This ReHousIn Lecture takes us on a journey to better understand future visions of housing. The lecture, delivered by Dr. Gabu Heindl from the University of Kassel, touches on the current state of housing and how for many Europeans it can be a source of anxiety or uncertainty. Her lecture answers a central question: How did housing become such a problem and what can be done?
Over time, there has been a historical shift in the concept of housing itself. For example, the shift from housing from need to asset, and as a collective vs individual responsibility. Nowadays, investment logic dominates the housing landscape, in contrast to housing as a human right. The New European Affordable Housing Plan is an important framework with well-meaning intentions for providing affordable accessible housing. However, as with all well-meaning plans, there can be complications. The full lecture walks through the four pillars of the New European Affordable Housing Plan and explains the nuances in the real-world implementation of the plan, using Vienna and Frankfurt as case studies.
One societal demographic hit hard with the shift in housing is the working class. In larger cities particularly, workers now sometimes live a few hours away from work. In Vienna 100 years in the past, this was also a reality for working women, who often shared living quarters to save money. Conflicts between people and available affordable housing continue in present day.
Dr. Gabu Heindl is the author behind the coined term “critical inheritance” from the well-known text, Stadt Konflikte: Radikale Demokratie in Architektur und Stadtplannung, where she explains the concept of critical inheriting, or the practice of re-evaluating historical housing models to solve modern crisis. For example, in an exhibition exploring the history of the “Neue Frankfurt” district, it is possible to see visually how the district developed over time and what could be possible for the future of housing considering current needs and available space.
Housing measures that could potentially improve housing conditions in current times could include demand for: more long term non-speculative affordable housing, maximum use of existing housing, more complex ownership relations to land, and more public policy responsibility and participation.
Watch the seminar to learn more about the New European Affordable Housing Plan and the framework of critical inheritance.
The full lecture recording is available on our YouTube channel and contributes to ReHousIn's broader comparative research on housing inequalities across nine European countries.
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