Social Housings Glossary
by Zuzanna Mielczarek & Zofia Piotrowska This publication is part of ‘Social Housings’ research project and was possible thanks to financial support of Stimuleringsfonds creatieve industrie - Creative Industries Fund NL
INDEX
Short introduction - many social housings
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FORM-ORIENTED HOUSING TERMS
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Residential complexes
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Residential architecture
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Housing units
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PROGRAM-ORIENTED HOUSING TERMS Housing tenure
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Housing suppliers
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Dutch housing context
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Global context of the housing crisis
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THE FUTURE OF FAIR HOUSING
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Subsidies
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Non-speculative housing forms
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Solutions for inclusive housing
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Short introduction - many social housings The word ‘social’ has multiple layers of meaning. When referring to housing, it immediately suggests subsidies, financial support and low-cost projects for the poor. In Britain the term ‘social’, as in to ‘live off the social’ (off the social welfare), is generally used in the sense of being part of the social security system. This idea can be illustrated by the image of over-sized, anonymous blocks inhabited by the lowest classes only. What comes to mind later, if at all, is another meaning of ‘social’ — the organization of society and a form of collective living. Thus, social housing can be understood in different ways - as public housing for underprivileged and low-income groups and as a more general term. The broader understanding would include all the models of conscious, inclusive housing with a strong communal agenda. The idea of Social Housings Glossary is to clarify numerous architectural, programmatic and social terms related to inclusive housing. Research is based on the situation in the Netherlands and Poland, with global context taken into account.
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HOUSING TERMS
Residential complexes
The housing estates and housing complexes are usually catalogued by the size and density of the project. The size can refer either to the plot size (not necessarily very informative as the housing density can vary dramatically), number of dwellings or inhabitants (more difficult to measure).
Site - an area or plot with defined boundaries, prepared for a new development or where a building/building complex is located Site area - measured in square meters or for bigger projects - in hectares; usually, in case of smaller projects, only building plots are measured, excluding surface occupied by infrastructure such as roads. Number of dwellings or number of inhabitants - indicators of housing units in the project Density - density can be measured as a number of housing units per hectare. Very low density is recognized as less than 50 units per hectare and high density as more than 300 units per hectare. FAR (floor area ratio) -The density is also measured as FAR
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(floor area ratio) which is the ratio of build surface (a building’s total floor area- gross floor area) to the plot area. It is very easily quantifiable, thus often used in legal regulations. Lastly, the density can be measured in number of inhabitants per hectare (in a bigger scale, for example for districts or cities)
The process of planning of a housing complex is limited by the local planning legislative documents and has to be specified by planning documents to be prepared by an investor and architect/ planner of a specific development. Site plan - architectural and landscape plan, being a technical and graphic representation of a current situation or a proposed development on a defined lot. The document indicates building footprint, arrangement, external materials, infrastructure, landscaping. It has a form of detailed drawing Masterplan - long term architectural and landscape plan or diagram for a specific site (complex, district, fragment of a city‌), indicating the concepts, guidelines, phases for future growth and development. The document indicates information on a building volumes, landscape arrangement, functional zoning, context analysis, planned number of dwellings etc. Local zoning plan - (in the Netherlands: Bestemmingsplan; in Poland: MPZP) act of planning legislation adopted by local government (municipality or province, depending on a country), defining building development, zoning, arrangement, volumes, functions for a bigger fragment of a city/province. The document is usually composed of a graphic and written part.
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Residential architecture Housing buildings can be described in a typical architectural way - through materials, construction systems, style etc. The most important aspect for residential architecture is building typology that is defined by spatial factors: floor plan layout, communication system and layout of individual housing units.
