Housing and Rights: Analyzing Slum and Urban Upgrading Policies in the City of Buenos Aires from a Human Rights and Gender Approach

• In Event: Agency and Policy on the Urban Periphery

Abstract

The City of Buenos Aires presents a paradoxical situation. On one hand it is the richest district of Argentina, and has adopted a human rights approach, widely recognizing housing rights as an essential necessity. On the other hand it has the largest housing shortage. Thousands of families live in overcrowded slums with no proper access to adequate housing, nor to basic services. This in turn has a greater impact on children, with 25% of children under the age of 4 living in a critical housing situation. Most of these settlements are concentrated in the southern area of the City generating processes of socio-spatial segregation.

While there are numerous government programs and public policies related to housing problems, they seem to only address emergency issues. This short sighted focus provides transitional solutions to the problems (i.e.. rent subsidies in cases of eviction and providing shelter)- but does not address more structural issues. Moreover, the Buenos Aires City budget for housing in recent years has been decreasing and is constantly underspent. This means that the funds that are directed to the area, which can be considered small in relation to the magnitude of the housing problem, are not even fully utilized.

Thus the focus of the paper is to address the housing problem of the City, with an emphasis on the slum and urban upgrading policies implemented on the last decade, from a human and social rights perspective, incorporating also the tradition of urban studies, planning and architecture.

Author

• Veronica I Carmona Barrenechea, University of Buenos Aires