CAU and CEAU launch petition for just cities and decent housing

The Petition for Just Cities and Dignified Housing is now available online in support of the proposals from the manifesto Brazil Needs More Architecture and Urbanism, an open letter to the candidates in the 2022 elections launched by the Council of Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil (CAU/BR) and the member entities of the CEAU (IAB, FNA, ABEA, AsBEA, ABAP, and FeNEA).

The document is available on the Change.org platform. Read the full text below:

Petition for Just Cities and Dignified Housing

We, Brazilian citizens, express through this petition our support for the Manifesto "Brazil Needs More Architecture and Urbanism," written as an Open Letter to Candidates in the 2022 Elections, launched by the Council of Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil and the institutions representing the country's architects and urban planners during a public event held in São Paulo in May 2022.

We agree that the declining quality of life in our municipalities, the neglect of our landscapes, historical social inequalities, and the precarious housing conditions of the low-income population are worsening in Brazil.

It is imperative that candidates for the Presidency of the Republic, state and Federal District governments, and federal, state, and district legislatures keep in mind during their campaigns and future terms, if elected, that:

• The Right to the City is a matter of Social Justice
• Decent housing is a matter of Public Health
• Integrated Urban Planning, with a social, environmental, and economic vision, is Quality of Life
• The solution for housing, spaces, and cities lies in Architecture and Urbanism

The Manifesto-Letter to the Candidates, prepared by architects and urban planners, contains 20 proposals for addressing these contemporary issues, also taking into account that territorial inequalities were a determining factor in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the benefit of our population, we advocate:

• Just cities and decent housing
• More public policies based on Architecture and Urbanism solutions
• Greater democratic participation of society in urban reform based on the social function of the city, provided for in the Constitution and regulated by the City Statute

Therefore, we agree with the proposals of the Council of Architecture and Urbanism of Brazil (CAU/BR), the Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB), the National Federation of Architects and Urban Planners (FNA), the Brazilian Association for Architecture and Urbanism Education (ABEA), the Brazilian Association of Architecture Offices (AsBEA), the Brazilian Association of Landscape Architects (ABAP), and the National Federation of Architecture and Urbanism Students (FeNEA), and we likewise sign the Manifesto "Brazil Needs More Architecture and Urbanism."