Residential building typology The catalogue of the most typical solutions for residential building typology can be quite easily limited to few solutions that are used on a housing market, which can then later be stacked or mixed. Multi-family residential building Core-type / tower block - one shared access, construction and infrastructural core in the middle, units organized around the core; efficient solution for high-rise buildings and on irregular sites Staircase access - units accessed from common staircase, one staircase in a small building or one per building section. A staircase is located usually on the northern facade of the building. Buildings with staircase access are often organized in a row or an urban block. Corridor-type - units accessed from common interior corridor. Apartment units are organized in a row, having windows from one side or being organized in split levels (staggered floor levels) Gallery-type - units accessed from a gallery located on one of the facades (usually nothern facade), gallery can be glazed or fully open (usually depends on the climate). Urban villa - a compact building with only few units, open to all sides, very often: low-rise option of core-type building
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Townhouse / terrace house - multi-family row house, with one access from the outside and internal staircase Single-family residential building Row house - units accessed directly from outside but with interior stairs with one housing per unit Detached house - a free standing residential building with one unit, direct individual access and no shared infrastructural facilities with other units Semi-detached house - a single family house that shares one common wall with the next house Duplex (triplex etc.) - a free standing residential building with two or three units (duplex, triplex etc have also another meaning as a housing unit) Urban block - an area, traditionally rectangular and surrounded by streets, composed of several buildings, e.g. residential buildings of similar typology, scale or other spatial and aesthetic features.
FORM-ORIENTED HOUSING TERMS
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Housing units House/housing unit - a building or dwelling of residential purpose, dedicated traditionally to single-family use (or group of unrelated flatmates) Household - all persons occupying a single dwelling unit; it can also be single-person household ipsum vitae.
Apartment size Apartment size is most commonly described by a number of rooms rather than square meters. The number of rooms does not include kitchen, bathroom or toilets. Studio apartment - is a smallest single-room apartment with a kitchenette or a separate kitchen, mainly targeted for singles or couples without children 2-, 3-, 4- bedrooms apartment - in UK apartments are described with number of bedrooms, the living room is then included as an additional room. 2-, 3-, 4- rooms apartment - in many European countries (for example the Netherlands, France, Poland) the room-counting include both bedrooms and living room, only the bathroom and kitchen are excluded.
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Apartment layout Apartments can take different spatial layouts. There can be different entrance solutions to the unit itself, access to the rooms from either a corridor, entrance hall or through other rooms. One unit can be localized on one or multiple floors. Apartments can be described according to access to sunlight and exposure - with windows on one, two or even more sides. Standard apartment - housing unit situated on one floor with access from the staircase, corridor or gallery Duplex (triplex etc.) - is a housing unit localized on two (three or more) floors with its own internal staircase Maisonette - is an apartment in a housing complex, which in terms of use resemble more a rowhouse but can be a part of a bigger structure. It has its own individual entrance from the outside and interior stairs to upper floors. Penthouse - is a high-standard apartment situated on the top floor of the building, usually with big outdoor terrace.
