traction cable (+20\% allowance) & Standard core & 30.22 & m & Traction cable 3/16 in galvanized & \$1.80 & \$54.40 & From Rhino traction path; allowance for winding/connections \\
Station structural steel & Site-specific interface & 29.94 & m & Structural steel tube/profile for stations & \$8.00 & \$239.52 & Approximated from visible station members in model + 15\% allowance \\
Station platforms / handling surfaces & Site-specific interface & 2.68 & m$^2$ & Station platform / steel plate equivalent & \$35.00 & \$93.80 & Two terminal stations, approximated from Rhino bounding box \\
Cargo container frame & Standard core & 5.90 & m & Cargo container steel angle/frame & \$5.00 & \$29.50 & Frame length from model bounding box + 20\% allowance \\
Cargo container mesh & Standard core & 1.00 & m$^2$ & Galvanized mesh panels & \$12.00 & \$12.00 & Container surface estimate from Rhino bounding box \\
Pulleys / rollers & Standard core & 8.00 & unit & Sealed-bearing pulley/roller & \$12.00 & \$96.00 & 4 rolling pulleys + 4 retention rollers; preliminary count \\
Manual self-braking winch & Standard core & 1.00 & unit & Manual self-braking winch & \$85.00 & \$85.00 & One lower station winch unit \\
Anchors / foundations & Site-specific interface & 2.00 & set & Anchors/foundation set & \$120.00 & \$240.00 & Base and top station sets; high uncertainty \\
Connection hardware kit & Standard core & 1.00 & kit & Fasteners, clamps, thimbles, turnbuckles & \$80.00 & \$80.00 & Cable clamps, thimbles, turnbuckles, bolts \\
Safety kit & Standard core & 1.00 & kit & Safety stops / bumpers / signage & \$60.00 & \$60.00 & Terminal bumpers/stops and visual signage \\
Local welding and fabrication labor & Implementation support & 1.00 & lot & Welding, cutting, assembly, and local fabrication labor & \$600.00 & \$600.00 & -- \\
Installation tools and consumables & Implementation support & 1.00 & kit & Electrodes, cutting discs, drill bits, grease, PPE, and minor tools & \$350.00 & \$350.00 & -- \\
Implementation contingency & Risk reserve & 20.00 & \% & Contingency applied to direct components, labor, and tools & -- & \$436.49 & -- \\
\end{longtable}
\endgroup
\end{landscape}
\clearpage

The estimate can be summarized as follows:

\begin{equation}
C_{\text{pilot}} =
C_{\text{direct}} +
C_{\text{labor}} +
C_{\text{tools}} +
C_{\text{contingency}}
\end{equation}

where:

\begin{itemize}
\item $C_{\text{pilot}}$ represents the preliminary pilot implementation estimate.
\item $C_{\text{direct}}$ represents the subtotal of direct components listed in the route-based cost table.
\item $C_{\text{labor}}$ represents local welding, fabrication, cutting, assembly, and installation labor.
\item $C_{\text{tools}}$ represents installation tools, consumables, protective equipment, and minor assembly supplies.
\item $C_{\text{contingency}}$ represents the implementation contingency reserve.
\end{itemize}

Using the values from the preliminary estimate:

\begin{align}
C_{\text{direct}} &= 1{,}232.46 \\
C_{\text{labor}} &= 600.00 \\
C_{\text{tools}} &= 350.00
\end{align}

The contingency value is calculated as:

\begin{equation}
C_{\text{contingency}}
=
r_{\text{cont}}
\left(
C_{\text{direct}} +
C_{\text{labor}} +
C_{\text{tools}}
\right)
\end{equation}

For this preliminary estimate, the contingency rate is defined as:

\begin{equation}
r_{\text{cont}} = 0.20
\end{equation}

Therefore:

\begin{align}
C_{\text{contingency}}
&=
0.20
\left(
1{,}232.46 + 600.00 + 350.00
\right) \\
C_{\text{contingency}}
&=
0.20(2{,}182.46) \\
C_{\text{contingency}}
&=
436.49
\end{align}

The total preliminary implementation estimate is therefore:

\begin{align}
C_{\text{pilot}}
&=
1{,}232.46 + 600.00 + 350.00 + 436.49 \\
C_{\text{pilot}}
&=
2{,}618.95
\end{align}

This gives a preliminary implementation estimate of USD~2,618.95. At this
stage, the value should not be interpreted as the final price of a Hillink
implementation, but as a preliminary route-based cost structure. Its main
function is to identify which components dominate cost, which quantities
are sensitive to route geometry, and which items must be protected by a
maintenance reserve.

The inclusion of labor is important even if part of the work is provided
through community support. Community labor may reduce cash expenditure
during a pilot, but it still represents an economic contribution that must
be made visible for future replication. If Hillink is later implemented in
another community, the same work may need to be paid directly or replaced
through municipal, NGO, university, or partner support. For this reason,
local welding and fabrication labor must remain included in the estimate.

The same logic applies to installation tools and consumables. Welding
electrodes, cutting discs, drill bits, grease, safety equipment, clamps,
temporary supports, and minor tools may appear secondary compared with
cables or winches, but they are necessary for safe installation. Excluding
them would make the system appear cheaper than it actually is and would
weaken the credibility of the implementation estimate.

The same logic applies to maintenance. Standardized components should
use standardized inspection routines, spare parts, lubrication
procedures, and replacement criteria. The maintenance reserve should
prioritize the traction cable, pulleys, bearings, winch mechanism,
suspension chains, anchors, braking elements, and terminal impact
absorbers. If these items are not included, the estimate understates the
real cost of safe operation.

Cost viability should then be assessed through a lifecycle check. A pilot
or future implementation should only be considered feasible if, within a
defined service period, the available revenue, collective funding capacity,
or maintenance fund can cover the initial investment plus operation,
management, maintenance, and replacement costs. This condition can be
expressed as:

\begin{equation}
R_{\text{life-cycle}}
\geq
C_{\text{initial}}
+
C_{\text{operation}}
+
C_{\text{management}}
+
C_{\text{maintenance}}
+
C_{\text{replacement}}
\end{equation}

where:

\begin{itemize}
\item $R_{\text{life-cycle}}$ represents the total resources mobilized during the evaluation period.
\item $C_{\text{initial}}$ represents the initial implementation cost.
\item $C_{\text{operation}}$ represents routine operation costs.
\item $C_{\text{management}}$ represents local coordination, administration, or governance costs.
\item $C_{\text{maintenance}}$ represents preventive maintenance costs.
\item $C_{\text{replacement}}$ represents expected replacement of wear components.
\end{itemize}

This does not imply premium pricing for residents. It means that Hillink
must preserve safe operation without depending permanently on uncertain
external support. Cost viability should therefore be assessed by comparing
lifecycle costs with each local realistic funding capacity. If the system
cannot finance maintenance over time, the route should not advance, even
if installation appears financially feasible.

