Who needs housing in Latin America? Co-residence in housing deficit estimates

Abstract Two long and persistent phenomena in Latin America are poor quality housing and the response of the co-residence of homes and families out of necessity, with a wide dispersion in the way they are measured. The objective of this article is to define the problem conceptually and to unravel the theoretical matrix that underlies the different ways of measuring the quantitative component of the housing deficit, especially with regard to the accounting, or not, of secondary family nuclei as requesting units of living place. Secondly, it contributes to the discussion based on the demographic analysis of the co-residence structures empirically analyzed in the metropolitan regions of Bogota and Buenos Aires. As a result, it was possible to identify that the co-residence of nuclei and households can be a non-exclusive functional residential strategy for the poorest groups, especially in the Bogotan context, and that its existence facilitates mutual care inside the dwelling. However, co-residence also hides an unsatisfied demographic demand, concealed by complex dysfunctional residential arrangements, highly representative numerically in the two contexts analyzed. The treatment of these situations raises a debate on the targeting of public policy to solve the housing deficit, and the situations that should be prioritized to guarantee the right to housing from the perspective of housing needs and not just market needs.

摘要 拉丁美洲长期存在两大持续已久的现象：一是住房质量低下，二是民众出于必要性采取的家庭与住房共居应对模式，且二者的衡量方式存在极大差异。本文的研究目标在于从概念层面界定该问题，并梳理住房短缺量化维度各类衡量方式背后的理论框架，尤其关注是否将次要家庭核心（secondary family nuclei）纳入住房需求申请单位的核算范畴。其次，本文基于对波哥大与布宜诺斯艾利斯大都市区共居结构的实证人口统计学分析，为相关讨论提供支撑。研究结果表明，家庭核心与住户的共居可成为最贫困群体的非排他性功能性居住策略，尤其在波哥大地区情境中，该模式可促进住宅内部的互助照料。但共居现象也掩盖了未被满足的人口学需求：这类需求被复杂的失能性居住安排所隐藏，且在本次分析的两个地区中均具有极高的数值代表性。对这类情形的处置，引发了关于解决住房短缺的公共政策靶向瞄准的讨论，即应从住房需求而非仅市场需求的视角出发，确定保障住房权（right to housing）的优先处置情形。