WUF13

WUF13

Professor: One of the main factors deepening the housing crisis is the change in family structures

Margarita Greene, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

19 May 2026 11:05 (UTC +04:00)

One of the main factors deepening the housing crisis is the change in family structures, Margarita Greene, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, said at the panel titled “Global Housing Crisis – What’s the Plan?” held within the framework of WUF13, APA-Economics reports.

According to her, the modern housing crisis is no longer related to large families migrating from rural areas to cities. Today, the main problem is that people living in cities cannot obtain affordable and quality housing.

Margarita Greene stated that migration, population aging and the shrinking of families have fundamentally changed the structure of housing demand.

The professor noted that according to the latest censuses in Latin America, the share of single-person households has reached approximately 20%. In Chile, the average number of people in one family has decreased from 5 to 2.8.

In her opinion, these changes make it necessary to reconsider housing policy and construction models.

Margarita Greene emphasized that the housing problem should be assessed at four levels – home, neighborhood, city and territorial level.

She added that when the state does not pay attention to informal settlements, that gap is often filled by criminal groups.

Rahim Tariverdiyev

Margarita Greene WUF13 housing crisis housing policy family structures urbanization Latin America Chile affordable housing migration population aging informal settlements urban development Pontifical Catholic University of Chile social policy

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