Beyond Housing: Self-Production and Access to Serviced Land

2019

Authors:

Ignacio Cardona, Researcher

Advisors:

Anita Berrizbeitia, Diane Davis, Rahul Mehrotra

Institutions:

Harvard Graduate School of Design

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Developed as part of the doctoral research Spatial Opportunities for Self-Produced Environments, this study challenges the assumption that inadequate housing is the central problem of self-produced territories. Through a geo-demographic analysis of housing in Petare between 1959 and 2015, it traces the evolution of construction systems, labor, and incremental improvements produced by residents over time.

The research reveals that self-produced housing progressively achieves construction standards comparable to other parts of the city, while inequalities in access to serviced land, infrastructure, amenities, and connectivity persist. It also identifies the circulation of construction labor between formal and informal economies, further questioning “informality” as a category for understanding these territories. Together, these findings shift attention from housing provision toward spatial justice and the unequal distribution of serviced urban land.