Decent Housing Research Articles

ALIENAÇÃO FIDUCIÁRIA DE BENS IMÓVEIS: O IMPACTO DA AUSÊNCIA DE REGULARIZAÇÃO FUNDIÁRIA PARA O FINANCIAMENTO DE IMÓVEIS NO BAIRRO TEOTÔNIO VILELA, ILHÉUS/BA

The Teotônio Vilela neighborhood in Ilhéus, Bahia, has a history marked by significant social and economic transformations. Initially rural, the area was inhabited in the early 1980s, driven by a migratory influx resulting from the cocoa crisis. This migration led to irregular occupation and a context of slums, where access to decent housing and housing policies had not been achieved until then. Despite significant changes in infrastructure and urban expansion in recent years, land informality persists. Urban land regularization (REURB) is presented as a solution to guarantee rights to property, housing and social inclusion and to effectively promote a fairer and more inclusive environment, enabling, in this context, access to the real estate market to guarantee a greater possibility of sale and the inclusion of property rights in purchases. The lack of land regularization causes obstacles in the lives of the population and violates their fundamental rights, since having only possession of the property prevents citizens from obtaining full property rights, namely: use, enjoyment, disposal and recovery of the property. This study aims to discuss the legal situation of the neighborhood and indicate the most appropriate way to legitimize the properties of these occupants, through the analysis of the main registration of Teotônio Viela, registered in the Notary's Office, and in documentation and regulations of the Municipal Government of Ilhéus.

Formal processes and informal practices: how policy systems and corruption constrain the delivery of housing in Nigeria

ABSTRACT The delivery of housing is a recognised challenge in many Global South countries due to various institutional logjams within formal systems. This paper delves into formal processes and informal practices in Benin City to investigate how policy systems and corruption constrain the delivery of housing. As Benin City increasingly relies on informal mechanisms, bureaucratic bottlenecks impede progress, and corruption has emerged as a major global issue that hinders housing provision. A qualitative method was adopted, using interviews. The findings illustrate how corrupt practices typify housing delivery in Benin City, leading to inadequate and insufficient houses for residents. Among other recommendations, the paper advocates for adequate and effective supervision and monitoring of official processes geared towards housing production. It also suggests the need for increased transparency and accountability in allocating resources for housing projects. These measures would curb corruption and ensure that residents have access to decent and affordable housing.

The influence of macroeconomics, banking performance, investment and international trade on public welfare with economic growth variables as intervening variables in G-20 countries

Social welfare can be interpreted as a condition that shows a state of community life that can be seen from the standard of living of the community while what is meant by social welfare is a state of fulfillment of basic needs that can be seen from a decent house, the fulfillment of clothing and food, education, and health, or it can also be said that social welfare is a state in which a person is able to maximize his utility at a certain budget limit level and a condition in which physical and spiritual needs are met. The G-20 was formed because the international community was disappointed with the failure of the Group of Seven (G7) to find solutions to the global economic problems faced at that time . The need to improve banking performance, as well as increase capital with an adequate level of capital because it has a positive effect on Economic Growth but does not significantly have a positive effect on Social Welfare. And foreign direct investment (FDI) needs to be encouraged by G-20 countries to increase FDI so that it can provide new resources and technology, encourage economic growth because it has a positive effect, Investment does not significantly have a positive effect on improving social welfare. The international trade variable, measured by goods exports (X₄) and economic growth, measured by GDP growth (Y1) have a significant influence on GDP per capita growth (Y2) as an indicator of Public Welfare in G20 countries. This shows that increasing exports of goods can drive economic growth and public welfare in G20 countries. Through a deeper understanding of the factors that influence public welfare in G20 countries, more effective economic policies can be designed and implemented.

