Towards a Comprehensive Informal Settlements Policy in LAC

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 130 million people live in precarious settlements, which is one of the clearest signs of the problems of exclusion in our region. Whether villas, favelas or camps, the residents of informal city dwellings have access to fewer opportunities, goods and services in their communities: They lack basic services, tend to pay higher prices for their housing than the formal city resident even in more precarious conditions, live in overcrowded dwellings, under construction and environmental risk, and tend to suffer greater job instability due to the lack of competitiveness to get skilled, high-quality jobs.

There is an international consensus in public management on the need to address the challenge of urban informality from a comprehensive approach. Projects and programs that intervene on informal habitat should not only address the basic infrastructure deficit or improve the provision of adequate and affordable housing; it is necessary to guarantee access to essential services such as education and healthcare, public spaces and high-quality social infrastructure; it must promote safe and convenient access to public transport, and must contribute to the reactivation and productive integration of communities by supporting popular, solidarity-based and care economies. Lastly, these programs must reinforce the environmental resilience of communities, as they are and will undoubtedly be most affected by climate change and natural disasters.

During the event, we will share lessons learned from different experiences in the region and discuss proposals on the future challenges of urban informality. 

Date: November 11, 2022

Time: 10:00 a.m. (Uruguay/Argentina time)

The event will be streamed on this website