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Mexico’s Social Interest Housing Planning Disaster

Sat, May 30, 12:00 to 1:45pm, TBA

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Since the late 1990s Mexico has embarked on private sector (publicly supported) production of social interest housing on a massive scale targeting lower-income workers. Located in the periphery or peri-urban areas outside major Mexican cities, these large-scale housing settlements contributed to a dramatic and unprecedented increase in accessibility to housing among lower income sectors through the first decade of the 21st century. However, their distant location, poor access to transportation networks, long commute times, inadequate social infrastructure and limited social and neighborhood amenities, have led to disenchantment among many would be home owners and their family members. Sales and occupancy levels have declined as a result, while a significant number of homes are being abandoned or rented, further undermining local social and community development. In short, they are fast becoming Mexico’s “great planning disaster” (to borrow the title of Peter Hall’s classic text), albeit through a lack of planning and public sector housing development oversight. The Mexican model has been widely replicated in other Latin American countries (most notably Chile and Brazil). Largely from a resident and household perspective this panel will examine the failures of the social interest housing boom in Mexico, and open a conversation about whether and how this housing stock can ever be remediated back into viability.

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