SPATIAL SEGREGATION AND SOCIAL HOUSING: THE CASE OF THE RENTAL HOUSING PROGRAM IN JOÃO PESSOA - BRAZIL

Mariana Fialho Bonates, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

In 1999, during Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s government, the Rental Housing Program (or Programa de Arrendamento Residencial - PAR) was set up. This had a different format, being a kind of a ‘leasing’ with a right-to-buy in 15 years. At first, the target was to benefit a middle-low income population. However, from 2003, during Lula’s government, this policy was changed to benefit lower income groups with lower rents. The program now had two legs: PAR 1 and PAR 2, that is, both income groups were to benefit. This measure, however, directly affected production and localization of housing estates. Needing cheaper land, the measure favored spatial segregation as production moved to more peripheral areas of the city. This paper analyzes PAR, especially regarding the problem of spatial segregation, in João Pessoa, capital city of Paraíba state, in the Brazilian Northeast region.