Between self-help – and institutional housing: A bird's eye view of Mexico's housing production for low and (lower) middle-income groups

Abstract

Set in the framework of self-help- and institutional housing, this paper focuses on main changes in low- and middle-income housing markets in Mexico since the 1960s. Since then, self-help housing occurred at a massive scale, as a consequence of population growth and simultaneous urban growth. In the 1960s and 1970s the combined self-help housing and self-urbanization emerged as a demand making movement. Although self-help housing is no longer dominant in the metropolitan housing markets, it still is an important characteristic, especially for the poorest. Today, many households in the low- and (lower-) middle income-brackets are also offered mass-produced dwelling options, in different shapes and sizes and at different cost-levels. This paper focuses on the two pillars of Mexico's social housing provision and the need to attend the lowest-income groups better, through a revaluation of (assisted) self-help housing and giving more clearness on modest housing products, its costs and affordability.