Chilean housing policy: a pendant human rights perspective

• Author: Sebastian Smart, Vicente Burgos
• Position: Institute of the Americas, University College London, London, UK
• Pages: 187-201

Chilean housing policy: a pendant

human rights perspective

Sebastian Smart

Institute of the Americas, University College London, London, UK, and

Vicente Burgos

Development Planning Unit, University College London, London, UK

Abstract

Purpose –This paper aims to analyse the Chilean housingpolicy from a human rights perspective. The

work is based on the framework to study socio, economic and social rights as humanrights developed by

the current special rapporteuron extreme poverty and human rights to describe the steps undertaken by the

ChileanState in terms of recognition, institutionalisationand accountability of the right to adequate housing.

Design/methodology/approach –First, the authors describethe different levels of legal recognition of

the right and the lack of constitutional andlegislative recognition in the different levels of the Chilean Legal

System. Second,they analyse the Chilean Housing Policy and theinstitutionalisation of the different elements

that compose theright to adequate housing, describing and criticallyreviewing the Chilean housing policy in

the past 30 years. The f‌inal section analysesthe accountability of such policy, taking into considerationthe

developments of international and regional mechanisms and the processes of accountability lead by civil

societyand tribunals.

Findings –The paper concludesthat a human rights perspective of the right to adequate housingwith legal

recognitioncould improve the accountability, the results and developmentof the Chilean housing policy.

Originality/value –The importanceof this paper is both empirical and theoretical.Empirically, this paper

adds to the current understandingof housing policies in Chile, aiming to complete the narrative of housing

laws at the national level. Theoretically, this paper uses for the f‌irst time a recognition, institutionalisation

and accountability human rights approach to analyse the Chilean housing policies and its loopholes at the

nationallevel.

Keywords Poverty, Policy, Chile, Economic, Recognition, Human rights, RIA,

Right to adequate housing, Social and cultural rights, Institutionalisation and accountability

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

This paper aims to analyse the Chilean Housing Policy from a Human Rights perspective.

To do so, we use the framework to study Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR)

developed by the Special Rapporteur on ExtremePoverty and Human Rights, Philip Alston;

who has argued that in order to analysethe extent of protection and promotion of ESCR, it is

important to examine the recognition, institutionalisation and accountability (RIA) of each

specif‌ic right (UN Human Rights Council,2016). This is a framework that aims to avoid the

historical division between ESCR and Civiland Political Rights (CPR) through the analysis

of the different stages and policydevelopments undertaken by States to promote and protect

human rights; taking into special consideration the principles of indivisibility and

interdependency (Alston, 2017a). While most scholars recognise that CPR on the one hand

and ESCR on the other, should be treated without any kind of difference and arguably

represent similar categories of rights,historically the division of f‌irst and second categories

of rights has been prevalent and is stillpresent in some current –mainly political –debates

Human rights

perspective

187

Received19 February 2018

Revised29 July 2018

Accepted22 August 2018

Journalof Property, Planning and

EnvironmentalLaw

Vol.10 No. 3, 2018

pp. 187-201

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2514-9407

DOI 10.1108/JPPEL-02-2018-0004

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