Obstacles to urban redevelopment in squatter settlements: The role of the informal housing market

Abstract

Formation of an informal housing market in a squatter settlement stratifies the inhabitants into social classes within the settlement. By focusing on different interests among de facto housing tenure, this study demonstrates that the informal housing market is an obstacle to the redevelopment of squatter settlements. Our research is based on an extensive quantitative and qualitative survey of two squatter settlements in Buenos Aires and seeks to better understand inhabitants' preferences for spatial planning policies. This study highlights that urban redevelopment of squatter settlements would contradict the existing informal housing market. The importance of this research lies in understanding the numerous conflicts of interests surrounding housing tenure in the informal housing market, which needs to be resolved prior to carrying out urban redevelopment in squatter settlements.