The architecture of rent

This paper examines how rental markets have become a defining mode of incremental housing production in São Paulo's informal settlements, transforming self-built dwellings from vehicles of social inclusion into financial assets. Based on ethnographic research and architectural documentation of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Stiphany, Kristine|||0000-0002-5267-9647
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:321738
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/321738
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/papers.3430
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Built environments
Informal urbanization
Incremental housing
Rental markets
Hybrid property regimes
Entornos construidos
Urbanización informal
Vivienda incremental
Mercados de alquiler
Regímenes híbridos de propiedad
Entorns construïts
Urbanització informal
Habitatge incremental
Mercats de lloguer
Règims híbrids de propietat
Descripción
Sumario:This paper examines how rental markets have become a defining mode of incremental housing production in São Paulo's informal settlements, transforming self-built dwellings from vehicles of social inclusion into financial assets. Based on ethnographic research and architectural documentation of 236 properties in two large favelas, it develops a typology that links built form to ownership, finance, management and social relations. The analysis shows that the shift from use-oriented to exchange-oriented housing is not an abstract economic transition but one that materializes in vertical additions, property subdivision, and new forms of landlord-tenant cohabitation. Cycles of rental densification commodify land once designated for social use and heighten housing precarity, yet they also generate new livelihood opportunities, diverse housing forms, and collective investment arrangements that mediate the dominance of market logics. These hybrid property regimes challenge prevailing models of urban integration that link settlement consolidation with ownership.