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Communal and Circulation spaces Residential building, besides housing units, is composed of different types of communal and circulation spaces. Very often one space plays two functions - of a communal and circulation space, as e.g. gallery or entrance hall. Entrance Hall - relatively spacious indoor area located at the front entrance to a residential building; it is equipped with mailboxes, entryphone (if they are not located outside at the entrance); very often place to sit - a sofa or a bench, plants, close access to the bike/stroller storage. Entrance hall can have representative function and be a meeting place for the community Corridor - a form of a hallway which is typically narrow in comparison to its length; has a function of a passage between different parts of the building, e.g. housing units, storages, clubhouse, circulation core and the entrance. Corridor has different forms: typical long and narrow, with windows, with skylight or no natural daylight; with internal gallery (doubleheight corridor); with grouped entrances to the apartments (small, shared hallways); corridor every second floor (e.g. in split levels corridor-type building); with extensions being e.g shared recreational or functional spaces Staircase - a vertical circulation space with stairs and an elevator; there are different types of staircases: core-staircase (with apartments and/or branch corridors around); open core-staircase(with direct access to the apartments); external staircase (common solution in gallery housing) Gallery - external corridor located on one of the facades; gallery can be fully open (with a railing); glazed or covered with mobile panels (acoustic panels, blinds etc depending on location and environmental conditions). Gallery can be
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simple, just on one side of the building; with extensions (small balconies on the side of the building or the external side); can meander the building volume; gallery can be a space for community integration Elevator - makes all the floor accessible to people with disabilities, seniors, mothers with baby carriage; in case of low-budget multi-family housing projects, other buildings can be connected with the one with an elevator with a gallery/ footbridge Club house - a building or a space within a residential building; recreational space for inhabitants of a neighborhood; usually equipped with a kitchen annexe, tables and chairs, tv screen etc; space for organization of the neighbourhood official and informal events Storage - each housing unit should have access to an individual storage space; very often storages are grouped in the basement, next to parking lot or circulation core; there are also storages of special purpose: e.g. for bicycles or baby carriages
Outdoor spaces The units can have access to different types of outdoor spaces. Private spaces are assigned to an individual household, with individual access, e.g.: private gardens or patios, balconies, loggias, terraces (on the roofs of other units or roofs of the garages). Social spaces can be semi-private as e.g. assigned space on the gallery or fenceless front gardens. They can also be semi-public as a widenth recreational part of a gallery, shared garden, yard or community gardens. Public spaces are accessible to all the users, not only neighbours or inhabitants of a specific building: public parks and all other types of public greenery, playgrounds, squares and streets. FORM-ORIENTED HOUSING TERMS
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Private space Private garden - private garden does not need to be fenced with a tall boarding; solutions as low hedgerow, other plants or symbolic landscape relief advantage neighbour relations Balcony - balcony, loggia or terrace are individual private spaces with a direct access from a housing unit; they are part of a building - balcony is located on the facade (being ‘attached’); loggia is a balcony incorporated in a building volume (glazed loggia can play a role of a winter garden or double facade); terrace can be located on the garden’s ground, roof of the garages or other lower parts of the building Social space Shared garden - solution enabling several housing units to have an access to a spacious, safe green area; there are also shared terraces or green roofs; green roofs are not always accessible to the inhabitants and play only environmental role Front garden - in the Netherlands: de stoep, traditionally a narrow stripe (around 1,2m) of the greenery and recreational space along the facade on the side of the pavement; buffor space between public and private; can be used for benches, deck chairs, pots or decoration placing; space of neighbourhood integration Yard - shared garden or square, architecturally surrounded by an urban block or an atrial building; can be accessible only for the inhabitants or accessible for the public with gates and openings Community garden - a piece of land gardened collectively by a group of neighbours; parcelled into smaller private or shared plots for vegetables, fruit and flowers cultivation; such gardens can play an important role in community improvement and
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contribute to the biodiversity of the area; can be located in a park, yard or shared garden; future construction site neighbouring with the finished parts of the residential investment can be temporarily transformed into a community garden Public space Park - public greenery can have different forms: centrally located park, smaller pocket parks, greenery along the streets and on the public squares; autochthonic and local fauna and flora should be taken into account while designing a public park; big-scale park, in the urban scale, can be treated as a part of a natural corridor or green wedge of the city; parks with its equipment: playgrounds, street furniture, landscape design, can play important role for the community and the whole city Street - there are different types of streets: main commercial or transit street with commercial/service frontage and public transport access; side streets; woonerfs; bicycle and pedestrian paths Square - large open public areas with no traffic are very important for residential complexes; they can be place for open-air marketplace, event organization as well as informal meetings Woonerf - ‘living street’/literally in Dutch: ‘living yard’, street with a strong communal character originally implemented in the Netherlands in the 1960s; traffic calming, low speed limits, pedestrian-priority; usually no division for pedestrian, bicycle paths and car road, greenery, front gardens; model of the street implemented in newly-built residential projects or urban redesign of existing areas; concept brought new understanding of boundaries between private, social and public spaces
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Parking A parking place is crucial addition to a housing unit. There are often (for example in Poland) coefficients required in the planning regulations regarding minimal or maximal number of parking places per unit. For public transport-oriented developments and in the city centers they can go as low as 0.5 place per unit. Parkings can be solved in different ways: parkings in open space, individual or communal parking garages, multi-storey garage buildings, parking lots under terraces in the courtyards (sometimes half-sunken) or as underground parkings under the building. Underground parkings are expensive and often (especially in Poland) structure of the building is adjusted to parking layout instead of being adjusted to the housing units layout.
