SEATTLE, Washington — Lack of appropriate housing is a prominent issue in developing countries. As stated in the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights, every person has the right to adequate housing and shelter, as it is a basic human necessity. This human right is also listed as the United Nation’s eleventh Sustainable Development Goal, which seeks to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.” In a more narrow context, housing in Latin America faces severe challenges that place vulnerable communities at risk. Reforming informal housing, better known as slum housing, is a large and complex issue to tackle, and in Latin America, approximately 117 million people live in slums. Slums are often built using discarded materials and typically lack basic necessities, such as water and sanitation services, as well as access to other essential community resources.
Inadequate Housing and Economic Policies
The most prominent barrier to adequate housing in Latin America remains a financial one, where impoverished families cannot afford the associated costs of living. In general, Latin American countries value the idea of home-ownership as a policy goal, but this often neglects other reasonable and effective solutions. Researcher Alan Gilbert suggests that a major issue and cause for the deficit of housing in Latin America stems from insufficient policy measures. Since housing exists in an “intermediate position” between social and economic policy, Gilbert notes that both sectors have generally ignored the region’s growing issue.
Economic policies usually neglect housing since attention within the sector tends to focus on other economic activities, such as producing goods and services and job opportunities. Social policies also neglect adequate housing because, as Gilbert puts it, housing is “comprehensive,” meaning that “everyone except the very rich seems to need a house.” Because of this extensive need for people from all backgrounds, social policies typically have not covered the issue, except in certain scenarios where programs are put in place to rectify particularly problematic dilemmas.
Financial Insecurity and Housing in Latin America
At the root of it all, finances, or a lack thereof, seem to be the perpetrator of housing neglect in Latin America. Creating appropriate and safe housing is undoubtedly a costly endeavor, and impoverished populations are the most affected. Going back to the topic of policies, central governments are often charged with distributing of funds for housing. This is often an issue since regional and local communities are then responsible for creating and managing other necessary services in conjunction with housing. Regional and local communities may be willing to accept new housing, but they may also lack sufficient funds to provide other urban services, generating a standstill in the process.
What is most important to remember is that policies should be contingent on a group’s particular needs. Solutions and innovations that work for one country or one city might not be functional for another. In Latin America, the need for housing has not kept up with the rapid rate of urbanization in many regions, leaving vulnerable populations to face the social and economic consequences of not having shelter.
—Melanie McCrackin
Photo: Flickr