Squatter Housing
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22371392 |
|---|---|
| Authors | A Smart (0000-0001-7880-9799, University of Calgary, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Publication date | 2020-10-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Publisher | Oxford University PressNew York, NY (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.222 |
| OpenAlex | W4212923096 |
| ISBN | 9780190854584 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
Squatting is one of the most important forms of housing for the world’s poor, accommodating perhaps a billion people, with the numbers continuing to grow. Squatters occupy vacant land or buildings without the consent of the owner. Squatting in existing buildings is more common in the Global North, particularly in Europe, and tends to be more political, often explicitly anticapitalist, than squatting on vacant land, which accounts for the vast majority of squatters, particularly in the Global South. Urban squatter housing needs to be seen as valuable housing rather than just as a social problem. Housing generally has exchange value, a price on housing markets, as well as use value, the utility of it for those who live in it. Early research dealt primarily with use value because of the emphasis on self-building and collectively organized invasions of land. Demand for scarce stocks of affordable housing leads to market prices despite governmental denial of the possibility of ownership of illegal dwellings. Squatter housing often meets the needs of poor people more effectively than public housing, and policy initiatives around the world are attempting to enhance the utility of informally built and regulated housing while mitigating the environmental problems that they can cause. Formalizing informal housing is a key but controversial policy. Research has revealed that informal tenure security is considered adequate by residents, resulting in lower than expected demand for squatter titling. Formalization may also lead to gentrification and thus diminishes the abilities of informal housing to provide affordable accommodation
Affordable housing · Business · Denial · Economic growth · Economics · Gentrification · Geography · Land tenure · Public housing · Security of tenure · Squatting position · Urban and Rural Development Challenges
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |