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Housing and Spatial Justice in the Xxi Century Social Habitat and Informal Settlements

Marcela Abla

Moderator

date November 5, 2024 | 09:00 - 10:30
place
SDGs in Action - room D
organization
Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil
country
Brazil
language
English
Reference: 
SDG-D 1

Summary

Two Working Programmes from UIA join forces with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to discuss the forms of production of social habitation in the XXI century, in the context of spatial justice and the right to housing. The dialogue presents innovative solutions that are being addressed in the world, especially in the most urbanized cities globally and that are faced with the difficulties of accelerated urbanization. The program will invite diverse, citizen-engaged perspectives, and will provide opportunities for international partnerships in the fight against housing inadequacy.
By working with insufficiently housed communities and designing beautiful, sustainable, affordable homes, architects contribute to the internationally recognized right to housing. At the same time, housing advocates can better meet their human-centered goals by fully engaging the spatial dimensions of adequate housing provision.
The UIA Social Habitat Working Programme has developed a Manifesto: ‘In order for the habitat to be socially inclusive, it must provide not only shelters, but also decent, long-lasting and healthy solutions, ensuring at the same time the privacy and the individuality for the inhabitants.’ To broaden the knowledge of SHWP, this year the UIA created the Working Programme Informal Settlements, seeking to contribute with solutions for the urbanization of precarious settlements that are currently occupied by around one billion people. These numbers highlight the importance of the presence of architects to participate in the solution of these problems, focusing on the social dimensions of architecture and urbanism through informal settlement upgrades.
Since 2022, the AIA Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community has convened a Right-to-Housing Working Group to work toward longstanding global humanitarian standards. The group explores the questions, “What does the right to housing mean in practice?” and “How can architects contribute?”
Bringing together aligned UIA and AIA programmes, this SDGs in Action session presents a case for the right to housing across the globe, from a localized, spatial justice perspective. Spatial justice examines how social, economic, and environmental justice manifests in the built environment. We will explore formal and informal global housing case studies that address the specific needs of residents, countering the one-size-fits-all approach. Our collective professional experience, ranging from leading global projects to developing specific projects for a given area, offers lessons for physical transformations that lead to a significant improvement in residents’ quality of life. Our program will discuss ways to leverage recent housing policy developments in global project sites.In the face of housing systems designed for private profit over public good, we will discuss opportunities for multi-sector collaboration toward housing as a human right, rooted in citizen engagement.

Objectives

The proposal is to organize a round table where the contributions could be presented and debated at WUF 2024, with a view to giving visibility to proposals already implemented and resulting in success stories, contributing to the reduction of inequality in cities.This session will bring people together to explore opportunities for localization of SDG 11 and related KPIs, and to provide a platform for international collaboration.

We will address the questions:

+ How can informal housing be adapted to the growing urbanization of cities, where resources are increasingly scarce and more expensive?

+ How can we ensure equal access to essential services and avoid widening inequalities in low-, middle- and emerging-income countries?
+ Could we imagine an universal program with specifications that define the elementary space, elements, for each one in an habitat?

At the end of the session, participants will be able to:

+ Apply knowledge of the right to housing to build relationships with diverse stakeholders.
+ Describe examples of the spatial aspects of the right to housing in specific global settings
+ Describe how the internationally codified right to adequate housing can be furthered by citizen-engaged design processes.
+ Apply knowledge of the right to housing to increase multi-sector contributions to public health, safety, and welfare.

Local interventions that have improved housing provision and reduced inequalities may provide lessons for other parts of the world.

Session panelists

Panelist
Role
Organization
Country
Mr. Philippe Capelier
Co-director of Social Habitat WP of UIA
Syndicat de lArchitecture
Ms. Elisabete França
Co-Director of Informal SettlementsWP of UIA
Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil
Mr. Karen Kubey
Assistant Professor, Canada, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design
University of Toronto
Ms. Menna Agha
Assistant Professor of Design and Spatial Justice
Carleton University