The Settlements: a Challenging Way of Life

Looking at the issue of the right to housing means going beyond the four walls that make up a house, and implicates other rights associated with the individual also: feeling secure in one’s home, and not having to worry about being evicted at any moment, having basic needs met, not having to live in a toxic or dangerous environment, etc... Half of the world’s population live in cities and the majority of these lack adequate infrastructure and services. This Paper is not written from a theoretical point of view, but rather from the experience of and direct contact with informal settlements, which still exist today in the city of Barcelona.