Urban Migration and Housing in Developmentalist Era

• Migrants in the developmentalist era took over land and constructed housing on the periphery of existing cities, often illegally.
• The legal system and the property regime never made a full transition to a modern order, and as long as the city continued to expand there was a progression of inclusion.
• Rent, commodified as the increasing value of the property, was arguably the most important reason why the urban masses remained appeased during economic liberalization and the declining labor incomes of the 1980s.
• Earlier migrants gained higher positions in the hierarchy (due to better locations — both in the material terms of housing and within the established networks) as newer, and therefore less privileged, migrants arrived; social integration seemed to proceed with success, as had been envisaged in the optimistic scenarios of modernization. The crucial element in this process which anchored the migrant into a place of political and social practice, which made possible material accumulation and permitted the building of networks necessary for access to the material world, was the fact that housing was relatively easily and universally acquired.

Explore the impact of urban migration, illegal housing construction, property regime, and rent commodification during the developmentalist era. Learn about the progression of inclusion, social integration, and the role of housing in providing access to the material world for migrants.