Sustainable communities generate sustainable habitat

Humanity is loosing the global race to provide a better habitat for the underserved housing population. With a total population of 6.9 billion there is 1 billion that lives in a slum representing 14% of underserved housing population. By year 2030 world population will be 9 billion inhabitants and 3.6 billion will live in precarious housing and habitat conditions, a terrifying 25% of homeless humans beings. 

Sustainable housing wealth creation and habitat protection is a vital equation. Trying to solve world-housing deficit though urbanization deploys habitat conditions and generates rural improvement. More urbanization equals more rural impoverishment. Rural communities become receptacles of solid wastes, residual waters, labor migration, family disrupting and lack of opportunities. In the other hand is much simple to generate better habitat conditions in a community than in a soulless urban development. 

Communities are abandoned attracted by an urban false mirror of wealth and better living conditions. These migrators reality derives in slums with lack of sanitation, overcrowded homes of non-durable structures, promiscuity, insecure tenure, violence, human trafficking, lack of water and an endless list of social and health diseases and habitat degradation.

The requirements to provide sustainable habitat and housing wealth creation to the community are: social inclusion, financial education, technical capacitation and social franchising. An example of what just one year ago was the deforestation of the world largest biosphere caused by the poorest communities that surround it, is Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico. One of the largest cities in the Mayan Culture.

In order to stop families to go into the biosphere cutting down the trees to build a shack, an in site production system of green construction material was provided. Instead of bringing in the police forces to stop clandestine sales of endangered species and archaeological relics, technical workshops for housing construction started. To avoid microloan shacks fulfill credit for home building a sustainable housing mortgage microfinance was offered. After one year 1,000 wealthy homes have been built with 500 jobs creation, an economy spillover of USD 6,5 millions and the protection of the biosphere by the same community.

Social entrepreneurship is a marvelous vehicle to solve world problems.

Francesco Piazzesi

 

Editors Note: Francesco Piazzesi, Echale a tu casa, Mexico; Regional Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Latin America, 2011 

Echale a Tu Casa helps people in the poorest communities of Mexico become home-owners. Echale trains individuals in construction skills and helps create community-owned micro construction industries. In addition, Echale facilitates financially sound households by offering financial literacy classes, creating a community savings and loans facility, and partnering with the government to extend families’ mortgages. Nearly 26,000 homes have been built through Echale. In addition, the micro-construction industries of Echale have generated 130,000 jobs and USD 65 million of income.