In this sense, the spreadsheet is not only a cost table. It becomes a
governance tool. It makes visible which costs are fixed, which costs
vary by route, which costs recur over time, and which responsibilities
must be assigned before implementation. As supplier quotations, pilot
data, and maintenance records are added, the estimate can be updated and
used to compare routes, refine modular components, negotiate
partnerships, and define whether a future implementation is financially
and technically ready.

The engineering objective is not the cheapest possible installation, but
the simplest safe system that can be inspected, repaired, and adapted
locally. Maintenance should therefore be cycle-based rather than only
time-based. Routes with higher daily use require shorter inspection
intervals, even if the calendar time is the same.

A monthly operating-cycle estimate can be defined as:

\begin{equation}
N_{\text{cycles/month}}
=
N_{\text{daily}}
\times
30
\end{equation}

where:

\begin{itemize}
\item $N_{\text{cycles/month}}$ represents the estimated number of operating cycles per month.
\item $N_{\text{daily}}$ represents the average number of cargo runs per day.
\end{itemize}

Monthly maintenance cost can be represented as:

\begin{equation}
C_{\text{maint/month}}
=
C_{\text{inspect}}
+
C_{\text{lub}}
+
C_{\text{wear}}
+
C_{\text{adjust}}
\end{equation}

where:

\begin{itemize}
\item $C_{\text{maint/month}}$ represents the estimated monthly maintenance cost.
\item $C_{\text{inspect}}$ represents inspection labor or supervision.
\item $C_{\text{lub}}$ represents lubrication of exposed mechanical interfaces.
\item $C_{\text{wear}}$ represents the reserve for replaceable wear components.
\item $C_{\text{adjust}}$ represents cable tension adjustment, alignment correction, or minor route recalibration.
\end{itemize}

Maintenance should be designed as a preventive, cycle-based routine.
Higher daily use increases operating cycles and should shorten
inspection intervals. Therefore, the engineering strategy is to
standardize visible and replaceable components, preserve safety factors,
and adapt only the site-specific elements. Although
Hillink\textquotesingle s premise is to keep it as simple as possible,
it still requires disciplined maintenance. Affordability therefore
depends on designing the system to be locally maintainable from the
beginning.

\subsection*{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Stakeholder Engagement and
Financing
Strategies}}{Stakeholder Engagement and Financing Strategies}}\label{stakeholder-engagement-and-financing-strategies}

This section explains how Hillink can engage local, municipal, and
private-impact stakeholders to make pilot financing credible. The two
primary references are the IFC/World Bank handbook
``\emph{Stakeholder Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook for Companies
Doing Business in Emerging Markets}'' and Valenzuela Inga et al.'s
engineering study \emph{``Design of a Portable Freight Ropeway for
Transporting Construction Materials on Hillside''}.

This strategy is appropriate because Hillink remains at a preliminary
stage and still depends heavily on local acceptance, municipal
permission, technical validation, and a credible maintenance
arrangement. Therefore, financing should not be approached as a simple
request for money. It should be approached as a process of reducing risk
for potential funders.

The IFC handbook argues that stakeholder engagement has moved from a
short-term requirement for consultation and disclosure to a longer-term
strategy for relationship-building, risk mitigation, and business
identification (\reflink{International Finance Corporation [IFC], 2007, p.
1}). This is directly relevant to Hillink because the project operates in
socially sensitive urban areas.

For this reason, Hillink's financing strategy should be organized around
three stakeholder levels: local stakeholders, municipal stakeholders,
and private impact funds. Each group reduces a different type of risk.
Local stakeholders reduce demand and operation risk. Municipal
stakeholders reduce authorization and institutional risk. Private impact
funds reduce capital constraints, but only if the project can
demonstrate that local demand, technical plausibility, and governance
conditions have already been addressed.

The first financing strategy is to reduce stakeholder uncertainty before
seeking capital. Hillink should map not only the directly affected
households, but also the actors able to authorize, block, operate,
maintain, or legitimize the pilot. This includes community
representatives, municipal authorities, local NGOs, technical partners,
manufacturers, and potential funders. This mapping converts stakeholder
engagement into a risk-reduction tool for financing.

Before requesting funding, Hillink should prepare a short disclosure
package explaining the proposed pilot, expected benefits, technical
limits, operational risks, and unresolved uncertainties. This document
should not overpromise implementation readiness. Instead, it should show
that the project is transparent, reviewable, and open to stakeholder
input.

The financing strategy should be partnership-based. Hillink should not
approach funders as a stand-alone student invention, but as a pilot
supported by a local implementation coalition. Each stakeholder reduces
a different financing risk: the community reduces demand risk, the
municipality reduces authorization risk, engineers reduce technical
risk, NGOs reduce social risk, manufacturers reduce cost uncertainty,
and funders reduce capital constraints.

The success of Hillink\textquotesingle s launch depends on its technical
design, community acceptance, municipal permits, and sustainable
funding. However, fieldwork conducted in San Gabriel Alto revealed that
mutual support among neighbors is limited; residents explicitly stated
that "it\textquotesingle s very scarce, everyone fends for themselves."
Voluntary collaboration among neighbors is desirable, but
Hillink\textquotesingle s operational model does not depend on it. The
system is structured around economic incentives and clearly defined paid
roles, not unpaid neighborhood solidarity.

\paragraph{Local Level (Community-Based but Not Voluntary)}

Local stakeholders in the Hillink context include directly affected
residents, households near the proposed route, informal community
leaders, neighborhood associations, women, elderly residents, people
with mobility limitations, delivery workers, local shop owners,
builders, welders, mechanics, and possible operators of the system. As
discussed earlier, the most vulnerable groups should receive priority.
Hillink depends on daily use. The system is not useful if the community
does not trust it, if users do not understand the load limits, if access
rules are unclear, or if residents near the route feel exposed to risk.

