The Global Report on Human Settlements[1] by UN-Habitat says “slums and urban poverty are not just a manifestation of a population explosion and demographic change, or even of the vast impersonal forces of globalization. Slums must be seen as the result of a failure of housing policies, laws and delivery systems, as well as of national and urban policies”.
Known as the world’s tallest slum, the Torre de David once housed thousands in Venezuela. Torre de David is an example of an allowed permission, outside of legality. Not all spontaneous occupations are the same, and not all spontaneous occupations are given the same type of attention from different audiences. Some spontaneous occupations are acclaimed and some are not. Some are even given high recognition, while other similar structures are merely ignored. There is a contradiction : there is a rejection for the local spontaneous occupation while there is a fascination for the foreign spontaneous occupation.
