Apartments for Workers

Social inequalities are part of most aspects of daily life and have persistently characterized life in Latin American cities. As such, in Brazil and other countries on the South American subcontinent, unequal housing conditions became a visible expression of social inequality during the twentieth century. Since public and academic debates on unequal housing largely focus on impoverished shanty towns and upper-class gated communities, focusing on the history of social housing challenges and reconfigures conventional scholarship.

This study explores the complex relationships between housing policies, socio-spatial segregation and the stigmatization of residents in the Conjunto IAPI in Belo Horizonte. It utilizes a range of sources from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, while interviews conducted with residents in the housing complex complement the analysis.