Special issues

In the comparative housing policy literature, in addition to surveys of broad trends and the 
formulation of housing regime typologies, deep dives into specific local or national cases can also provide necessary empirical evidence for reformulating theoretical frameworks and challenging long-held 
assumptions. This is particularly true when taking on countries and regional contexts that are under-
represented in the housing studies literature. In order to make a contribution in this regard, this special issue examines recent housing policies in Buenos Aires, Argentina. By taking Buenos Aires as both a microcosm of the Latin American housing regime and a ‘laboratory’ for housing policy, the articles in the special issue explore the politics of housing policy in a Global South megacity. This close reading of continuity and change in local approaches reveals the socially constructed and politically contested nature of housing policy ‘innovation’, as well as tensions with existing housing inequalities.

This article analyses the concept of socio-urban integration, which has shaped recent policies for 
informal settlements in Buenos Aires and informed regional policy exchange. Based on qualitative research and governmental discourse analysis, it examines how the concept is framed and implemented. While often presented as innovative, it reveals tensions and limitations, particularly in conflating integration with assimilation and privileging physical upgrading over comprehensive, participatory approaches. Nevertheless, these policies introduced novel elements into housing policy, notably in terms of scale, target population, urban location, and architectural design. The study questions the originality of this model within broader Latin American trends.

This article assesses the impact of the Integral Redevelopment Project (PIRU) in the Playón de Chacarita neighbourhood, an informal settlement in Buenos Aires, based on a policy designed to address housing shortages for vulnerable groups. Using quantitative methods, the study compares data from 2010, 2016 (an ad hoc), and 2022 censuses to evaluate the programme’s success in reducing overcrowding and enhancing housing conditions. Results indicate significant improvements, with overcrowding falling from 20% to 2%, a figure that matches wider urban benchmarks. However, the analysis reveals persistent challenges in curbing housing informality, as post-PIRU data show an unanticipated rise in the number of dwellings, suggesting that there are flaws in beneficiary targeting or that the expansion of the informal settlement has continued. The findings emphasise the need for consistent evaluation methodologies in housing policies and highlight the limitations of localised interventions without broader socioeconomic reforms.

Large-scale urban development projects in Latin America are known for exacerbating patterns of urban segregation, in contexts where housing has long been market-oriented and inclusive initiatives such as social housing have been neglected. The ‘Barrio Parque Donado-Holmberg’ in Buenos Aires represented – after highly contested disputes – a partial break in this regard. Located in an area that had faced decades of decline, with a low-income population living in precarious conditions, this project was presented as a ‘self-financing’ public–private development with a social mix policy that would integrate the community already living there. Although the housing policy included options that allowed people to remain in place, other options implied the displacement of the population. Additionally, the disparities between public and private implementation, as well as rising land value, call into question the inclusiveness of the project. Therefore, the complex and contradictory outcomes highlight the tensions in implementing housing policies under the logic of urban entrepreneurialism.

Public policies can be understood as long-term processes that continuously reshape state territoriality. This study aims to analyse the processes through which state space is produced in the implementation of social housing policies, focusing on how state spatiality is expressed, with a particular emphasis on the local scale. The research is structured around two analytical categories – strategies and projects – and two key dimensions: instrumental and territorial. The empirical analysis focuses on the case of the Federal Housing Plan in Mariano Acosta (Merlo, Buenos Aires) and Virrey del Pino (La Matanza, Buenos Aires). The findings show that, while the state operates across multiple scales, local governments play an essential and highly significant role by exerting control over territorial occupation and organisation. The study underscores the adaptability of social housing policy to territorial dynamics and local specifics.

For nearly 20 years, the ‘Housing Subsidy 690’ programme has provided economic aid to those experiencing homelessness in the city of Buenos Aires. In practice, it bridges two precarious housing situations: living on the street and living in the city’s single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels. Although it was initially created as a housing programme that was intended to address the shortcomings of previous policies towards homelessness and solve a complex issue, nearly 20 years after its creation a certain inertia around the policy can be perceived, as well as fractures in its functioning. Drawing on interviews with beneficiaries and professionals involved in the administration of the subsidy, as well as a review of secondary data, this article describes the functioning of the programme and suggests that it constitutes a form of policy inertia that contributes to perpetuating housing instability and homelessness. We argue that receiving the subsidy does not resolve housing vulnerability, as it contributes to an intermittent cycle between these unstable housing conditions, thereby reproducing this vulnerability.