Squatting in the 21st century

A recent article about a squatter being forciby evicted in Calgary (the link is in my shared items, at the top right of this page) has gotten me thinking again about squatting and it's role in human history. For most people (at myself included, until very recently) in the 21st century those who squat are looked upon as anarchists, individuals living on the edge of society and undesirable in some way. They are summarily kicked out and their makeshift constructions torn down, as was the case in Calgary. Despite the fact that this person clearly did not have enough money to pay for rent and chose to deal with that fact in a creative manner instead of becoming a burden on society did not prevent the powers in charge from forcing him to either 1) apply for welfare or 2) end up in a homeless shelter.

It's interesting how squatting is so quickly shut down in the 1st world and to me is one of the biggest differences between us and the 3rd world, where squatting is still going very strong. The fact of the matter is all modern cities in the 1st world were initially built up by squatters and it is only very recently that it has become such a taboo activity in the developed world. How exactly this came to be I'm not sure, but after spending some time in the squatter community/favela of Rocinha in Brazil I was amazed at how resourceful and creative people can be when given the opportunity. Squatting is a part of our heritage and and provides a viable alternative to those unable to purchase a home but unwilling to use up some of the much needed resources of the social welfare system.

I think one solution would be to create special "squatter zones" in the first world, perhaps on the outskirts of major cities (an area like Langley in the Greater Vancouver area) and make squatting permitted but regulated at the same time. Things will never return to the way they were in the centuries past for those who wish to build their own homes but this is the best thing to a happy medium that would have a somewhat realistic chance of occurring. There could even be time limits to the housing (although part of the raison d'etre of squatting is that it gives marginalized people not only the opportunity to have a home but also to gradually improve that home) or a buy-back scheme from the city.

In any case I think people and governments in the 1st world need to start thinking and viewing squatting and squatters much differently, it's a part of our history that, like the squatters themselves, has become marginalized. For a good read on the subject check out Robert Neuwirth's "Shadow Cities", a cool book that really changed how I think about this issue.