Coping with housing precarity: Roma women’s responses to housing insecurity in the Czech Republic

The article investigates how policies systematically exclude Roma women from accessing decent housing. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork with Roma women in Brno, Czech Republic, the study aims to expand the concept of housing precarity along two dimensions: ‘permanent temporality’ and ‘forced urban nomadism’. The research describes key actors and institutions, including the state and its policies, regional, city, and municipal regulations, the housing market, and the rise of private hostels driven by the ‘poverty business’. The study highlights how structural and local conditions shape the housing experiences of Roma families, emphasizing their active role in navigating precarious housing situations. It particularly focuses on the coping strategies of Roma women, such as reliance on multigenerational households and frequent relocations between various types of substandard housing. This research contributes to ongoing discussions about housing by offering a nuanced understanding of how systemic forces and individual strategies interact to produce and perpetuate housing precarity.

The Locations of Palestine and the U.S. in the Global Map of Homelessness: Part I.

It's now well appreciated that social determinants of health are the strongest predictors of our health and well-being. A good argument could be made that housing is at the top of the pyramid of these determinants. And, surprisingly, housing is also the social determinant that could rapidly turn on a dime-that is, with sufficient political will, creating access to housing could be radically expanded in short order. (Unfortunately, of course, it's true one can also become suddenly homeless, since few protections exist in policy or capitalist economies to prevent it). That alone sets it apart from social factors such as education and racism-conditions that take a long time to change. In contrast to long-term interventions (education) or culturally stubborn and historically rooted problems (racism), housing is rapidly malleable. In this article, we describe the social condition of homelessness in two settings, comparing and contrasting the concepts, causes, and consequences, along with how people are mobilizing to challenge the conditions that create their housing insecurity. As we review the factors that create housing conditions in each setting, we propose some universal international principles for a new approach to the human right of decent and secure housing.

LEGAL JUSTICE FOR LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES IN BALANCED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

This research investigates legal protection for low-income communities in the context of balanced residential development in Indonesia. The study aims to analyze the policies and regulations surrounding balanced housing development while identifying solutions to promote social justice for low-income people (MBR). Grounded in Law No. 1 of 2011 on Housing and Settlement Areas, which mandates the government to address housing needs for MBR, the research reveals various implementation challenges. Utilizing a normative juridical approach, the analysis employs legal protection theory, development law theory, and human rights theory as frameworks. Findings indicate significant obstacles, including limited land availability and rising land prices, which hinder low-income individuals' access to decent housing. The research underscores the necessity for stricter legal protections and adaptable policy measures to achieve the objectives of balanced housing development effectively.

The brazilian house: from Oca to My House, My Life

The present article addresses the development of housing typology in Brazil, from indigenous dwellings to "Minha Casa, Minha Vida" homes. The objective is to succinctly recount the trajectory of Brazilian housing typology, a rich and multifaceted narrative reflecting the country's cultural diversity and socio-economic challenges over centuries. The development of social housing projects aims to provide decent housing for low-income families, generating demand for labor and reducing unemployment. The proposed methodology is based on a historical and comparative approach, using bibliographic and documentary sources to examine transformations in architecture and Brazil's socio-economic context over the years. Furthermore, the article specifically studies the "Minha Casa, Minha Vida" program, providing a qualitative analysis of its effectiveness in promoting access to decent housing and its social, economic, and environmental implications.

Housing the poor? Accessibility and exclusion in the local housing systems of Vienna and Milan

Despite featuring very different housing systems, both in Vienna and Milan a growing number of people struggle to access affordable and decent housing. Even though social housing policies are in place in both contexts, for many the unregulated and often unaffordable private housing market is the only option. Building upon Antonio Tosi’s work, we centre our analysis on the poor and compare how two very different local housing systems create the conditions for their inclusion or exclusion. Through a comparative analysis of the Viennese and Milanese local housing regimes and adopting a mixed methodology, we discuss how both generate conditions of exclusion and who the ones excluded are, which local policies address the poor and how appropriate these are for mitigating housing exclusion. Finally, we indicate some directions for policies aimed at tackling the intersections of poverty and housing exclusion, advocating for a maximization of the ‘sociality’ of housing policies, involving a shift in prioritisation from the middle classes to the most vulnerable groups and the loosening of certain formal access requirements to housing or welfare services that constitute barriers to these groups, where possible.

