Housing and Poverty: A Complex Relationship. Conceptual framework and characterization

This paper approaches the conceptual framework regarding the relationship between housing and poverty. First it addresses the evolution of the concept of poverty, from the focus on income to the multidimensional approach. Then it analyzes the possible impacts of access to shelter programs in poverty, in which the conventional programs can cause housing induced poverty and new urban poverty. Finally, based in the Quality of Life Survey of 2007, it illustrates the relationship between housing and poverty in Bogota, focusing on housing deficit, housing tenure and housing expenditure of the households. It concludes that housing policies have to be seriously restructured, reorienting their goals to poverty reduction.