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Improving public housing policies that target low-income households: The value of adding proximity to discretion

Author

Listed:
  • Lauro Gonzalez
  • Fernanda Lima-Silva

    (Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV EAESP), Brazil)

  • Marlei Pozzebon

Abstract

Research on street-level bureaucrats has examined the various ways in which these professionals have implemented public policies in areas such as healthcare, education, and security, often emphasizing the role played by discretion in the implementation process. Despite its importance, the concept of street-level bureaucracy has scarcely been approached by housing studies. This study focuses on the role of street-level workers in the delivery of public housing to the lower-income population. We affirm the value of complementing street-level discretion with the concept of proximity , a premise borrowed from the microfinance literature, to increase the understanding of the interactions and relationships established between street-level workers and policy recipients during the implementation process. Such complementarity may contribute to a more accurate understanding of the housing policy implementation dynamics on the street-level and the possible adjustments to meet local needs. To explore this issue, we used a theoretical lens inspired by Goffman’s frame analysis that points to the importance of relational mechanisms that characterize the interactions between street-level workers and beneficiaries. These lenses were applied to a collective case study of Minha Casa Minha Vida-Entidades , a Brazilian subprogram in which street-level workers linked to social housing movements assume a leading role in the planning and execution of interventions. The results indicate that the combination of proximity and discretion has a positive influence on the implementation of housing policies. Our analysis shows the existence of nonprofit-oriented arrangements that may present different features and nuances at the implementation (micro) level and contribute to the (macro) debate on housing policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Lauro Gonzalez & Fernanda Lima-Silva & Marlei Pozzebon, 2021. "Improving public housing policies that target low-income households: The value of adding proximity to discretion," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 39(7), pages 1567-1585, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:39:y:2021:i:7:p:1567-1585
    DOI: 10.1177/23996544211041119
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristine M. Stiphany & Peter M. Ward, 2019. "Autogestão in an era of mass social housing: the case of Brazil’s Minha Casa Minha Vida-Entidades Programme," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 311-336, July.
    2. Monika Grubbauer, 2019. "Housing microfinance and the financialisation of housing in Latin America and beyond: an agenda for future research," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 436-447, July.
    3. Urmi Sengupta, 2019. "State-led housing development in Brazil and India: a machinery for enabling strategy?," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 509-535, October.
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    11. Claudia Murray & David Clapham, 2015. "Housing policies in Latin America: overview of the four largest economies," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 347-364, July.
    12. Rodrigo Canales, 2014. "Weaving Straw into Gold: Managing Organizational Tensions Between Standardization and Flexibility in Microfinance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 1-28, February.
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