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PROGRAM-ORIENTED
D HOUSING TERMS
Each residential building has its form, structure and layout. Yet, we argue that the way it is inhabited is shaped not by the form but the relation between the building/unit and the inhabitant. We wonder how (or whether at all) this relation is important for “the design” - architecture or urban plan. We also argue that there is no such thing as one housing program - there are many different ways of inhabiting spaces that they shouldn’t be put under one term “housing” or “residential architecture”. The relation between the inhabitant and the unit can be shaped by different conditions, but in our western environment, it mostly depends on the legal conditions under which an inhabitant uses a unit. The relation between an inhabitant and legal conditions under which he uses the unit is called a housing tenure. For the purpose of this research, we also like to describe it as occupancy models, which feel like a broader term and includes not only the legal relation between the inhabitant and the unit, but also social and individual conditions (house sharing, shelters). There is yet another term that is being used - “market segments”. However, it is very often used by market analysts to refer to units for sale and describe their price range (high-end, middle-segment, low-end). It suggests that the normal type of housing is private market housing.
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Housing tenure Home-ownership / owner-occupancy (with or without mortgage, subsidized buy) - inhabitants own a unit or have a mortgage on it. It could have been subsidized in the moment of buying (for example subsidized mortgage in a Polish governmental program “rodzina na swoim/ family with their own� which was running from 2006 to 2012) Private tenancy - inhabitants are renting a unit from a private landlord or an organization (as pension fund etc.), the unit is rented with a market price. Depending on the country, tenants can have different rights regarding cancellation of rental contracts, rent increase or calculation of a rent price depending on the quality or average rents in the area Social tenancy or rent-regulated tenancy - inhabitant rents a unit from social-housing stock (council, public etc.) or privately-owned unit with a regulated price below the market rate. The units can be owned privately and either rented with a lower price due to an agreement with the city or subsidized (the difference between market and social rate is covered from public funds). Depending on the inhabitant status, tenancy agreement, owner of the unit price may differ - as for social housing can be very low (30% of the lowest incomes), middlesegment can be higher (but usually still below market-rate). Tenancy in common/ cooperative - an inhabitant is a member of a tenant-owner association or a housing cooperative. The occupant can sell the unit ( sometimes needs an agreement of the association)
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Squatting - means that an occupant uses an abandoned or unoccupied real estate that he does not own, rent or otherwise have any lawful permission to use Anti-kraak (‘anti-squatting’) - form of use of vacant real estate where an occupant (anti-squatter) ‘guards’ an abandoned property to prevent actual squatting; in the Netherlands this occupancy model is regulated by law; public and private landlords hire anti-kraak agencies to find temporary residents; housing allowance is much lower than a regular rent but an anti-kraak resident is under regular control of the agency and lives with a short notice period to move out (14 days) Co-housing - semi-communal housing model consisting of a cluster of individual housing units and a shared community space (as for cooking, dining, laundry facilities, playroom for children); common for social or affordable housing as well as housing cooperatives for social and economic reasons
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Housing suppliers On another side to the inhabitants there are housing providers: Developers - companies that build and supervise the construction of houses to sell them for profit. Landlords - house owners who rent the units for profit. (surprisingly, there is no term for that in Polish vocabulary) Housing associations - non-profit companies with the aim of providing affordable housing. In the Netherlands they provide social houses for rent (wooningcorporaties), in Poland (TBS) they are directed to middle-class giving the inhabitants the right to buy their unit. Cooperatives - housing companies which are membershipbased. There can be multiple forms of housing cooperatives, offering units for rent or associating owners of individual apartments. Members have the right to decide about different aspects the functioning and managing of the building. Baugruppen - became a widely praised form of providing housing. They develop houses for their members in a non-profit way. In the most basic form they units later separate into single entities (just like in buying from normal developers), but they can continue in forms of co-housings or cooperative housing forms. Councils or other public institutions - council houses are owned by local councils and rented to tenants of their preference (underprivileged, elderly, families) under regulated conditions.
