For the first time in history more people live in cities than in rural areas (“Urbanisation”, 2015). The number of people living in slums or shanty towns is 1 in 4 (“Urbanisation”, 2015). Shanty towns are part of self-help housing model, a way for those in poverty, those moving from rural-urban areas to create a dwelling of their own, a place that they can call home. Shanty towns have increased drastically in numbers and population density of the past 30 years due to rabid urbanisation, the industrialisation of cities and a need for people to live closer to cities for work, education or access to social services. This essay will examine the idea of Shanty towns and Self-help housing in Latin America. Looking at why shanty towns have gone through
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Colonias Proletarias is just one type of shanty dwelling system in Mexico and can be broken into different categories based on the location and relative legality of the dwelling however the lines are often blurred as to where a particular settlement lies on this spectrum. Self-help housing is designed to allow the dwellers to maintain their house, improving and expanding over time. Thus effective self-help housing provides flexibility rather than the rigidity of governmental housing policy. Looking at Ward’s (1976) example of Santo Domingo Los Reyes, a now legal shanty town in Mexico City known locally as a Colonias Paracaidistas. This was obtained by the invasion of government land in which lots were laid out for families to build their dwellings. Santo Domingo Los Reyes attracted over 20,000 inhabitants in four days (Ward 1976). As an illegal settlement this meant in the initial stages that the inhabitants had no access to basic necessities such as water and electricity and thus this too was obtained illegally. This meant very little security and initially inhibited the further improvement to the initial small 1 bedroom make-shift dwellings as there were constant threats of eviction and government action (Ward 1976). Within three years however governments agreed to sell the land to dwellers thus creating security of tenure which is a key aspect when …show more content…
Sakay, Sanoni and DEng discuss the idea of Civil Organisation inside and outside of Shanty Towns. Shanty Towns tend to create their own form of society within wider society, thus focussing on their own level of governance in Shanty communities that can act when the government fails to listen. This level of internal self-governance within Shanty Towns also acts a means of protection for if Shanty-towns are united then they are stronger against external forces that may attempt to evict residents in illegal places. In Shanty Towns “ideas of community organization (are) grassroots and how those are legitimate representative entities to act in the name of the inhabitants towards the local collegiate authorities (country)” are key because inhabitants of Shanty Towns, as migrants from rural areas, have relatively low social power in the eyes of civil society and thus community organisation allows their view to be legitimised at a much higher level. Thus this shows how self-help housing varies in effectiveness at different levels. At a macro level, the basis of providing housing that is affordable and able to be owned and upgraded has
Colonias Proletarias is just one type of shanty dwelling system in Mexico and can be broken into different categories based on the location and relative legality of the dwelling however the lines are often blurred as to where a particular settlement lies on this spectrum. Self-help housing is designed to allow the dwellers to maintain their house, improving and expanding over time. Thus effective self-help housing provides flexibility rather than the rigidity of governmental housing policy. Looking at Ward’s (1976) example of Santo Domingo Los Reyes, a now legal shanty town in Mexico City known locally as a Colonias Paracaidistas. This was obtained by the invasion of government land in which lots were laid out for families to build their dwellings. Santo Domingo Los Reyes attracted over 20,000 inhabitants in four days (Ward 1976). As an illegal settlement this meant in the initial stages that the inhabitants had no access to basic necessities such as water and electricity and thus this too was obtained illegally. This meant very little security and initially inhibited the further improvement to the initial small 1 bedroom make-shift dwellings as there were constant threats of eviction and government action (Ward 1976). Within three years however governments agreed to sell the land to dwellers thus creating security of tenure which is a key aspect when …show more content…
Sakay, Sanoni and DEng discuss the idea of Civil Organisation inside and outside of Shanty Towns. Shanty Towns tend to create their own form of society within wider society, thus focussing on their own level of governance in Shanty communities that can act when the government fails to listen. This level of internal self-governance within Shanty Towns also acts a means of protection for if Shanty-towns are united then they are stronger against external forces that may attempt to evict residents in illegal places. In Shanty Towns “ideas of community organization (are) grassroots and how those are legitimate representative entities to act in the name of the inhabitants towards the local collegiate authorities (country)” are key because inhabitants of Shanty Towns, as migrants from rural areas, have relatively low social power in the eyes of civil society and thus community organisation allows their view to be legitimised at a much higher level. Thus this shows how self-help housing varies in effectiveness at different levels. At a macro level, the basis of providing housing that is affordable and able to be owned and upgraded has