We start this week with an international perspective, considering urban planning instruments in Sao Paulo and key issues affecting traditional housing in Ghana. Join us for these fascinating live Q&A sessions to find out more! The full abstracts are below.
Presentations from these authors and a live Q&A session are available to all HSA members. Book here
1. Camila Nastari Fernandes and Marcela Alonso Ferreira Properties idleness and special social housing areas: a positive confluence of urban planning instruments in Sao Paulo
Almost 1 out of 3,5 million dwellings in São Paulo are located in slums and informal settlements. Precarious housing is a core issue posed to urban policy in the city considering that 15% of its 12 million inhabitants are part of the housing deficit. The city's growth process has been associated with severe socioeconomic and territorial inequalities. One issue that cross-cuts the fields of the promotion of decent housing, environmental sustainability and social justice is the access to urbanized land. Providing more equitable access to urban land is one of the main objectives of São Paulo's central urban policy, the Strategic Master Plan. Since 2013 the City Hall developed a policy to avoid property idleness and speculative land retention by implementing the instruments of the "social function of property". It imposes owners of idle properties to make use of them according to the existing infrastructure, collective interests and the master plan regulation. Until 2019 more than 1,565 of properties were notified for this purpose which represents more than 2.5 million square meters of land. Around 75% of them are located in special areas for social housing promotion. The paper intends to share the main elements of this policy, highlighting its potential for equitable housing, and problematize pertinent aspects of political obstacles and institutional capacity for their long-term effectiveness.
2. Richmond Juvenile Ehwi and Lewis Abedi Asante Housing Transformation, Rent Gap and Gentrification in Ghana's Traditional Houses: Insights from Compound Houses in Bantama, Kumasi
This paper investigates housing transformations, rent gap and gentrification in compound houses in Bantama, a sub-metro in Ghana’s second-largest city of Kumasi. It draws on in-depth interviews with five estate agents, 30 landlords and 34 tenants in Bantama. The study argues that the ongoing transformations have altered the classic features of compound houses, namely the dwelling unit, the use of shared space and the socio-demographic profile of households. The study finds that the physical transformation of compound houses predominantly reflects in the modification of dwellings with shared facilities in compound houses into apartments where renters have exclusive access to bathrooms, toilets and kitchens. Consequent to such transformations, landlords realize at least 100 per cent uplift in rents payable. There was evidence of gentrification in a traditional form of housing that has, for many decades, provided shelter to low-income households. The study concludes by reflecting on the potential consequences of this transformation and makes a case for urgent policy intervention in the ongoing transformation of compound houses.