The project team should document what goods residents carry, as shown in
the Field Visit section. This is the most effective way to determine how
often manual carrying occurs, who carries the loads, how much time is
spent, and where the most difficult route segments are located. This
avoids presenting Hillink as a generic device and instead frames it as a
response to a documented local problem.

Community representatives should then be selected, but with
caution. The IFC handbook warns that relying on representatives without
checking whether they actually reflect community views can create
conflict and damage stakeholder relations (\reflink{IFC, 2007, pp. 20--21}).

Consultation should be used as an essential design input for both the
system and the stakeholder engagement strategy. For Hillink, community
meetings should explain the system in simple language and disclose the
project clearly. Hillink should prepare a short visual document
explaining the proposal, rules, risks, maintenance needs, and remaining
uncertainties as clearly as possible. This should not be treated as a
symbolic gesture: the IFC recommends early disclosure, objective
information, accessible language, and clarity about which elements of
Hillink are fixed and what can be adapted through consultation
(\reflink{IFC, 2007, pp. 28--30}). A relevant success case is Sasol in
Mozambique, where a Background Information Document used non-technical
language, maps, and figures to explain the project and invite
stakeholder participation (\reflink{IFC, 2007, p. 32}).
% Placeholder removed: missing appendix reference for this document.

This helps transform the pilot from an external proposal into a locally
adjusted infrastructure experiment with local operating agreements.
Those agreements should define who can use Hillink, what loads are
allowed, who operates the winch, how use is scheduled, who reports
damage, and when the system must stop. This is important because
community support must become operational responsibility. Without this
step, local approval remains too vague for funders.

A basic grievance mechanism should be presented as part of the financing
proposal. Even for a small pilot, residents must know how to report
unsafe use, obstruction, damage, unfair access, or operational problems.
This increases accountability and shows funders that social risk is
being actively managed. The IFC handbook states that grievance
procedures should be accessible, culturally appropriate, written,
publicized, and proportional to the project's risks (\reflink{IFC, 2007, pp.
69--76}). For Hillink, this can be simple: a WhatsApp contact, a notebook
with a local operator, a QR form, or a designated community focal point.

\paragraph{Municipal Level}

Municipal stakeholders include the local government, urban planning
department, public works department, mobility or transport authority,
civil defense, social assistance agencies, health posts, schools, local
council members, and any public authority responsible for public stairs,
slopes, informal settlements, risk areas, or infrastructure
authorization.

The Villa María del Triunfo municipality is responsible for granting
permits and authorizing installations on public stairways. Although the
municipality lacks fiscal resources (as shown in Section 5.1), its
endorsement is necessary for implementation.
The municipal strategy is necessary because Hillink can affect shared
urban space. Even if the system is small or installed in areas where
government presence is limited, it still involves safety, route
authorization, maintenance responsibility, public liability, and
possible land-use restrictions. As discussed in Section 8.1, Phase D,
government is a key stakeholder because public authorities may have
regulatory responsibility, established relationships with communities,
and the ability to convene or facilitate discussions between projects
and affected groups. In the Hillink case, however, government
participation may be limited or inconsistent.

Nonetheless, consultation and transparency are not symbolic gestures.
Hillink must still be presented clearly, with emphasis on its potential
social impacts rather than only on its engineering mechanism. Before
requesting funding, the project should request non-financial municipal
support. At the proposal stage, the municipality may not be able to pay
for the pilot. However, technical feedback, public data, authorization
guidance, and institutional legitimacy can increase transparency and
reduce implementation risk.

Government stakeholders can connect Hillink with valuable and organized
data that can improve the system beyond a single location. This is a
powerful way to increase scalability and credibility. As discussed
earlier, government should remain a key stakeholder. Institutional
legitimacy and credibility are important for risk minimization and for
the search for financing.

Beyond the Villa María del Triunfo municipality, Hillink should seek
cooperation with other locations. This could include other districts of
Lima, such as San Juan de Lurigancho, as well as international
partners. City governments in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have
experience with informal settlement interventions and could serve as
partners for the adaptations that Hillink provides.

\paragraph{Private Impact Funds}

To bridge the funding gap left by the government, Hillink can turn to
private impact investors focused on social innovation.

Presentation is again an essential factor, but in this case it should
focus on the staged implementation process described in Section 8.1.
Because implementation is staged, funding requests can also be staged.
This reduces funder risk because each stage has a clear deliverable. The
HAI (Hillink Applicability Index) presented earlier can support the case
for technical plausibility with these actors. However, even a robust
MCDA model may reproduce algorithmic bias: vulnerability cannot be fully
standardized mathematically, and populations that score just below
arbitrary thresholds cannot be ethically abandoned.

The calculator must therefore be framed as a preliminary sorting guide
for reducing risk, while the final decision must always incorporate
flexible, qualitative social criteria to ensure that no vulnerable
household is left behind by a rigid algorithm.

\paragraph{Synthesis}

The financing strategy should always be based on risk minimization.
Local stakeholders demonstrate whether the system is needed and
acceptable. Municipal stakeholders clarify whether the system can be
authorized and publicly legitimized. Private impact funds can then
finance staged validation and pilot implementation. With these
stakeholders aligned, Hillink can be positioned as a financially and
operationally viable response to the impacts of the Geography Tax.

\section{Social Impact and Scalability}
\label{sec:social-impact-scalability}

\subsection*{Social Impact}

The previous sections established that the Geography Tax is not an abstract concept, but a measurable burden experienced in daily life. In Villa María del Triunfo, residents reported carrying loads of approximately 5 to 15 kg through steep routes, spending between 10 and 20 minutes per trip, paying higher prices for cooking gas because delivery workers cannot reach the doorstep, and facing repeated risks of falls on unfinished stairs, dirt paths, and slippery routes during rain. These findings show that territorial exclusion affects households through cost, time, physical effort, safety, dependency, and reliability of access.

