Editing Squatting (section)

== Overview ==
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The practice of squatting historically stems from multiple sources, one of which is the development by [[Illegalism|illegalist]] and [[Individualist anarchism|individualist]] [[Anarchism|anarchist]] groups, such as the ''[[Pieds plats]]'', of the concept of ''déménagement à la cloche de bois'' ('silent move-outs')—the act of leaving a residence without notifying the landlord and ceasing to pay rent.{{Sfn|Péchu|2010|p=33-39}} This practice became an early precursor to squatting.{{Sfn|Péchu|2010|p=33-39}}

The majority of squatting is residential in nature. As a phenomenon, it tends to occur when a poor and homeless population makes use of derelict property or land through [[urban homesteading]].<ref name="Homesteaders in the Hood">{{cite magazine |last=Peñalver |first=Eduardo M. |title=Homesteaders in the Hood |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2214544/ |url-status=live |magazine=Slate Magazine |date=March 25, 2009 |access-date=April 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409111231/http://www.slate.com/id/2214544 |archive-date=April 9, 2009}}</ref> According to a 2003 estimate by the [[United Nations Human Settlements Programme]] (UN-Habitat), there were about one billion people in squatter settlements and slums.<ref>{{citation |last=Payne |first=G. |title=Self-Help: Land Development |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780080471631000400 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Susan J. |encyclopedia=International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home |publisher=Elsevier |location=San Diego |pages=297–303 |doi=10.1016/b978-0-08-047163-1.00040-0 |date=2012 |access-date=2021-03-02 |isbn=978-0-08-047171-6 |archive-date=2022-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124103522/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780080471631000400 |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- relevant text summary in the full text of the book, or also at https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/squatter-settlements --> According to housing researcher Kesia Reeve, "squatting is largely absent from policy and academic debate and is rarely conceptualised, as a problem, as a symptom, or as a social or housing movement."<ref name="Housing and Social Policy">{{citation |last=Reeve |first=Kesia |chapter=Squatting Since 1945: The enduring relevance of material need |title=Housing and Social Policy |editor1-last=Somerville |editor1-first=Peter |editor2-last=Sprigings |editor2-first=Nigel |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=2005 |pages=197–216 |isbn=978-0-415-28366-3}}</ref>

In many of the world's poorer countries, there are extensive [[slums]] or [[shanty towns]], typically built on the edges of major cities and consisting almost entirely of self-constructed housing built without the landowner's permission.<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3557571 Encroachments and the Mystery of Capital.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808205056/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3557571 |date=2020-08-08}} ''Political Economy – Development: Domestic Development Strategies eJournal''. Social Science Research Network (SSRN). Accessed 16 April 2020.</ref> While these settlements may in time become [[Slum upgrading|upgraded]], they often start off as squats with minimal basic infrastructure. Thus, there is no legal link to sewerage, electricity or water.<ref name="WBG">{{cite news |title=What Is Urban Upgrading? |url=http://web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/upgrading/whatis/what-is.html |access-date=1 October 2020 |work=The World Bank Group |archive-date=28 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528035826/http://web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/upgrading/whatis/what-is.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Such settlements also exist in industrialized countries, such as for example [[Cañada Real]] on the outskirts of Madrid.<ref name="Tremlett">{{cite news |last=Tremlett |first=Giles |title=Drug clans take control in shanty town where Madrid's politicians fear to tread |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/16/drug-clans-shanty-town-madrid |url-status=live |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=16 November 2009 |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003030406/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/16/drug-clans-shanty-town-madrid}}</ref>