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Dutch housing context Housing Act from 1901 - De Woningwet A legislative act which regulated the quality of the housing developments. It gave the power to municipalities to control all building constructions. It also established public subsidies for affordable housing. Housing associations, which aroused shortly before, were authorised as institutions eligible for public funding. In the aftermath, several city plans were designed setting new standards for residential districts, including the famous Plan Zuid in Amsterdam (by Hendrick Berlage). Housing association/ housing corporation - woningcorporatie Housing associations appeared in the 19th century as organisations responsible for providing quality housing for different social groups - protestants, catholics. They were authorised in 1901 in the Housing Act (see above). After getting public subsidies their number quickly rose. In 60 and 70s housing associations became more and more independent and their role grew stronger. In the Housing Act of 1965, the priority in housing development was given to independent housing associations over council housing associations or council housing. Their position changed after State Secretary for Housing - Enneus Heerma proposed a full autonomization of housing associations. The housing stock, which before was only under their operation, became their ownership and their public debt was cancelled. (1995 - Bruteringsoperatie privatization of housing associations). At the same time all the future subsidies were restrained. The policy shift was oriented towards development of home-ownership and mortgage market. This was justified as necessary changes required by the EU regulations and a response to frauds and mismanagement done by housing associations. Later, the role of housing associations were limited to providing and managing of social housing (90%
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of their portfolio) and recently introduced housing levy forced them to sell off part of the stock. Vinex Program/ Fourth Report on Spatial Planning De Vierde Nota over de Ruimtelijke Ordening Extra Published in 1988 by the former Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment (VROM). It was the most important strategy in Dutch spatial planning. It was done in response to a problem of urban sprawl and high car traffic. It was aimed to organize the developments around transit nodes and limit the use of private cars. It was one of the biggest development projects in the country, with a massive construction of new houses. The program mirrored the shift in the housing policy. The projects were co-financed through public loans for local regions. However, only 30% of the housing units were set as social houses, which was comparably less than the situation at the time (around 60% social houses in Amsterdam). In 2005 the program ended, most of the developments were considered successful.
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Global context of the housing crisis Current housing situation is much less country-specific, the similarities are shared by big metropolitan regions, while different tendencies can be spotted in less urbanized areas. There are some major problems shared by most of the EU countries.
Housing prices rising faster than incomes - the economic recovery after the 2007 crisis means the recovery of real estate prices. There are little positives in raising house prices (which are already high), especially that in a majority of EU Member States they are growing faster than incomes, making housing less and less affordable and extremely difficult for first time buyers Housing inequalities fuel social inequalities - nequal access to housing reinforces social inequalities Housing as highest single expenditure and overburden rate is high - housing has become the highest expense in European household. Overburden rate (over 40% of the income spent on accommodation) remains stable at high level and is the reality of poor families much more than people with higher incomes. Increasing homelessness level - despite technological improvements and economical recovery homelessness level is rising showing the disproportion in profit sharing Housing shortage - housing construction is still low after the crisis. Especially in major cities where the demand for housing is much higher than supply, the shortage is reinforced by waves of migration Ownership-worship - in most EU countries, there has been a policy shift to decrease public expenditure on housing and increase the supply in private sector - prioritising home ownership over other occupation models
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Cities on the forefront of the housing crisis - cities have the highest housing shortage and fastest growth of house prices . They are also showing initiative in finding solutions to the crisis.
