Housing' as Christian Social Practice in African Cities
Centering the Urban Majority Theologically
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5145148 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephan De Beer (0000-0002-8614-099X, University of Pretoria, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1009 |
| Publication date | 2023-08-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel14081009 |
| OpenAlex | W4385650343 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 7 |
Decent, affordable housing and secure housing tenure remain elusive for Africa's urban majority. The urban majority is expected to live in self-help housing, reflected in the fact that 62% of African urban dwellers live in urban informal settlements. The inability to access safe, decent, and secure housing, and the reality that Africa's urban majority is perpetually precarious, have a severe impact on Africa's urban households and the well-being of individuals, families, and neighborhoods. This article articulates housing as a critical and urgent Christian social practice in African cities-an extension of the church's pastoral and missional concern. It considers housing both as a product and a process: people need housing to live secure lives; yet, the process of housing is as critical as the outcome. It then proposes housing, as a Christian social practice, being engaged in (i) supporting precarious households; (ii) preventing homelessness; (iii) creating housing; (iv) supporting rights-based land and housing movements; and (v) centering housing pastorally-liturgically. The article grounds itself in Jean-Marc Ela's insistence on God's presence 'in the hut of a mother whose granary is empty' and in Letty Russell's 'household of freedom
Affordable housing · Archaeology · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Human settlement · Informal settlements · Political science · Public housing · Sociology · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Religion, Society, and Development · Urban and Rural Development Challenges
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |