UW Tacoma Campus Events

THE SOCIAL VALUE OF PROPERTY IN THE QUEST FOR AFFORDABLE/ATTAINABLE HOUSING with Anaid Yerena and Rubén Casas, UW Tacoma; Flavia de Ávila, Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil

[Recreate The Swiss experience by Pre-Ordering take-out for this event (at theswisspub.com…) and you could win Grit City Think & Drink swag and The Swiss gift certificates]

The way the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is currently written prevents the government from creating the type of public housing policies we need to fully address the widespread housing affordability crisis we are experiencing today. A part of this amendment, the Takings Clause, which limits the power of eminent domain, applies a restrictive definition of public use and disregards the social function of property (SFP) as a rationale for the repurposing of property. The SFP is a Brazilian Constitutional principle that “asserts that the right of private ownership includes an obligation to use land in ways that benefit society as a whole.” This open concept can be applied to the supra-individual rights of private property in order to achieve social equality. Building on the Brazilian application of SFP, we will invite our audience to imagine a U.S. society that applies the SFP beyond that which is circumscribed in the Takings Clause.

Dr. Anaid Yerena is an assistant professor in the School of Urban Studies at the University of Washington Tacoma. She is an architect, planner, and researcher who investigates public participation processes and activities related to housing and community development in the U.S. and Latin America. Dr. Ruben Casas is an Assistant Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. He does research on and teaches courses relating to cities, public life, and community and civic engagement. Dr. Flavia de Ávila, an Assistant Professor in the International Relations Department at the Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil, is a visiting scholar at UW Tacoma. Her areas of expertise include Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, International Public and Labor, and Biopolitics.