Researches | DKEN-Fome de que?

What are irregular occupations?

Irregular occupations or dwellings can be classified as constructions in inappropriate locations, be it for not having firm ground in rainy season, high risk of erosion and other factors, or for being a construction with little stability, which may eventually collapse, or without a certificate from a city government engineer that it is safe, the image on the side shows a shanty town in São Paulo, shanty towns they are agglomerates of irregular occupations.

Why is this problem so relevant?

This problem is relevant because 6% of the population (11.4 million people, IBGE 2010) lives in these risk areas. Many who live in these regions end up suffering from the poor conditions of basic sanitation, lack of access to health care, difficulty in accessing education, beyond the risk of residential collapse, due to the fact that their houses are located mainly on hills and without supervision. These problems are usually responsible for the large number of deaths in these regions. We want to propose a solution to reduce the number of occupations of people in these areas or to improve the living conditions of these people. And the urbanization that has been accelerating in the country since the 1940s, when the population started to search for urban centers with greater intensity, which due to the mechanization of the countryside, ended up resulting in a rural exodus, migrations in search of the population for better conditions of life and work resulting in larger housing deficits.

What causes this problem?

As it is a social problem, due to the fact that these houses are constituted from economic, historical and social contradictions, it ends up resulting in the formation of houses without minimum planning and irregular occupations. The problem of the formation of these irregular residences in the city space is linked to urbanization and industrialization. In relation to industrialization, these residences were formed mainly by the rural exodus, which is the mass migration of the population from the countryside to the city. This phenomenon is due to the mechanization processes of the rural environment and land concentration, causing the man to be replaced by the machine and to start living and seeking employment in urban areas. Those people who worked in the countryside who moved to the cities, started to seek housing and better living conditions in the main cities of the country, contributing to their rapid urbanization and demographic growth. Most of these people who moved to these cities in search of better conditions, due to the great competition to get a job in urban centers and because they are the majority without financial conditions, ended up being socially excluded and were unable to get a job, consequently also being excluded from urban centers and settling in irregular residences. The biggest problem for the emergence of these residences is not the lack of housing to house these people, but social and economic inequality, in addition to social exclusion.

What should the government do?

The government should invest more in the quality of education in these public schools, introducing an education similar to private educational institutions. The government could also aware among people living in these regions, presenting the risks of housing and constructing houses in urban centers or finishing building works interrupted for more than three years to include these people. The government should first insert into those homes the people who need it most and who are most exposed to some greatest risk.