Self-supervised learning unveils urban change from street-level images

Cities around the world are grappling with multiple interconnected challenges, including population growth, shortage of affordable and decent housing, and the need for neighborhood improvements. Despite its critical importance for policy, our ability to effectively monitor and track urban change remains limited. Deep learning-based computer vision methods applied to street-level images have been successful in the measurement of socioeconomic and environmental inequalities but did not fully utilize temporal images to track urban change, as time-varying labels are often unavailable. We used self-supervised methods to measure change in London using 15 million street images taken between 2008 and 2021. Our novel adaptation of Barlow Twins, Street2Vec, embeds urban structure while being invariant to seasonal and daily changes without manual annotations. It outperformed generic pretrained embeddings, successfully identified point-level change in London's housing supply from street-level images, and distinguished between major and minor change. This capability can provide timely information for urban planning and policy decisions towards more liveable, equitable, and sustainable cities.

Decoding the puzzle: exploring the factors influencing homeownership in Togo

Purpose This study aims to analyze the factors influencing households housing tenure choices in Togo. Design/methodology/approach The authors applied a rigorous econometric approach, using Harmonized Household Living Conditions Survey (EHCVM) data from 2018 and 2021 to construct a longitudinal panel, and Unified Basic Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (QUIBB) data from 2006, 2011 and 2015 to construct a pseudo-panel. Findings The study reveals that a household’s life-cycle variables like age of the household head, marital status, household size and place of residence, have a significant influence on homeownership. In addition, households in the highest wealth quartiles and used heads of household are more likely to own their home. Research limitations/implications Housing policies focused on improving the financial sustainability of low-income households and reducing the transaction costs associated with property acquisition are essential to promoting homeownership. Practical implications As part of the implementation of the Government Roadmap 2020–2025, the government has committed to providing 20,000 affordable social housing units, aiming to significantly boost the supply of decent housing. However, the findings of this study highlight the need for targeted subsidy programs for low-income households, particularly for female-headed households and those living in urban areas. These subsidies could cover part of the cost of purchasing homes. For middle-income households, it is crucial to develop suitable financing mechanisms, such as low-interest mortgages and loan guarantees. Given demographic pressures and the high cost of public housing programs, promoting self-build remains essential. This support should be accompanied by the provision of low-cost building materials and technical training in innovative, sustainable construction methods. Additionally, improved access to employment and land regularization are essential prerequisites for the success of these initiatives. Originality/value Research on the determinants of tenure choice is relatively limited in sub-Saharan Africa due to the unavailability of housing survey data. This paper proposes a case study of Togo, whose housing market characteristics correspond to most sub-Saharan African countries. Furthermore, this study applied two methodological approaches commonly used in dynamic analyses, thereby enhancing the robustness of the findings.

Negotiating housing insecurity: Parenting in poverty and the struggle for home

Among the arenas that reproduce inequality for marginalized groups, housing remains one of the most important. Guided by scholarship on housing insecurity among the poor and parenting amidst poverty, this article investigates the lived experience of parenting within the intricate landscape of housing insecurity. To do so, we draw on in-depth interviews with 100 low-income parents who rent a house in Israel. Our findings show that amidst severe housing challenges, parents constantly enact strong social agency by striving to secure decent housing for their children. Our analysis also reveals how three main facets of housing insecurity permeate and shape everyday parent–child relationships: overcrowded living conditions, economic tensions, and emotional and health challenges. We employ the concept of “negotiation” to offer a threefold conceptualization of our findings regarding parenting experience in the shadow of housing insecurity.

Basic Benchmarks of Rasism in the Old Testament

Throughout history, racism and anti-Semitism have killed people around the world. In recent years, they are still being expressed in public spaces, near places of worship, on social networks, in discussion forums and in all spheres of human activity. Discrimination based on origin affects human dignity at work, in access to decent housing, in health and at school, and fractures society. Such human rights abuses take the form of insults, intimidation, violence and unequal treatment and rights. These cowardly, serious and degrading attitudes cause lasting damage to the victims and their families. However, we will never resign ourselves either to trivialising evil or to becoming disillusioned about the responsibility of public action

The Locations of Palestine and the U.S. in the Global Map of Homelessness: Part 2.