Squatting can be related to [[left-wing]] movements, such as [[anarchist]], [[autonomist]], or [[socialist]]. It can be a means to [[Architectural conservation|conserve buildings]] or a [[Occupation (protest)|protest]] action. Squats can be used by local communities as [[free shops]], cafés, venues, [[pirate radio]] stations or as multi-purpose [[self-managed social centre]]s.<ref name="pruijt">{{cite journal |url=http://repub.eur.nl/pub/25656 |last=Pruijt |first=Hans |title=Logic of Urban Squatting |journal=International Journal of Urban and Regional Research |pages=1–8 |date=2011 |access-date=2015-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305025411/http://repub.eur.nl/pub/25656 |archive-date=2016-03-05 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Adverse possession]], sometimes described as squatter's rights, is a method of acquiring [[Title (property)|title to property]] through possession for a statutory period under certain conditions.<ref name="LII">{{cite web |title=Adverse Possession |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/adverse_possession |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |publisher=Cornell Law School |access-date=1 October 2020 |archive-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003030407/https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/adverse_possession |url-status=live }}</ref> Countries where this principle exists include England and the United States, based on common law.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Bouckaert |editor1-first=Boudewijn |title=Property law and economics |date=2010 |publisher=Edward Elgar |location=Cheltenham, UK |isbn=9781847205650 |page=183}}</ref><ref name="UK-AP">{{cite journal |last1=Cobb |first1=Neil |last2=Fox |first2=Lorna |title=Living outside the system? The (im)morality of urban squatting after the Land Registration Act 2002 |journal=Legal Studies |date=June 2007 |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=236–260 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-121X.2007.00046.x |s2cid=73585298 |url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/4842/1/4842.pdf |access-date=2020-12-16 |archive-date=2020-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217145403/https://dro.dur.ac.uk/4842/1/4842.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="US-AP">{{cite news |last=Doskow |first=Emily |title=State-by-State Rules on Adverse Possession |url=https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/state-state-rules-adverse-possession.html |access-date=13 December 2020 |work=www.nolo.com |archive-date=15 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115153805/https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/state-state-rules-adverse-possession.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Anarchist author [[Colin Ward]] asserts: "Squatting is the oldest mode of tenure in the world, and we are all descended from squatters. This is as true of [[Elizabeth II|the Queen]] [of the [[United Kingdom]]] with her {{convert|176000|acre|km2}} as it is of the 54 percent of householders in Britain who are owner-occupiers. They are all the ultimate recipients of stolen land, for to regard our planet as a commodity offends every conceivable principle of natural rights."<ref name="Corbyn">{{cite book |last1=Wates |first1=Nick |last2=Wolmar |first2=Christian |author2-link=Christian Wolmar |title=Squatting: the Real Story |date=1980 |publisher=Bay Leaf Books |location=London |isbn=0-9507259-0-0}}</ref> Others have a different view; UK [[police]] official Sue Williams, for example, has stated that "Squatting is linked to [[anti-social behaviour]] and can cause a great deal of nuisance and distress to local residents. In some cases, there may also be criminal activities involved."<ref>{{cite press release |title=Statement from Detective Chief Superintendent Sue Williams, Borough Commander and Chair of the Community Safety Partnership |url=http://www2.redbridge.gov.uk/cms/council_tax_benefits_housing/housing/strategy_and_development/empty_properties/police_statement_on_squatting.aspx |publisher=[[London Borough of Redbridge]] |date=2012-01-20 |access-date=2012-03-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516065913/http://www2.redbridge.gov.uk/cms/council_tax_benefits_housing/housing/strategy_and_development/empty_properties/police_statement_on_squatting.aspx |archive-date=2012-05-16}}</ref> The public attitude toward squatting varies, depending on legal aspects, socioeconomic conditions, and the type of housing occupied by squatters. In particular, while squatting of municipal buildings may be treated leniently, squatting of private property can often lead to strongly negative reactions on the part of the general public and the authorities.<ref name="Squatting: The need for shelter versus property rights">{{cite web |last=Elms |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Elms |title=Squatting: The need for shelter versus property rights |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-15776450 |url-status=live |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=November 22, 2011 |access-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117052313/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-15776450 |archive-date=November 17, 2018}}</ref>