The article pretends to explain the methodology, the general guidelines and the progress achieved in the first phase of an investigation about public housing in the city of Pereira, Colombia. The work seeks to clarify the gaps in relation to regional historiography on the issue of housing and its different periods of urban development in the city, with the objective of considering the strengths and weaknesses for future years of urban planning that include mass housing and / or social housing component. Likewise, the choice of a much more specific and integral research represents an opportunity to create spaces for reflection on citizenship.