Right to the city: a study about the informal real estate market in the Mãe Luiza neighborhood (Natal/Northeastern Brazil)

Abstract

In view of the government’s poor performance regarding provision of social housing and improvement in the urban conditions for the poor, informal solutions have been found by urban dwellers in Brazilian cities, granting some sort of urban insertion and access to the city’s infrastructure and services. This paper aims at discussing the informal real estate market – especially the housing market – in a poor neighborhood in the city of Natal, Northeastern Brazil. It draws on data from interviews with 290 households, a representative sample of dwellers in the Mãe Luiza neighborhood.