case studies – VALPARAISO
Housing Another important dimension of poverty relates to housing, such as living in informal settlements with inadequate access to basic services. Major differences exist across groups: informal arrangements seem to play a relevant role mainly for the nonresident poor and, on a smaller scale, for the resident poor. On the other hand, the ownership of the dwelling is more relevant for the nonresident poor than for the resident poor. The nonpoor groups tend to exhibit similarities to the resident poor; a tentative conclusion is that the features of downtown are such that home ownership is not affordable. Gender differences also occur, but vary across groups: for the nonresident poor households with a female head, ownership is less common than when the head is a male. The size of dwelling, as measured by the number of rooms, differ across groups, namely between the poor and nonpoor (see Table 4.8).
The living conditions of dwellings seem satisfactory because of the availability of basic services. On average, for the nonpoor and the resident poor, over 90 percent of dwellings use electricity, gas for cooking, piped drinking water, and have sewage service; nonresident poor dwellings exhibit similar features, but to a lesser extent concerning sewage services and piped drinking water. Problems of Downtown Poverty The answers provided by the residents included in the Valparaiso sample (see Table 4.9) reveal that perceptions of the typical problems of living downtown are either not very diffused or not uniformly diffused. Except for theft, which is considered either a major or minor challenge by 62.5 percent of the sampled residents, the other problems are regarded as challenges by a minority of residents, but with greater differ-
Table 4.8 Housing
Nonresident poor
Resident nonpoor
Resident poor
Ownership
47.78%
45.00%
32.08%
Rent
31.11%
50.00%
57.50%
Informal arrangements
20.56%
5.00%
10.42%
Legal status of dwellings
Size and occupancy Number of rooms
3.53
5.49
3.846
Number of beds
2.88
3.92
2.942
3.40
3.47
3.07
Family size Average number of members Other uses Purposes other than living
Source: Author’s elaboration based on survey data.
4.44%
10.00%
2.92%
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