The Guerrero Housing Cooperative: Mexico City

Abstract

The case of the Guerrero Cooperative is about the experience of a group of tenants living in central Mexico City. They include factory workers, low-grade government or private employees and those self-employed in petty trade and personal services. Belonging to the lower income brackets, they are clearly not free from economic difficulties, especially in the face of high inflation and unemployment. The immediate problems facing the tenants relate to their housing, called vecindades. Overcrowded, badly-lit one- or two-roomed dwellings with ill-functioning water supply and drainage, the washing and sanitary facilities are often shared by up to forty families. During the rainy season, the roofs and walls of the old buildings frequently cave in, causing fatal injuries to their occupants.