Housing during recession: Illustrations from Latin America

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Abstract
Latin America's cities grew rapidly after 1940 during a period of continuous economic growth. Booming populations were accommodated by a massive increase in the housing stock. Most of the increase in the low‐income housing stock came from ‘self‐help’ construction. Much of the consequent housing was gradually improved and serviced; levels of owner occupation increased. Since 1980, of course, economic and social conditions in most Latin American countries have deteriorated. The debt crisis, consequent inflation, and governmental responses to those twin problems have led to a sharp deterioration in living standards for poor and middle class alike. This prompts the question: what has happened to the housing stock and how has self‐help construction reacted to conditions of economic recession? The paper analyses recent changes in the Latin American housing situation with illustrations from Mexico and Venezuela. It examines state policy in the two countries and asks whether self‐help housing constitutes ‘an architecture that works’ even under conditions of extreme economic recession.