Squatting facts for kids
Squatting is when someone lives on land or in a building without owning it, renting it, or having permission to be there. The person doing this is called a squatter. It often happens when people who are poor or homeless find empty buildings or land.
In 2004, a writer named Robert Neuwirth estimated that about one billion people around the world were squatters. Most squatting involves people living in empty homes or apartments.
Squatting Around the World
Squatting happens in many different countries, and the rules about it can be very different from place to place.
Squatting in the United States
In the United States, the laws about squatting change from state to state and even from city to city. Generally, squatting is not allowed for very long, especially in big cities.
Sometimes, groups that help people in communities work with homeless people to take over empty buildings. They do this not just to create places for people to live. It can also be part of a bigger effort to show problems with housing inequality. These groups hope to bring about changes in how housing and land are used.
Images for kids
-
Abahlali baseMjondolo protest in Durban
-
A pro-squatting protest in Greece, with participants carrying anarchist flags
-
Street dwellers in Mumbai
-
Rozbrat squat in Poznań.
-
Facade of the evicted Carboneria squat in Barcelona
-
The Chien Rouge (Red Dog) in Lausanne, in a former hospital
-
Police during eviction of the Topf & Söhne squat, 16 April 2009
-
A short-lived squat in Reykjavík in 2009. The signs say "We take matters into our own hands" and "The home is sacred, the property rights are not"
-
Rome barricades itself. A squatting symbol appearing as graffiti in Rome
-
Ubica, a former squat in Utrecht
-
The Can Vies social centre in Barcelona
-
The "Square Occupied Social Centre", a now-evicted squat in Russell Square
-
A favela in Rio de Janeiro
-
Cité Soleil in 2006
.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Movimiento okupa para niños
