Rethinking the Future of Housing Worldwide: Favelas as a Sustainable Model with Theresa Williamson

Cities@Tufts Lectures

Informal settlements, such as Rio de Janeiro's favelas, are not new and they’re not rare. Today, one in three people in cities lives in an informal settlement and 85 percent of all housing worldwide is built illegally. By 2050, nearly a third of humanity will live in urban informal settlements.

How can we value informal settlements around the world and integrate them on their own terms into our urban planning practices? Could this search lead to a sustainable urban future? This talk will introduce strategies employed by grassroots NGO Catalytic Communities, in over twenty years supporting Asset-Based Community Development together with Rio de Janeiro favela organizers.

In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of their conversation on Shareable.net, and while you’re there get caught up on past lectures.

Cities@Tufts Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor Julian Agyeman and host Tom Llewellyn.

Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and Shareable.net with support from The Kresge Foundation.

Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Meghan Tenhoff, and Perri Sheinbaum. Robert Raymond is our audio editor, Zanetta Jones manages communications and editorial, and the series is produced and hosted by Tom Llewellyn.

“Light Without Dark” by Cultivate Beats is our theme song.