REDIFINING TENURE

The first criteria for what defines “adequate housing” according to the UNHCR is:

"legal security of tenure, especially in the form of protection against forced evictions;"

Brookings Institute pg. 130

Tenure is the most difficult issue to overcome with housing that hovers between temporary and permanent housing. Most often it is mired in the longevity of solving complex political situations as well as the government accepting a situation they still aim to change. Tenure begins with solidarity of ownership, whether that be an individual or an entity, public or private. Renting and cooperatives have stemmed from this unilateral stance on land ownership. However, there are many historical examples of creating communal ownership or removing ownership, often led by socialist and communist intellectuals. 

Ownership has come to signify stability in many countries, both at a large scale and within an individual's ambitions. In establishing a new state, regulating land tenure is one of the first requirements for preventing rogue individuals from monopolizing control through power. Within an individual life, home ownership becomes a goal of achievement, not only as "the American Dream" but the global dream. It is difficult in society to remove this notion of ownership, but it provides a solution to the complex issues of land tenure in displacement situations that is in some ways more realistic than settling individual ownership. 

Tony Garnier provided a model in his Cite Industrielle. While most of the socialist models do not deal solely with tenure, it is what is included in that effort that also interests me. Tony Garnier provided "a significantly radical break with the traditional definition of an architect's role in society" (109). He believe in a "productive alliance between a reformative city government and an architect" (110). He "synthesized in one body of work all the principles that subsequently redefined an architect's role in society" and showed that "architecture should apply itself to the task of bettering society" (112). 

Garnier's definition of adequate housing was based on light and required "at least one window to the south, big enough to light the entire room and allow direct sunlight"--this also went for any enclosed space (114). While he only specified these regulations for private home, he strongly suggested that they apply to all public buildings as well. He regulated density by saying the only half of all plots of land may be built up. He required that the unbuilt of the lot had "unimpeded passage from the street to the building" (115). All buildings were placed at the back of the lot, so there was a contiguous defacto park open to the public between all the buildings. Streets were set at 43-66 feet wide, and landscaping was required. (It should be noted that there was a height restriction which limits available density). 

Labor components were inherent in urban socialist models. Employment offices and union officers had "guest quarters and restaurants for persons waiting to work," similar to the worker's clubs of USSR (116). Finally, "each section [was] arranged so that it can grow independent of other sections," whether that be schools, hospitals, labor halls, or housing. Garnier embeds a caveat that the city can adjust and accommodate its needs as it grows.