The social impact of Hillink should therefore be evaluated through the extent to which it reduces those burdens. Impact should not be defined only by community acceptance or by the technical operation of the system, but by measurable changes in everyday logistics. The core indicators should include the number of manual carrying trips per week, kilograms transported manually, time required to move goods from the last accessible point to the household, informal delivery costs, reported exhaustion or pain, and the frequency of accidents or near-falls. This is consistent with impact-evaluation and results-based management frameworks, which emphasize baseline measurement, indicators, targets, and means of verification before claiming social impact (\reflink{Asian Development Bank, 2006; Gertler et al., 2016; United Nations Development Programme, 2009}).

The new evidence added by the transport and health literature reinforces the relevance of these indicators. Studies on domestic transport of water, fuel, and household supplies show that manual carrying can consume substantial amounts of time and energy in low-infrastructure contexts, producing a form of time poverty that limits education, income generation, care, and rest (\reflink{Malmberg-Calvo, 1994; Ho et al., 2021; Isoto et al., 2024}). Literature on Intermediate Means of Transport (IMTs) also shows that mechanical or semi-mechanical systems can reduce transport bottlenecks by increasing the amount of cargo moved per trip and lowering the labor required to move bulky goods (\reflink{Acheampong, 2004; Riverson \& Carapetis, 1991}). Hillink adapts this logic to dense hillside settlements by targeting the final segment of cargo movement, where the Geography Tax is most concentrated.

The impact is also physical and health-related. Research on head-loading and domestic transport documents associations with musculoskeletal pain, spinal stress, fatigue, fall risk, and long-term health consequences, especially for women and children who often perform a disproportionate share of household logistics (\reflink{Ho et al., 2021; Porter et al., 2013}). In the context of Hillink, this evidence helps explain why repeated trips with gas cylinders, water containers, groceries, medicine, or construction materials should be treated as a health burden, not merely as an inconvenience. The body becomes the transport infrastructure, and the cost accumulates through repetition.

The gender dimension is equally important. Domestic transport burdens are frequently distributed unequally within households, affecting women, girls, caregivers, elderly residents, and informal workers more intensely (\reflink{Malmberg-Calvo, 1994; Ho et al., 2021; Isoto et al., 2024}). This connects directly with the field visit findings, where women and elderly residents were identified as especially affected by carrying tasks. Reducing manual carrying may therefore generate effects beyond logistics: lower physical exhaustion, less dependence on informal help, improved safety, and more time for education, paid work, care, or rest. These effects should not be assumed automatically, but measured through post-pilot interviews and before/after indicators.

Hillink may also produce economic and local-development effects. The clearest example from the fieldwork is the price of cooking gas: when upper areas are harder to reach, residents pay more for the same basic good. This creates a regressive cost structure in which poorer households pay an additional territorial surcharge. 

Therefore, Hillink can contribute to many goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its most direct contribution is to \textbf{SDG 1: No Poverty}, because it addresses a concrete dimension of multidimensional poverty: the additional cost imposed by difficult terrain on low-income households. It also relates directly to \textbf{SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being}, by seeking to reduce physical strain, fall risk, and repeated load-carrying burdens; \textbf{SDG 5: Gender Equality}, by addressing gendered domestic transport responsibilities; \textbf{SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure}, by proposing low-cost and locally adaptable infrastructure; \textbf{SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities}, by targeting territorial exclusion; and \textbf{SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities}, by improving last-segment accessibility in informal and peripheral settlements. Indirectly, the project may also support \textbf{SDG 4: Quality Education}, \textbf{SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth}, and \textbf{SDG 13: Climate Action}, insofar as reduced time poverty, local logistics roles, and low-energy mechanical operation are verified during pilot evaluation (\reflink{United Nations, 2015}).
\begin{landscape}
\small
\setlength{\tabcolsep}{5pt}
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.25}

\begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
\captionsetup{hypcap=false}
\captionof{table}{Physical, Socio-Economic, and SDG Dimensions of the Geography Tax}
\label{tab:geography-tax-dimensions}
\end{minipage}

\begin{longtable}{@{}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\linewidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.18}}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\linewidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.27}}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\linewidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.27}}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\linewidth - 6\tabcolsep) * \real{0.22}}@{}}

\toprule
\textbf{Category} &
\textbf{Physical and Health Impact} &
\textbf{Socio-Economic Effect} &
\textbf{SDG Alignment} \\
\midrule
\endfirsthead

\toprule
\textbf{Category} &
\textbf{Physical and Health Impact} &
\textbf{Socio-Economic Effect} &
\textbf{SDG Alignment} \\
\midrule
\endhead

\midrule
\multicolumn{4}{r}{\textit{Continued on next page}} \\
\endfoot

\bottomrule
\endlastfoot

\textbf{Physical and Health Risks (Manual Carrying)} &
Musculoskeletal risks, chronic injuries such as scoliosis and pelvic damage, and extreme physical exhaustion from head-loading or manual portage. Manual hauling accounts for 80--92\% of total transport effort in low-infrastructure contexts. &
Reduced productivity and diminished capacity to work or study; households suffer from physical disruption and a perpetuation of structural poverty; high energy expenditure limits the ability to handle health emergencies. &
SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). \\

\midrule

\textbf{Time Poverty} &
Long walking hours, including 2--18 hour workdays, leading to fatigue, reduced energy for other activities, and restricted time for rest, self-care, or childcare. Significant time loss, up to 50\%, for cultivation and housework. &
Limits opportunities for education and non-farm wage employment; prevents children, especially girls, from attending school; hinders the development of efficient marketing systems and economic diversification. &
SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). \\

\midrule

\textbf{Gendered Labor Distribution} &
Women and daughters face disproportionate musculoskeletal stress and physiological risks, such as pelvic damage, while carrying 70--96\% of domestic loads, including water, wood, and produce. &
Triple burden of work, reproductive, productive, and community, results in extreme time impoverishment; reinforces subordinate social positions and limits access to capital, credit, and resources. &
SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). \\

\midrule

\textbf{Economic Surcharges (Geography Tax)} &
Physical exhaustion from traversing difficult terrain, steep hillsides, or deteriorating gravel tracks, particularly during rainy seasons; high post-harvest losses due to perishability. &
Residents in isolated areas pay 15--40\% more for basic goods such as water and gas, and for services; high marginal costs for increasing output; depressed producer prices due to seasonal inaccessibility and lack of market competition. &
SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). \\

\midrule

\textbf{Infrastructure Gaps} &
Physical strain from long-distance hauling of water and firewood due to a lack of piped services or electricity; exposure to water-related diseases. &
Restricts social intercourse and limits access to emergency health services; prevents modernization of agriculture; forces trade-offs between leisure and basic subsistence tasks. &
SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure). \\

\midrule

\textbf{Food Processing (Grinding Mills)} &
Arduous labor of hand-pounding crops; carrying heavy grain loads over long distances to and from processing sites. &
Significant time cost, 40--242 hours per year per household; acts as a barrier to diversifying family diets and improving local nutrition. &
SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 5 (Gender Equality). \\

\end{longtable}

\normalsize
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1}
\end{landscape}

\subsection*{Scalability}

Any scalability plan should be based on a socio-technical
readiness assessment.

