Preventing the eviction of families in the neighbourhood. The practice aims to guarantee the right to land and housing through community organisation. In the Itá Verá neighbourhood, families transformed a makeshift settlement into a well-established neighbourhood. Through collective action spearheaded by the Land and Housing Federation in collaboration with the provincial and national governments, eviction was prevented. Processes were also promoted relating to land-use planning, neighbourhood improvement, the social economy and land title regularisation.

To provide some background: in 2013, a socio-religious group working in the neighbourhood alongside the Neighbourhood Committee made contact with the Land and Housing Federation which had links with the National Secretariat for Habitat and undertook to secure some funding. In 2014, during the first phase, two workers’ cooperatives were established and funding was secured for the project which involved opening up streets, clearing land and building new homes. Families voluntarily moved into the cleared area, leaving space for new streets to be opened. Homes were provided by the Provincial Institute for Housing Development (IPRODHA). In 2017, following the successful first phase, the Cristo Obrero Ltda Workers’ Cooperative – mainly workers from the neighbourhood – secured a second round of funding to construct 150 basic units comprising a bathroom, electricity connection and drainage. This began the second phase which also included support for around fifty small businesses and premises where the Itá Vera Community Market was established. Between 2021 and 2023, the third phase was carried out, during which the same cooperative again secured funding from the Secretariat for Socio-Urban Integration (SISU) to pave all the open streets, build sidewalks, connect to sewerage and water networks, and secure land titles issued by IPRODHA.

The initiative directly benefits 600 families in the Itá Verá neighbourhood, who improved their living conditions by strengthening community organisation driven by social organisations working to secure access to land, housing and basic services. It also benefits the local community through the creation of cooperative work, the social economy market, public spaces, and support from public policy programmes.

More than a third of the population has lived in the neighbourhood for over a decade indicating a strong sense of attachment to their homes and the area. Since 2009, the neighbourhood has grown and now around 600 families live in the Itá Verá neighbourhood, Chacra 145, who are part of and benefit from the process of community organisation, neighbourhood improvement and land title regularisation.

The population consists of families from the provincial interior and the neighbouring country of Paraguay. It comprises workers in the informal economy, with women playing an active role in community organisation. Most men are employed in informal and precarious jobs, whilst domestic work predominates among women. Families subsist on incomes far below those needed to rise above the poverty line.

This practice is important because it demonstrates how community organisation can guarantee the right to land, housing and the city. In the Itá Verá neighbourhood, families have avoided eviction and are making progress towards secure tenure, improved living conditions and the strengthening of the social economy.

The practice relates to the International Habitat Coalition’s thematic areas concerning the Social Production of Habitat, the right to land and housing, and the right to the city. Within this framework, and through community organisation, neighbourhood improvement, security of tenure and the social economy are promoted.

The families lived in a makeshift settlement built on a former landfill, facing severe environmental degradation and lacking adequate access to basic services. This initiative arose in response to the threat of eviction facing the families, under the pretext that the municipality lacked the necessary funds to carry out essential sanitation and urban development projects—a claim that actually masks real estate pressure on the lands of Chacra 145. The community organization, through the efforts of the Neighborhood Association and with support from the Federación de Tierra Vivienda y Hábitat, succeeded in halting the eviction by securing specific funding and coordinating various resources to address the environmental issues on the property, thereby dismantling the argument used to justify the eviction.

The process helped consolidate the neighborhood and transfer ownership of the property to the provincial government, in its capacity as the administrator of the agreed-upon funds, and initiated land-use planning, neighborhood improvements, and the formalization of land tenure for each of the lots occupied by families, all of whom now hold their respective property titles.

Key outcomes include the reversal of the eviction, the consolidation of the Ita Verá neighbourhood on land in the provincial public domain, and the improvement of living conditions through community organisation. The experience confirms collective action guarantees security of tenure, cooperative work and the strengthening of the social fabric in Posadas.

“I’m Francisca Benítez, Chair of the neighbourhood committee… When we started, it was a public space, but it was a rubbish dump. After several years of struggle, it was gradually developed through the Padre Mujica programme, working alongside various organisations and neighbourhood leaders… It was the first neighbourhood to be developed here in Posadas… We had no electricity, no water, no roads, and today it is a neighbourhood with homes, where people are much better organised. We had no sewerage system or toilets, and today almost the entire neighbourhood has a title deed in our hands… In this short space of time—almost twelve years—we’ve managed to improve our quality of life, to provide children and the elderly with a truly decent roof over their heads, and to be able to say, ‘This is mine.’ And, of course, all of us women who worked at the forefront alongside Oscar and his team, who opened doors for us. We feel very proud.”

To younger generations: habitat is not just a place to live, but the territory where people build community, memory and a future. Organised communities can care for the environment, defend the right to land and housing, and manage the spaces where they live: creating places for work or other forms of expression. Furthermore, housing is linked to inclusion in the city, building fairer, more supportive and sustainable communities.