Housing indicators in Mexico

Habitat’s Regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean signed a letter of agreement with the Secretary of Social Development of the Federal Government of Mexico (SEDESOL) for Habitat-LAC to support the setting up of a new system of housing indicators to allow SEDESOL to monitor the sector. A first mission was set up by Habitat in order to discuss a list of feasible and useful indicators for this purpose. A long list of potential indicators was discussed extensively with local staff members, as well as with partner institutions. The dimensions evaluated were: feasibility, usefulness and sources of the information required. Several housing potential partner institutions have been invited by SEDESOL to participate in the indicators programme, an invitation that has so far been very well received. The second phase of the project will include the setting up of the individual indicators and the methodologies. The final stage includes the design and set up of a database and a management model to handle the information in a very proactive way. The indicators will be established both at the state level (thirty-two states) and for cities with over one million inhabitants (seven), as well as for the national aggregate. The list encompasses a total of 63 indicators, covering the main aspects of the housing sector.