It's now well appreciated that social determinants of health are the strongest predictors of our health and well-being. A good argument could be made that housing is at the top of the pyramid of these determinants. And, surprisingly, housing is also the social determinant that could rapidly turn on a dime-that is, with sufficient political will, creating access to housing could be radically expanded in short order. (Unfortunately, of course, it's true one can also become suddenly homeless, since few protections exist in policy or capitalist economies to prevent it). That alone sets it apart from social factors such as education and racism-conditions that take a long time to change. In contrast to long-term interventions (education) or culturally stubborn and historically rooted problems (racism), housing is rapidly malleable. In this article, we describe the social condition of homelessness in two settings, comparing and contrasting the concepts, causes, and consequences, along with how people are mobilizing to challenge the conditions that create their housing insecurity. As we review the factors that create housing conditions in each setting, we propose some universal international principles for a new approach to the human right of decent and secure housing.

Land Policies and Institutions for Equitable and Resilient Growth in Africa

AbstractIn coming decades, Africa's urban populations will expand, and the effects of climate change be more keenly felt. Land policies and institutions will be key for urban dwellers to be able access productive jobs, breathe clean air, and live in decent housing; for entrepreneurs, especially women, to leverage land for productive investment; and for farmers to diversify, insure against shocks, and accumulate capital. Yet, many African land registries perform poorly, command little trust, and have failed to capitalize on opportunities to improve quality, relevance, and outreach via digital interoperability, use of earth observation, and connectivity. Literature highlights scope for regulatory and institutional reforms to (a) expand property taxation and land value capture and to improve urban service delivery, planning, and land use regulations; (b) increase quality and affordability of land services and access to land price and ownership data; (c) guide issuance of rural land use rights to reduce barriers to rural factor markets, including by spatially enabling farmer registries to improve subsidy targeting and effectiveness; and (d) demarcation and transparent decentralized management of public land to attract investment, including in climate finance, without fueling corruption, and to manage disputes before they escalate into ethnic violence.

Barricades against Evictions: Coexistence of Short- and Long-term Frames in the Housing Movement on Facebook and Twitter

Social movements fight to change society’s roots and challenge entrenched cultural frameworks. At the same time, however, they must attend to everyday activism and protests that constitute a clear and pragmatic mobilization goal. This article analyzes the case of a movement for decent housing on social media called Platform for Those Affected by Mortgages (PAH). This organization fights to guarantee universal access to housing, a recurrent problem in large cities. It grew in 2010 when the subprime mortgage crisis broke out in the United States. The bursting of the real estate bubble built up at that time had a global impact, pushing other markets. On the one hand, the movement has to change entrenched cognitive frameworks that say property must be bought and its loss is the individual’s responsibility. On the other hand, it must coordinate and try to gather as many people as possible to stop the evictions that occur every day. Twitter seems crucial for daily mobilization in this double logic, while Facebook allows for more complex narratives. The methodology used was a framing analysis of the content published on the organization’s official Facebook and Twitter accounts. Although these should be understood as overlapping layers, the movement is often trapped in a narrative that it does not want. By highlighting specific cases, it leads to an understanding that access to housing does not affect most of society.

Potensi Pemberdayaan Tanah Wakaf dalam Penyelenggaraan Perumahan

Housing problems are an issue that always arises, especially in developing countries. The high demand is not proportional to the supply and ability to provide decent housing. In Indonesia there are around 800 thousand new households every year that need decent housing, while the housing backlog is still at 12-15 million. This article discusses the potential utilization of waqf land for housing provision. This article was written based on literature study. The findings in this article are, there is great potential for utilizing waqf land in Indonesia. First, the number of waqf land in Indonesia is spread across 440,512 locations with an area of 57,263.69 hectares. Second, most of the use of waqf land is still consumptive. The presence of the government to make waqf land more productive is very important and highly anticipated.

