Socio-Spatial Self-Segregation by Shelter and the Access to Citizens' Rights

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to promote reflection on the relationship between access to housing as an instrument to promote citizens' rights and socio-spatial selfsegregation. It should be noted that the segregation treated here can be caused by physical barriers or not, since it also passes through a separation of behaviors and values, being in this article debated under the bias of the socio-spatial self-segregation by housing. Therefore, it was necessary to understand housing distribution systems extending from high-standard horizontal condominiums on one side, to invasions of peripheral areas such as wellsprings and hillsides on the other. This situation is result of the arising real estate explorations and emergent middle class searching for new housings, it has shown more and more the intersection of these realities. A relevant finding in this study was that the desire to self-immunize from different living standards leads to urbanistic and psycho-sociocultural implications which directly impacts on how public and private services are delivered to individuals. Thus, a person's address can determine their level of access to sanitation, mobility, safety, education, health, etc. Furthermore, we sought a visualization of reality, indicating "what" and "where", creating a spatial and relational vision, seeking to identify "the place of each one" in the different Brazilian cities.