La Producción Social de la Vivienda en México: Dimensión e Impactos Macro y Microeconónicos de la Producción Social de la Vivienda en México (in Spanish)

This book is the result of a competition held by a trusteeship of two Mexican governmental bodies – the National Commission on Public Housing and the National Council of Science and Technology – in support of scientific and technological research on housing issues. The book is presented in three parts. The first provides the necessary background for understanding the housing context in Mexico, including housing production (and related definitions and concepts used) and the country’s housing finance system. Following the introduction, the first chapter highlights the objectives of the study, which are to estimate and evaluate the scale and (macro and micro) economic impacts of the social production of housing. It defines the social production of housing as housing that is produced by people with or without institutional help. In the former, for example, this may include sites and services programmes or financial support; and in the latter, this includes housing that is completely produced by low-income groups without such kinds of support. Chapter 2 clarifies some of the conceptual background central to the study. It explains the significance of irregular settlements and provides some background on the forms of housing production in Mexico. The following chapter addresses the role of institutions in housing provision, as well as the role of the social production of housing – focusing here on the finance system in Mexico.

The other two parts include a macroeconomic analysis of the production of housing on the national scale, with a particular focus on the role of self-production. It utilizes a set of indicators to evaluate social production’s significance, including the value of housing, growth of the national housing inventory, annual investment flows, etc. The last chapter uses case studies to examine the microeconomic impacts and scale of the social production of housing. It highlights that there are a number of successful case studies of self-produced settlements built by lower-income groups that are of high quality and provide good living conditions. The book ends by listing a set of advantages and limitations to the social production of housing, as well as ways to move forward towards supporting and strengthening this kind of housing production.