Building a resources-modulable approach as appropriate strategy to reduce and rehabilitate spontaneous housing area (SHA) in developing countries cities: the case of Mokolo in Yaoundé, Cameroon city

ABSTRACT Cities in developing countries are facing a critical housing deficiency, seen, for example, in Cameroon by an estimated deficit about two million units. Despite real estate programmes in response, supply remains very low compared to demand. It favours the growth of anarchical housing production so-called spontaneous housing area (SHA) or slums. High concentration of poor households in these informal areas coupled with their expansion (about 5.5% per year) is a real headache for population, government authorities who fight for the common good. A major challenge has been how to ensure access to land certificates, basic urban services and decent housing while fighting against urban sprawl and SHA growth. Within the framework of cognitive science, our study provides a multidisciplinary tool for calibrating rehabilitation of SHA based on eight technical criteria, and on profitability. It enables decision-makers not only to assess the degree of precariousness, but also to know in advance whether the intervention will be profitable. This determines whether rehabilitation is bankable for government or whether total destruction is better. Upon application on Mokolo, the case study region in Yaoundé, it revealed how it can be made affordable while reducing the slum rate from 54%–20%.

Guaranteeing Human Rights? Italian ‘Gastarbeiter:innen’ and Housing Activism in 1960s and 1970s West Germany

This article examines migrant grassroots movements that invoked universalising rights’ languages to assert claims to decent and affordable housing in West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. It focuses on Southern Italian migrant ‘guest workers’ who utilized rights’ claims to highlight dismal living conditions and the lack of access to affordable housing for migrant families in their new communities. Migrants’ claims then ‘scaled up’ to the level of international relations and the European Parliament as state actors and advocacy groups couched migrant housing conditions in terms of human rights. No matter the forum, ideas surrounding human rights created frameworks of debate over the West German welfare state, the free movement of labour within the European Economic Community, and even visions of European citizenship and integration. As such, this article illustrates the disparities between canonising human rights on paper and the challenges of guaranteeing said rights on the ground, particularly for populations not confined to the boundaries of their own nation-state.

Understanding ‘citizenship’ to protect human rights of liquefaction survivors in South Palu

Disaster management is a critical component of national development, particularly in the aftermath of natural disasters. The relocation process of liquefaction disaster survivors in Petobo, located in South Palu, Central Sulawesi, underscores the pivotal role of the government in safeguarding Indonesian citizens' rights, including providing adequate housing within a healthy and secure environment. This research was conducted in the wake of the disaster with the primary objective of evaluating the legal protection and human rights afforded to survivors residing in Petobo Village, which has been designated as a red zone due to the severity of the disaster. The study uncovered significant damage to infrastructure, loss of life, and ecosystem degradation as direct consequences of the disaster. These findings underscore the government's obligation to provide permanent housing (hence HUNTAP) to fulfill the basic needs of survivors. Providing decent housing is fundamental to ensuring the well-being and dignity of every citizen affected by the disaster. Moreover, it aligns with the core principles of citizenship and human rights, which are essential for fostering sustainable and harmonious communities, particularly in regions grappling with the aftermath of natural calamities. Shortly, the relocation of liquefaction disaster survivors in Petobo, South Palu, Central Sulawesi, highlights the government's pivotal role in safeguarding its citizens' rights, especially in times of crisis. By prioritizing permanent housing and ensuring a healthy and secure environment for survivors, the government demonstrates its commitment to upholding human rights and fostering resilient communities in disaster-affected areas.

Analysis of the Impact of Productive Zakat in Empowering Mustahiq's Economic Welfare in Jember Regency

The purpose of this study is to analyze the distribution of Productive Zakat in NU Care-LAZISNU PCNU Jember in empowering mustahiq economic welfare in Jember Regency. This research uses a qualitative approach, and this research is descriptive. Qualitative research methods are research that produces descriptive data in the form of written or spoken words of people or observable behavior. NU Care-LAZISNU Jember has several steps to be able to carry out the mandate of distributing productive zakat so that the target and goal of distributing productive zakat is achieved. As a result, NU Care LAZISNU JEMBER uses a distribution pattern with zakat management functions consisting of forcasting, planing, organizing and actuating and controling. While the utilization model used is in kind by providing business tools and capital assistance such as livestock. The impact felt by mustahiq who receive productive zakat can be seen from several indicators including increased income, more decent housing or housing, and increased education and health levels.