Vila Soma: noncompliance of the social function of urban property and the duty to regularization of land according to the City Statute

Abstract

The article aims to understand how the noncompliance of the City Statute can cause drastic consequences to fundiary conflicts. Thus, it shows how the tools established in the City Statute can be used to reafirm the social function of urban property and protect the right to housing. For this purpose, it studies the case of “Vila Soma”, a settlement located in the city of Sumaré, State of São Paulo – Brazil. The theoretical approach consists of the study of property abandonment; the analysis of the tools of the City Statute; and the balance between the right to housing and the right to property. It concludes that the inhabitants of Vila Soma have the right to stay in the land, since they provided social function to the area, fullfilling constitucional norms. On the other hand, the previous owner has lost it for not giving social use to the land and abandoning it. This way, a satisfatory solution can be offered to the case, respecting the rights of its occupants.