Housing as Public Function of Common Interest: Reflections from the Metropolitan Reality of Curitiba

Abstract

This article proposes a reflection on housing as a public function of common interest (FPIC) and takes as reference the relationship between housing production and metropolization in Curitiba. Considering housing in its expanded sense, not restricted to housing unit, but as a fundamental human right that guarantees access to the means for a dignified survival, the purpose of the work is to contribute to the discussion and the challenge of incorporating this question into metropolitan planning, having as principle the universalization of access to the urbanized city and, consequently, the right to the metropolis. In the first part of the article it is reflected on the relationship between metropolization, housing and inequalities in the Brazilian metropolis. Then we present the characteristics of the relationship between the production process of the popular housing spaces and the metropolis of Curitiba. In the third part, the meaning of the FPICs, incorporated into Brazilian federalism by the Federal Constitution of 1988 and the metropolitan planning by Federal Law nº 13.089/ 2015 - Metropolis Statute, taking as reference the production process of the popular housing in the metropolis of Curitiba. Finally, from the case of Curitiba, it is argued that housing composes an integrating question of the other FPICs and that such understanding constitutes one of the main challenges to the planning of these urban agglomerations in Brazil.