Reestructuración del Estado y Política de Vivienda en Argentina (Restructuring of the State and Housing Policies in Argentina)

ARGENTINA UNDERWENT A housing crisis in 1994, whereby both conceptual models and state policy broke down. The articles in this compilation examine the change in housing policy in Argentina arising from the new macroeconomic conditions and structural adjustment, privatization and decentralization in the wider context of global restructuring and sustainable development.

The first section contains four articles focusing on the decentralization of the Argentine National Housing Fund (FONAVI) and the restructuring of housing policy. The first documents the changes arising from the decentralization of FONAVI and the implications in terms of political and institutional changes and future consequences. It also analyzes the evolution of ideas in housing planning and investigates why decentralization occurred later in Argentina than in other countries. The second article looks at the new plans of action developed by provincial organizations, analyzing the evolution, decentralization and formulation of policies. The third and fourth articles focus on changing housing policies in the provincial cities of Córdoba and Salta, respectively.

The second section has three articles which focus on the new role of the state and the private sector in housing. The first examines the basis for an integral housing policy; the second focuses on the economic transformation and solutions to the housing problem, highlighting the implications of some aspects of economic reform on the housing market; and the third describes the changes in convertibility and financial restructuring on housing construction, and its effects on employment in the construction industry.

The third section has five articles examining poor housing and governmental and non-governmental initiatives. The first outlines initiatives taken in Argentina to reduce the housing deficit, and discusses what the role of the state should be in this respect. The second investigates alternative housing solutions for poor sectors of society. The third and fourth investigate the role and policies of NGOs with respect to housing. The final article investigates the changes in the regulation of private property and its potential as a solution to popular housing.

The final section discusses the position of NGOs in preparation for the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) in 1996, supporting the stance that long-term action should allow social organizations to advance in both the debate and the struggle to improve living conditions.