URBANIZATION

History of Cities – Heritage

Urban Housing

Rural Housing

LEGAL ASPECTS

Right to Housing

Syria revised its Constitution in February 2012.

The Syrian government has adopted a law (Law No. 10 of 2018) that allows it to establish redevelopment areas for rehabilitation and reconstruction projects. This law gives the State the power to confiscate the property of residents without due process and adequate compensation. In November, under international pressure, the Syrian parliament amended the text. However, several points of this law still raise concerns. In Qaboun and Deraya, the government restricted access to civilians wishing to return home and illegally demolished private homes without providing residents with any notice, alternative housing or compensation. (Human Rights Watch – Report 2019).

Amnesty International’s opinion (2018):

The Syrian government’s new property law effectively deprives thousands of people displaced by the conflict of their homes and land and risks destroying evidence of war crimes committed by the regime, Amnesty International said on 18 May 2018.

Adopted in 2012, Decree-Law No. 66 authorized the Syrian Government to destroy informal settlements in Damascus and Rif Dimashq Governorate in order to convert them into urban development areas, with residential buildings, markets and public spaces. Under the new regulations adopted under Act No. 10 in 2018, when a development area is defined, the authorities must notify the owners of land and housing through a public announcement, and they have only 30 days to gather the necessary documents to assert their property rights.

With more than 11 million Syrians displaced, either within Syria or abroad, this will be almost impossible for many of the people concerned. According to research conducted by the Norwegian Refugee Council, only one in five Syrian refugees is in possession of property titles; 21 per cent of them reported that their documents had been destroyed.

Forced Eviction

USEFUL TOOLS:

• Housing and Land Rights Violation Database in each country (Housing and Land Network – HIC): http://hlrn.org/welcome_violation.php#.VD-IVCi7_vQ
• Zero Evictions Campaign (International Alliance of Inhabitants): http://www.habitants.org/zero_evictions_campaign

Land Law

Land Grabbing

USEFUL TOOLS

• Data sets on agricultural land grabbing in the world (GRAIN): https://www.grain.org/bulletin_board/entries/4429-new-data-sets-on-land-grabbing
• The Online Public Database on Land Deals – Global Observatory (Land Matrix): http://landmatrix.org/en/

Vulnerable Groups

• Old People
• Young People
• Women

Some Interesting Practices

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS

Housing Market

Quality of Housing

Informal Housing / Slum / Homeless

ROLE OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES

Social Housing

ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

Bibliography & Sitography

SEEN BY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Major Problems

Major Claims or Demands

Some Civil Society Actors