There are big, small, taller, shorter, alpine, modern, and the strangest styles and materials. But beyond its appearance, a home is always a place where you can feel safe, be able to rest, eat and wash yourself in peace, without being exposed to cold, heat or rain.
That is why being able to access decent housing is a right enshrined in several international human rights instruments; to which, however, many people in the world do not have access.
It is estimated that at least 100 million people in the world do not have a home; and that figure has grown due to the refugee crisis in the world. In fact, according to UNICEF, at least 50 million children left their homes around the world in search of a better life; and in doing so they have encountered many other dangers that do nothing but continue to violate their rights.
According to Statista, the cities with the highest number of homeless people are: Moscow, New York, Manila, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Mexico City, Jakarta, Buenos Aires, Budapest, and São Paulo.
Not having a home implies greater health risks, less hygienic conditions, greater difficulties in accessing drinking water, health services, and for all these reasons it also undermines personal dignity. For this reason, many of these people also fight against discrimination and social stigma every day, leaving them in a situation of marginalization in every way.
It seems incredible that this being the situation of millions of people around the world, in places like the United States there are still huge houses, very little used by the family that lives there and that this, moreover, continues to be the ideal of so many people in the world. world.
“The current housing crisis in the world, where there are millions of empty houses and apartments, at the same time that the number of foreclosures and homelessness is increasing alarmingly, is the starkest evidence of the failure of the financing of the housing to meet the housing needs of all segments of society”, says Raquel Rolnik, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on housing, regarding this situation.
To get closer to the sustainable future we want, social sustainability must be present and go hand in hand with environmental and economic sustainability, to guarantee that human rights are respected, there is social justice and, above all, that poverty, inequality and exclusion are not deepened in favor of a few and at the expense of so many.
In this note you will also be able to know 5 strange places where people have had to live due to lack of space or possibilities:
1. Setenil de las Bodegas, Spain
One of the strangest places to live is Setenil de las Bodegas, a municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia (Spain). Its center, which you can see here in the photograph, is located in the gorge formed by the Guadalporcún River when it passes through the city.
See how the houses are built under the rocks.
2. “Ponte Vecchio”, France
This is the “Old Bridge” or “Ponte Vecchio”, located in Florence, Italy. It is on the river Arno. People used to live in tents along the bridge and even today there are rumors of small apartments there.
3. Matmat, Tunisia
In this one, the Matmat settlement (in Tunisia, Africa), the inhabitants have dug deep wells into the ground and then tunnels into the side walls to create their homes.
4. City of the Dead, Egypt
Examples not at all picturesque like the previous ones, are the two that follow. This is the Al-arafa neighborhood or “The City of the Dead”, southeast of Cairo (Egypt). This city was founded as an Arab cemetery, but many people have lived there. They live among tombs, building kitchens, recreation areas and bathrooms inside them. They have access to electricity and running water, unlike the next example.
5. Manila, Philippines
In the North Cemetery of Manila, Philippines, the more than 52 hectares are home to families who have not been able to sustain an income. They have transformed mausoleums into family homes; and even cafes and shops were improvised there. But they do not have drinking water, electricity, sanitary services, and their living conditions are permanently in contact with thousands of decomposing bodies.
Do you think these are worthy ways of life? It’s time for us to focus on what really matters.