This section of the dictionary has been written based on the review THE STATE OF HOUSING IN THE EU 2017 (Pittini, A. Gerald K. Dijol J. Lakatos E. Gheklere L. Goudis (2017) The State of housing in the EU 2017, Brussels: Housing Europe, the European Federation of Public, Cooperative and Social Housing http://www. housingeurope.eu/file/614/download accessed in 26-05-18)
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THE FUTURE OF
FAIR HOUSING
Subsidies There are various instruments for improving housing situations. There are building subsidies, low interest rates for house buyers or housing allowances. There very by country or they are even regionspecific. The simplified division of types of subsidies can be done into two approaches:
Demand subsidy - covers part of the costs that the inhabitant pays for housing, usually on private market (for example an allowance, which covers the difference between the market rate and rent-regulated price and pays it to private landlords). It is a quick solution, which doesn’t require complex procedures. However, it doesn’t stimulate new constructions and doesn’t answer the problem of the housing shortage. In some cases (as MDM program in Poland) the market reaction is price adjustment to the subsidy limits, which can cause lowering of quality or price rise. Supply subsidy - can be a complex solution (levy or a crediting scheme) which is directed to build affordable housing units. Historically it was a solution for dramatic housing shortages after World War I and II and seen as the most effective. Recently there has been a shift from supply to demand subsidies. This trend contributes to the general policy change for putting the housing issue in the hands of private developers.
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THE FUTURE OF FAIR HOUSING
Non-speculative housing forms Council housing or public housing - is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by local (council) or central (public housing) government. It can be rented to different groups of underprivileged tenants according to most urgent needs and policies made by the authorities - elderly, single parents, large families etc. Cooperative housing or baugruppen - they can take many forms: rental, ownership or co-ownership. Cooperatives are controlled by their members, who have the right to decide about the management, aims etc. Housing cooperatives date back to the beginning of the 20th century. This model is especially popular in some countries - as Switzerland, where there are many architecturally and socially interesting examples. Each country has its own specificity. Baugruppen are a particular form of housing cooperatives where inhabitants for a group to build (finance, design and manage building process) housing for themselves. There are popular in Germany. Housing associations - they are private, but non-profit making organisations providing housing for rent or as not-for-profit developers. The surplus from trading (or renting) is used to maintain the existing stock or finance new projects. They are independent organizations, but regulated by the state. Very often they receive public subsidies in form funding or tax incentives. Affordable housing - refers to the costs of housing in relation to an income level; One of the definitions states that affordable housing rental or mortgage payment should not exceed 25-30% of household’s monthly salary. Second definition states that affordable housing price per square meter should not exceed 70-80% of the market price in the city. “Affordable housing� is
THE FUTURE OF FAIR HOUSING
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also a general term applied to private and public sector investors offering solutions to moderate-income and low-income people rent or purchase homes. The term “affordable housingâ€? has been overused, in some cases referring to lower market segments, which are still unaffordable for average families. London is an extreme example of this practice, where the recent change in policies regulates the price of affordable housing not based on incomes but to the extremely high average market prices in the area. Social housing - 1. understood as public/council housing: lowprice rental housing for underprivileged and low-income groups; provided by public institutions (e.g municipality, state) or nonprofit organizations (e.g housing associations); 2. understood as inclusive/conscious housing: general term to describe council, public, affordable, socially mixed housing with a strong communal agenda in terms of investment process, architecture and the idea of collective living Inclusive housing - general term to describe all the types of conscious, non-speculative housing forms with a strong communal agenda; inclusiveness is based on affordability to low- and moderate-income groups, accessibility for persons with disabilities, groups of different lifestyle (families, singles, students, elderly‌) - social mix, functional mix - proximity of social and cultural facilities, workplaces, educational units, access to public transport, high architectural and urban quality with shared and public spaces encouraging and reinforcing social bonds.
