**1. Introduction**

In Mexico, the state of Chiapas is characterized by its vast diversity of ecosystems, the result of its geographical location, soil types, climate, etc., too, is recognized as one of the most culturally rich entities in the country, cradle of original villages such as tsotsiles, tseltales, zoques, lacandones, mames, tojolabales, among others, which have resulted in an extraordinary variety of villages that are located throughout the territory of Chiapas, configured by mountains, highlands, depressions, plains and coast. In this regard, there are more than 20 thousand localities, of which 99% have fewer than 2,500 inhabitants and of those 85% have less than 250

and 74% less than 100 inhabitants [1]. In this sense, the dispersion of the population of the entity and the existing orography, are factors that limit the access of localities to the basic services of water and sanitation, health, education, culture, recreation, communication, among other aspects.

The study of the house and the habitat that is presented, corresponds to the town of El Encanto of the municipality of Tapachula in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Population data indicate that the town has 1,726 inhabitants, of which 51.8% are men and 48.2% women, there are 446 dwellings that, according to their conditions, lack of property and deprivation of the inhabitants to education, the indicators of marginalization and social lag place the locality with the degree of marginalization "Very High" and the degree of social lag "Medium" [2], also, the recent estimates of the Human Development Index, which evaluates the health conditions, education and income of the population, places Chiapas in the last place throughout the country [3, 4].

El Encanto is a town that does not have basic water and domestic sanitation services, public lighting is deficient, its streets have no folder and lacks recreational spaces for family coexistence. Today, it is observed that the families of El Encanto are peasants, fishermen and low-income employees, living at constant risk to health, as a result of the pollution of the water they consume and the environment in general, due to the poor disposal of liquid and solid waste generated. Most of the houses are unsafe and unhealthy, built by the inhabitants with inadequate materials and technical processes, with high vulnerability in relation to the site where they are located, corresponding to the coast of Chiapas with the Pacific Ocean and in the region of greatest teluric activity existing throughout the country, so they are exposed to strong winds, hurricanes and seismic action. On the other hand, El Encanto is located in an area of estuaries and lagoon system with high ecological diversity, especially with extensive mangrove ecosystems, which are being affected by the domestic and economic activities of the inhabitants of the town and other nearby human settlements, since there are processes of environmental pollution and degradation of the original conditions in existing ecosystems, due to the inadequate management of the waste generated.

The analyses of the town of El Encanto were carried out with the application of the Model of evaluation of the conditions of rural housing and the environment [5], which, at first, focuses on the analysis of the current situation of the site, with information obtained through surveys, registration cards, etc., in order to identify and interpret the problems of housing and its immediate environment. The elements analyzed are the socio-economic situation of low-income families, the characteristics and conditions of the housing, as well as the water and sanitation services, the management of the waste generated, the health risks, the structural security of the house, the typological characteristics of the community, the materials of the place suitable for the construction of new houses Etc. In a second moment, the transformation process begins, which in this case, consists of the elaboration of prototypes of safe, economic and healthy housing, for the benefit of low-income families and in accordance with the environmental, socioeconomic and cultural conditions of the inhabitants. The typology, the application of ecotechnologies and the use of local materials with low environmental impact were considered in the prototypes. Proposals for habitat improvement in general were also developed in accordance with the physical and socio-cultural characteristics of the site. In general, the intervention proposals are aimed at improving the quality of life and well-being of people, as well as preserving the ecological design of the area. With this, it is intended to contribute to the development of the inhabitants of El Encanto and to the conservation of the environmental conditions of that region.

*Proposal of Rural Housing and Habitat Improvement of the Town El Encanto, in Tapachula… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98629*

**Figure 1.** *Location of the "El Encanto",Tapachula, Chiapas. Source: NISG [1].*