Engineering modularization should begin with load classes or terrain
classes. A light module can serve groceries and medicine; a medium
module can serve water containers and food baskets; a heavy module can
serve gas cylinders and construction materials. Each class changes the
required cable strength, pulley diameter, braking system, anchoring
design, and maintenance interval.

Hillink's scalability should be understood as modular adaptation, not
as the identical reproduction of the same equipment. What can be
replicated is the method: local diagnosis, baseline measurement,
maintenance-fund assessment, local operation, monitoring, and impact
evaluation. Engineering must vary according to slope, route length, soil
type, available materials, anchoring form, corrosion, climate,
permissions, and local maintenance capacity.


\section{Limitations}

Hillink has several limitations that must be acknowledged before any
pilot implementation. First, the current proposal remains at a
conceptual and preliminary engineering stage. The 3D model, cost
estimate, and mechanical configuration are useful for feasibility
discussion, but they do not replace certified structural calculations,
anchoring verification, fatigue analysis, supplier load ratings, seismic
assessment, or professional engineering approval.

Second, the fieldwork was limited in scope. The interviews conducted in
Villa María del Triunfo provide valuable qualitative evidence about the
Geography Tax, but they are not statistically representative of all
hillside settlements in Lima or Latin America. Future work should expand
the sample, include more households, compare different routes, and
collect baseline measurements before and after a pilot.

Third, Hillink is not appropriate for every terrain. Some stairways may
be too narrow, too irregular, too exposed to wind, or too socially
contested for safe installation. Routes with weak anchoring conditions,
high pedestrian conflict, unclear land rights, or insufficient
maintenance capacity should not advance to pilot implementation without
redesign.

Fourth, the system depends on governance as much as engineering. Even a
simple mechanical system can fail if no operator is defined, if
maintenance funds are absent, if rules are unclear, or if local
authorities do not authorize the intervention. For this reason, Hillink
should be treated as a socio-technical infrastructure model rather than
as a stand-alone device.

Finally, the project does not claim to solve poverty as a whole. It
addresses one specific dimension of multidimensional poverty: the cost,
time, effort, and risk of moving essential goods through inaccessible
terrain. Its value depends on whether future pilots can demonstrate
measurable reductions in those burdens.

\section{\texorpdfstring{\textbf{Conclusions}}{Conclusions}}\label{conclusions}

Hillink began from a simple but often overlooked observation: poverty is
not only measured by income, but also by the physical conditions under
which daily life becomes more expensive, slower, heavier, and less
accessible. In hillside settlements, informal peripheries, flood-prone
areas, isolated villages, and dense neighborhoods unreachable by
conventional vehicles, geography itself becomes a mechanism of
exclusion. This project defined that burden as the \textbf{Geography
Tax}: the additional physical, economic, temporal, and health-related
cost imposed on low-income communities because of where they are forced
to live.

The proposal does not claim that infrastructure alone can solve poverty.
Poverty is multidimensional, historically produced, institutionally
reinforced, and shaped by income, housing, land tenure, public services,
gender, health, education, and political representation. For this
reason, Hillink should not be interpreted as a universal solution to
poverty, nor as a replacement for public investment, urban reform, road
access, housing policy, or social protection. Its contribution is
narrower, but still significant: Hillink addresses one concrete and
repeated dimension of poverty --- the difficulty of moving essential
goods through territories where formal infrastructure does not reach.

The central value of Hillink is that it transforms a daily burden into
an engineering problem that can be measured, tested, adapted, and
improved. Instead of proposing an expensive, electric, centralized, or
highly technical system, Hillink is intentionally designed as a
low-cost, cargo-only, non-electric, modular mechanical infrastructure.
This design choice is not merely technical; it is social. A system
intended for low-income communities must be affordable, maintainable,
locally operable, and adaptable to different territorial conditions. A
technically sophisticated solution that residents cannot repair,
finance, authorize, or govern would fail the very population it intends
to serve.

The phased implementation strategy reinforces this logic. Phase A
identifies the real burdens experienced by the community. Phase B
converts those burdens into measurable baseline indicators. Phase C
evaluates technical and territorial applicability through structured
criteria. Phase D verifies whether the route can be socially accepted,
locally governed, and institutionally authorized. Phase E tests the
system as a pilot rather than as a final deployment. Finally, the impact
and scalability stage compares pre- and post-pilot conditions to
determine whether Hillink actually reduces time, cost, effort, physical
strain, and dependency in the movement of essential goods. This sequence
prevents the project from relying only on intuition, visual urgency, or
abstract engineering feasibility.

The project also recognizes that scalability does not mean copying one
fixed design everywhere. The same mechanical principle may be useful in
many territories, but each application requires local adaptation. A
steep stairway in Lima, a favela pathway in Rio de Janeiro, a
flood-prone corridor, a rural hillside trail, or a dense informal
passage may require different anchoring strategies, materials, operating
rules, maintenance routines, and governance arrangements. Therefore,
Hillink's scalability depends less on universal standardization and more
on a modular kit logic: a common mechanical core combined with
site-specific engineering, community validation, and institutional
negotiation.

This recognition of limitations is not a weakness of the proposal. On
the contrary, it is what makes Hillink more credible. No serious
poverty-alleviation project should claim to work in every place, under
every condition, for every group, without adaptation. By acknowledging
technical, social, regulatory, financial, and cultural constraints,
Hillink creates space for iterative improvement. Routes that are unsafe
should be rejected or redesigned. Communities that do not accept the
system should not receive a forced intervention. Sites without minimum
maintenance capacity should not advance to pilot implementation.
Contexts with weak authorization, high conflict, or unsuitable geography
require different strategies. These limits protect the project from
overpromising and make future replication more responsible.

