Politics & Governance / Public Policy / Urban Planning & Governance

Why Millions of New Homes Are Actually Making the Housing Crisis Worse (Brazil & Chile Exposed)

Mariana Vermons

Mariana Vermons, a former social housing beneficiary and now legal scholar, exposes a shocking paradox in her groundbreaking comparative analysis of Brazil's 'Minha Casa, Minha Vida' and Chile's social housing programs. You see the cranes and new developments, but the slums are expanding faster than ever. This isn't a failure of the system—it's a feature. Vermons reveals how these mega-projects were designed as bailouts for construction companies and banks after the 2008 crash, using the poor as a Trojan horse. She breaks down the 'accountability triangle' that turns citizens into terrified consumers, the rigged point systems that reward the 'acceptable poor' while excluding the destitute, and the hidden traps in contracts that can accelerate your debt and take your home for missing a payment or renting a room. This is a deep dive into how legal frameworks can weaponize poverty, and what it will take to truly build housing justice.