Housing and Inequality: The Case of Portugal

Inequality has increased in recent decades to the point where its mitigation has been identified as one of the UN sustainable development goals. Closely linked to the housing crises in cities, the increase in housing and economic inequalities has become a matter of academic and political concern, as it has the potential to intensify social, economic and urban problems. This chapter discusses housing inequality as the outcome of current and earlier public policies that fail to see housing as a basic human right and need. The findings in the Portuguese case suggest that the intensification of socio-economic inequalities in housing are linked to the adoption of neoliberal housing policies.