At the same time, the existence of limitations does not reduce Hillink's
global potential. The Geography Tax is not exclusive to one city or one
country. Across the Global South, millions of people live in territories
where the final segment of access depends on human strength: carrying
water, gas, food, medicine, construction materials, and household
supplies through difficult terrain. Even a modest reduction in this
burden may produce meaningful improvements in time use, physical
exhaustion, delivery cost, health risk, and access to basic goods.
Hillink's potential lies precisely in targeting this specific daily
friction point with a system that is simple enough to be realistic and
flexible enough to be adapted.

For these reasons, Hillink should be understood as a practical
infrastructure tool for poverty alleviation, never as a complete
solution to poverty itself. Its promise is not to eliminate structural
inequality, but to reduce one of its most concrete territorial
expressions. If tested carefully, governed locally, maintained
sustainably, and adapted intelligently, Hillink can become a replicable
model for reducing the Geography Tax in vulnerable communities around
the world. Its strength lies in its simplicity: mechanical,
community-driven implementation, measurable impact, and territorial
adaptability where applicable. The project deliberately avoids
unnecessary technological complexity, not because advanced technologies
are inherently unsuitable, but because development is often associated
with digital sophistication while simple solutions are underestimated or
made invisible. In territories shaped by infrastructural neglect, the
priority is not to introduce new forms of technical dependency, but to
develop systems that can be understood, repaired, governed, and
sustained locally. Simplicity is therefore a core philosophy of this
project. With further refinement, Hillink can become a simple yet robust
system for poverty alleviation.

\clearpage
\phantomsection
\section*{References}
\label{sec:references}
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{References}

% TODO: Missing full bibliographic data for: Cesar Ponce (julio 2021)
% TODO: Missing full bibliographic data for: Google Satellite and MINEDU data
% TODO: Missing full bibliographic data for: Gu Dai recommendation
% TODO: Missing full bibliographic data for: Copernicus DEM
% TODO: Missing full bibliographic data for: WorldPop
% TODO: Missing full bibliographic data for: GHSL
% TODO: Missing full bibliographic data for: OpenStreetMap
% TODO: Missing full bibliographic data for: Pahl et al. (2007)
% TODO: Missing full bibliographic data for: Valenzuela Inga et al., Design of a Portable Freight Ropeway for Transporting Construction Materials on Hillside

\begingroup
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\setlength{\hangindent}{0.5in}
\hangafter=1


AACE International. (2016). \emph{Cost estimate classification system:
As applied in engineering, procurement, and construction for the process
industries} (Recommended Practice No. 18R-97). AACE International.

Acheampong, F. O. (2004). \emph{The impact of intermediate means of
transports (IMTs) on agricultural production and marketing in coastal
Ghana: Evidence from a pilot IMT action research project} (Master's
thesis). Durham University.

Amoroso Lavayen, D. N. (2025). \emph{Valorization of the peri-urban
Andean hillside landscape: Transformations, socio-cultural dynamics, and
urban-ecological challenges: Case study: Quito} (Master's thesis).
\url{http://hdl.handle.net/10174/39826}

Asian Development Bank. (2006). \emph{Impact evaluation: Methodological
and operational issues}. Asian Development Bank.
\url{https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/33014/files/impact-analysis-handbook.pdf}

Chávez, K. (2021). \emph{Monografía sobre la organización
socio-espacial, la provisión de transporte y las condiciones de
movilidad en la zona ``Villa María del Triunfo'' (Lima).}

Clichevsky, N. (2000). \emph{Informalidad y segregación urbana en
América Latina: Una aproximación} (Serie Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo).
CEPAL.
\url{https://hdl.handle.net/11362/5712}

Dixon, V., \& Bamberger, M. (2022). \emph{Incorporating process
evaluation into impact evaluation: What, why and how} (3ie Working Paper
No. 50). International Initiative for Impact Evaluation.
\url{https://doi.org/10.23846/WP0050}

Echoing Green. (n.d.). \emph{Fellowship}.
\url{https://www.echoinggreen.org/fellowship/}

Emol. (2020, 1 de febrero). Accidente en ascensor de Valparaíso deja un
muerto y dos heridos graves tras caída desde cerro Concepción.
\url{https://www.emol.com/noticias/Nacional/2020/02/01/975340/valparaiso-cerro-accidente.html}

Extra. (2021, July 14). \emph{Teleférico do Alemão completa dez anos em
ruínas e governo do estado estuda recuperar sistema}. \emph{O Globo}.
\url{https://extra.globo.com/noticias/rio/teleferico-do-alemao-completa-dez-anos-em-ruinas-governo-do-estado-estuda-recuperar-sistema-25109261.html}

G1. (2021, July 14). \emph{Cláudio Castro quer reativar Teleférico do
Alemão; sistema, hoje abandonado, completa 10 anos}. \emph{Globo.com}.
\url{https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/blog/edimilson-avila/post/2021/07/14/claudio-castro-quer-reativar-teleferico-do-alemao-sistema-hoje-abandonado-completa-10-anos.ghtml}

Gertler, P. J., Martinez, S., Premand, P., Rawlings, L. B., \&
Vermeersch, C. M. J. (2016). \emph{Impact evaluation in practice} (2nd
ed.). Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank.
\url{https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0779-4}

Gyger, H. (2019). \emph{Improvised cities: Architecture, urbanization \&
innovation in Peru}. University of Pittsburgh Press.

Harvey, D. (2008). The right to the city. \emph{New Left Review, 53},
23-40.

Henao, C. (2015). Cable car systems in Latin America: Lessons from
Medellín and beyond. \emph{Journal of Transport Geography, 45}, 12-20.

Ho, E. W., Strohmeier-Breuning, S., Rossanese, M., Charron, D.,
Pennise, D., \& Graham, J. P. (2021). Diverse health, gender and
economic impacts from domestic transport of water and solid fuel: A
systematic review. \emph{International Journal of Environmental Research
and Public Health, 18}(19), 10355.
\url{https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910355}

Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. (2020). \emph{Mapa de
pobreza monetaria provincial y distrital 2018} (Anexo N.\textdegree{}
2). INEI.

Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. (2022). \emph{Producción
y empleo informal en el Perú: Cuenta satélite de la economía informal
2022}. INEI.
\url{https://www.gob.pe/es/institucion/inei/informes-publicaciones/4990510-production-and-informal-employment-in-peru-satellite-account-of-the-informal-economy-2022}

Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. (2024). \emph{Censo
demográfico 2022: Favelas e comunidades urbanas: Resultados do
universo}. IBGE.
\url{https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/index.php/biblioteca-catalogo?view=detalhes&id=2102134}

Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. (2025). \emph{Registro
nacional de municipalidades 2025 - Formulario 01: Municipalidades
provinciales y distritales}. Gobierno del Perú.
\url{https://www.gob.pe/institucion/inei/campanas/9115-registro-nacional-de-municipalidades-2025}

Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. (2026, April 30).
\emph{Pobreza monetaria alcanzó al 25,7 \% de la población en el Perú
durante el año 2025}. Gobierno del Perú.
\url{https://www.gob.pe/institucion/inei/noticias/1387366-inei-pobreza-monetaria-alcanzo-al-25-7-de-la-poblacion-en-el-peru-durante-el-ano-2025}

Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos. (2022). \emph{Censo nacional
de población, hogares y viviendas 2022: Villas y barrios populares}.
INDEC.
\url{https://www.indec.gob.ar/indec/web/Nivel4-Tema-2-41-165}

International Finance Corporation. (2007). \emph{Stakeholder engagement:
A good practice handbook for companies doing business in emerging
markets}. International Finance Corporation.

Isoto, R. E., Nakamatte, I., Bashaasha, B., \& Saleemi, S. (2024).
\emph{Gendered patterns of adults' and children's time and access to
technology and infrastructure in rural Uganda} (ZEF Working Paper No.
230). Center for Development Research (ZEF).
\url{https://doi.org/10.48565/bonndoc-318}

La Tercera. (2024, 26 de mayo). Valparaíso: Ninguno de los 10 ascensores
comprados por el Estado en 2012 está en funcionamiento.
\url{https://www.latercera.com/nacional/noticia/valparaiso-ninguno-de-los-10-ascensores-comprados-por-el-estado-en-2012-esta-en-funcionamiento/SSLUREWKWFEADPNQNTROWSUSFE/}

Lambert, R. (2021). The violence of planning law and the production of
risk in Lima. \emph{Geoforum, 122}, 82--91.
\url{https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.03.012}

León Segura, C. M. (2011). \emph{Territorio y desarrollo local}.
\emph{Economía y Desarrollo, 146}(1--2), 5--18. Universidad de La
Habana.

Malmberg-Calvo, C. E. (1994). \emph{Case study on the role of women in
rural transport: Access of women to domestic facilities} (SSATP Working
Paper No. 11). World Bank and Economic Commission for Africa.
\url{https://www.ssatp.org/publication/case-study-role-women-rural-transport-access-women-domestic-facilities}

Martínez Muñoz, C. A., \& Maroto Ramos, F. J. (2024). Informal/formal
morphogenesis in Latin American settlements: A response to the problem
of urban fragmentation. \emph{Journal of Urban Management}.
\url{https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2024.05.001}

Migone, J., \& Pirozzi, A. (1998). \emph{Ascensores de Valparaíso}.
Santiago de Chile: Conpal-Chile.

Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia. (2022). \emph{CASEN 2022:
Encuesta de caracterización socioeconómica nacional}. Observatorio
Social.
\url{https://observatorio.ministeriodesarrollosocial.gob.cl/encuesta-casen-2022}

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2012).
\emph{Guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights}. United
Nations.
\url{https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/OHCHR_ExtremePovertyandHumanRights_EN.pdf}

Ponce, C., Román García, D., \& Chávez Arana, K. (2022).
\emph{Movilidad urbana en zonas periféricas: una mirada comparada de
tres distritos de Lima Metropolitana}. \emph{Bulletin de l'Institut
français d'études andines.}

Porter, G., Hampshire, K., Dunn, C., Hall, R., Levesley, M., Burton, K.,
Robson, S., Abane, A., Blell, M., \& Panther, J. (2013). Health impacts
of pedestrian head-loading: A review of the evidence with particular
reference to women and children in sub-Saharan Africa. \emph{Social
Science \& Medicine, 88}, 90--97.
\url{https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.04.010}

Ricou, X. (1988). Huaycán: Una experiencia de habilitación urbana.
\emph{Bulletin de l\textquotesingle Institut français
d\textquotesingle études andines, 17}(1), 65-85.

Riverson, J. D. N., \& Carapetis, S. (1991). \emph{Intermediate means of
transport in sub-Saharan Africa: Its potential for improving rural
travel and transport} (World Bank Technical Paper No. 161). World Bank.

Sabatini, F. (2003). \emph{The social spatial segregation in the cities
of Latin America}. Inter-American Development Bank.
\url{http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0006536}

Sierra, A., \& Ortiz, D. (2012). The peripheries, territories of
uncertainty? The case of Pachacútec, Lima-Callao, Peru. \emph{Bulletin
de l\textquotesingle Institut français d\textquotesingle études andines,
41}(3). \url{https://doi.org/10.4000/bifea.400}

The Clinic. (2023, 29 de octubre). Vida y agonía de los ascensores de
Valparaíso: funcionan ocho y otros seis esperan su recuperación con
incierto futuro.
\url{https://www.theclinic.cl/2023/10/29/vida-y-agonia-de-los-ascensores-de-valparaiso-solo-ocho-funcionan-y-alistan-licitaciones/}

Tsinghua University Latin America Center. (n.d.). \emph{``5W1H+''
Toolbox}. Tsinghua University.
\url{https://lac.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/Focused_Activities/a5W1H___Toolbox.htm}

UN-Habitat. (2022). \emph{World cities report 2022: Envisaging the
future of cities}. United Nations Human Settlements Programme.
\url{https://unhabitat.org/wcr/}

United Nations. (2015). \emph{Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development}. United Nations.
\url{https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda}

United Nations Development Programme. (2009). \emph{Handbook on
planning, monitoring and evaluating for development results}. United
Nations Development Programme.
\url{http://web.undp.org/evaluation/handbook/documents/english/pme-handbook.pdf}