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THE FUTURE OF FAIR HOUSING
Solutions for inclusive housing Accessibility/Accessible housing - refers to the construction or modification of housing unit and shared spaces in housing complex to enable independent living for people with disabilities. Accessibility is achieved through architectural design and solutions: required dimensions of rooms, corridors, doors; removal of architectural barriers as unnecessary doorsteps; integration of accessibility features such as modified furniture, electronic devices, general house equipment. Accessible multistorey building should be equipped with an elevator and the ground floor should be located at the ground level with no doorstep. Social mix - no spatial segregation of inhabitants within a residential complex or in urban scale - within a city, good locations for everyone (connected to public transport, close to workplaces, social facilities as e.g educational institutions), a mix of different income groups and occupancy models in the same building, urban block, area. Collective living - based on inclusion and interaction; spatial solutions stimulating interactions - small neighborhood units, defined public, private, social and shared collective spaces; front gardens, woonerfs, clubhouses, shared gardens etc; neighbourhood groups, workshops and events; shared facilities Shared facilities/Sharing - better use of space (starting from public transport, to shared launderettes, playrooms, storages or even dining/cooking spaces in case of co-housing) Functional mix/mixed-use zoning - mixed-use planning where residential function is mixed with social and cultural facilities, workplaces, educational institutions, commerce and services, green areas, spaces of sports and activities, encourages residents to walk and cycle instead of using a car; short, walking distance
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between house and zones of other function allows creating friendly, livable neighbourhoods Efficient and optimised housing solutions - efficient building systems as prefab systems, sustainable and energyefficient solutions making apartments cheaper, rational and ecological in construction process and exploitation; solutions as rainwater collection, use of renewable sources of energy and systems of energy saving (photovoltaic panels, windmills, heat recuperators‌), use of sustainable materials Structural flexibility - flexibility of structure and construction of housing units and buildings - adaptable building design, possibility of composition modification and application of new building components due to changing demands; structural flexibility is based on the materials and technology used (e.g prefabs, modular solutions), building structure (location of load bearing elements of construction as walls, columns, beams; location of infrastructural shafts etc) Art in housing complexes - artists’ involvement and art objects in public space, accessible to all; commissioned by housing associations, public institutions or developers to contribute to the community, social fabric and aesthetics of the area/place Participatory processes - inhabitants and/or future inhabitants can be involved in participatory processes of decision-making; inclusive of all residents; a process can be organized by the investor (public body, housing association, private developer), municipality, with cooperation of architects and planners, NGOs, local activists, leaders or residents’ council; before the building/complex is developed: for the residents or neighbors to decide about the zoning of facilities, materials used, access to public transport etc; when the building/complex is in use: to take certain decisions together
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COLOPHON This publication is part of ‘Social Housings’ research project and was possible thanks to financial support of Stimuleringsfonds creatieve industrie - Creative Industries Fund NL, Starting Grant, Grant Programme for Internationalization collaborating country: Poland period: 2017-2019 As part of our research into a new housing strategy for Warsaw, Poland (WDS - Warszawska Dzielnica Społeczna/Warsaw Social District), we decided to study the Dutch social housing system. It has always been presented as an inclusive solution, which resulted in high-quality developments built as part of an integrated planning process. However, we were surprised to discover that our most recent case studies were completed over a decade ago. Was this due to the real estate crisis? Or did the whole system recently undergo some major changes? Social Housings research project soughts the answers to the question what does social (inclusive) housing mean in a broader, European context, based on the analysis of the Dutch and Polish situation. Text by Zuzanna Mielczarek & Zofia Piotrowska Book design by Wojciech Gawroński Printed and bound by Publication Studio Rotterdam, 2019