Analysis of the “decent and adequate housing” in rural localities of Tamaulipas through an integrated indicator

Abstract

In Mexico, rural localities concentrate 23 percent of the population (FAO, 2018), and despite being a territory with an abundance of natural resources, and cultural and social wealth, among others; they also have the highest levels of poverty, marginalization, lack of access to public services and shortages in their homes. The investigation is based on the fact recognized by the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, that decent and adequate housing is a basic human right, as it is a fundamental element for the full and safe development of people.  In this sense, the objective of the article is to evaluate rural housing in Tamaulipas, based on the indicators of the right to decent and  adequate housing, proposed by UN-Habitat; and through the multiple weighting method, considering and also adjusting the sustainable urban development model proposed by Leva (2005) for rural localities. The results allow us to observe the areas of opportunity and challenges that the State of Tamaulipas faces with respect to decent and adequate rural housing. The methodology used starts from the compilation of individual housing indicators divided into three dimensions and from there the model proposed by Leva is used (2005), which establishes a procedure for calculating an integrated quality indicator in urban housing, which we adapt for the rural population of Tamaulipas using the indicators presented by the UN-HABITAT, obtaining an integrated indicator of the quality of housing in rural populations of Tamaulipas. The study's limitations are that subjective indicators are not used and therefore the appreciation of the people of these localities was not taken into account, therefore the contribution is only on the quality of the infrastructure of rural housing in Tamaulipas.