World Bank. (2025). \emph{June 2025 update to the Poverty and Inequality
Platform (PIP): What's new} (Global Poverty Monitoring Technical Note
No. 44).
\url{https://pip.worldbank.org/}

\endgroup

\clearpage
\phantomsection
\section*{Appendix}
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{Appendix}

\textbf{Appendix 1 ``Field Visit: List of questions''}

{\def\LTcaptype{none} % do not increment counter
\begin{longtable}[]{@{}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\linewidth - 4\tabcolsep) * \real{0.2281}}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\linewidth - 4\tabcolsep) * \real{0.4336}}
  >{\raggedright\arraybackslash}p{(\linewidth - 4\tabcolsep) * \real{0.3035}}@{}}
\toprule\noalign{}
\begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Questions
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Purpose
\end{minipage} \\
\midrule\noalign{}
\endhead
\bottomrule\noalign{}
\endlastfoot
\begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Regarding the area
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\item
  How long have you been living in your current home?
\item
  Do you feel that your surroundings have changed over the years?
\item
  How has the neighborhood changed?
\item
  Do you have access to basic services?
\end{enumerate}
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
To establish the resident\textquotesingle s level of rootedness and
assess perceived changes in access to basic urban services over time.
\end{minipage} \\
\begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
With regard to the State
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\setcounter{enumi}{4}
\item
  Do you feel that you receive support from the government?
\item
  What was the last public works project the government carried out in
  your area? / Was the last project the staircase?
\end{enumerate}
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
To gauge the perceived presence and effectiveness of government
intervention in the community, and identify the last point of public
investment.
\end{minipage} \\
\begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Regarding the loading of objects and/or food
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\setcounter{enumi}{6}
\item
  Do you go grocery shopping every day or once a week?
\item
  How long does it take you, roughly, to carry your groceries upstairs?
\item
  How much do your groceries weigh, approximately?
\end{enumerate}
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
To quantify the frequency, time cost, and physical weight involved in
the daily task of carrying supplies upstairs.
\end{minipage} \\
\begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
With regard to the impact on cargo
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\setcounter{enumi}{9}
\item
  Do you find it really hard to carry your groceries upstairs?
\item
  When another family member does it, do you notice they look tired?
\item
  Do you end up with aches and pains all over your body?
\end{enumerate}
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
To assess the physical toll that load-carrying imposes on residents and
their families, documenting bodily exhaustion as a measurable dimension
of poverty.
\end{minipage} \\
\begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Regarding natural gas
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\setcounter{enumi}{12}
\item
  ¿How much do you usually pay for gas?
\item
  Do you feel like you\textquotesingle re being overcharged because of
  the altitude?
\item
  Do they deliver the gas cylinder to your home?
\end{enumerate}
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
To document the economic penalty associated with altitude --- higher
prices, informal delivery, and limited access --- as evidence of the
Geography Tax.
\end{minipage} \\
\begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Regarding accidents
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\setcounter{enumi}{15}
\item
  Have there been any accidents while you were loading your groceries?
\item
  Have there been any accidents in rainy conditions?
\end{enumerate}
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
To identify safety risks associated with load-carrying on steep
stairways, particularly under adverse weather conditions.
\end{minipage} \\
\begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
With regard to the community and the individual
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\setcounter{enumi}{17}
\item
  What do you think is one of the biggest problems they face?
\item
  Do you feel that neighbors support one another?
\end{enumerate}
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
To evaluate social cohesion and collective resilience as a foundation
for the cooperative governance model.
\end{minipage} \\
\begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
Regarding our solution
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
\begin{enumerate}
\def\labelenumi{\arabic{enumi}.}
\setcounter{enumi}{19}
\item
  What if those weekly groceries could be delivered right to your
  doorstep, or somewhere nearby? Would you like that?
\item
  Do you think your quality of life---and that of your children and
  husband---would improve if that were implemented?
\end{enumerate}
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{\linewidth}\raggedright
To test community receptiveness to Hillink and gauge perceived impact on
quality of life.
\end{minipage} \\
\end{longtable}
}

\textbf{Appendix 2 RENAMU Indicators for Villa María del Triunfo}

\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption*{\textbf{Figure A.1.} \textit{Own-Source Revenue: VMT vs. Metropolitan Lima (Total Soles)}}
\caption*{\textit{Per Capita Own-Source Revenue: VMT vs. the Average for Metropolitan Lima}}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth,alt={Puntuación obtenida}]{media/media/image10.png}
\figurenote{Prepared by the authors using data from the 2025 National Registry of Municipalities (\reflink{INEI, 2025}). VMT = Villa María del Triunfo. Values represent total municipal own-source revenue in soles. Metropolitan Lima excludes the district of VMT.}
\end{figure}

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption*{\textbf{Figure A.2.} \textit{Waste Management: VMT vs. Metropolitan Lima}}
\caption*{\textit{Average Percentage of Waste Sent to Landfills and Recycled Waste: VMT vs. Metropolitan Lima}}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image2.png}
\figurenote{Prepared by the authors using data from the 2025 National Registry of Municipalities (\reflink{INEI, 2025}). VMT = Villa María del Triunfo. Metropolitan Lima excludes the district of VMT.}
\end{figure}

\clearpage
\begin{figure}[H]
\centering
\caption*{\textbf{Figure A.3.} \textit{Building Permits: VMT vs. Metropolitan Lima}}
\caption*{\textit{Average Percentage of Building Permits for Single-Family: VMT vs. Metropolitan Lima}}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{media/media/image3.png}
\figurenote{Prepared by the authors using data from the 2025 National Registry of Municipalities (\reflink{INEI, 2025}). VMT = Villa María del Triunfo. Metropolitan Lima excludes the district of VMT.}
\end{figure}

\textbf{Appendix 3. Video Compilation of Interviews}

\url{https://youtu.be/c5dJGw_S8Ws}

Note. The video includes testimonies from residents regarding their
daily carrying burdens, accidents, gas prices, and their views on a
potential mechanical transport solution. All participants were informed
about the purpose of the recording and gave their verbal consent.

\emph{Authors\textquotesingle{} fieldwork, 2026.}

\end{document}
