Globally over one billion people lack adequate housing. Meeting their housing needs requires innovative solutions that are affordable, inclusive, sustainable and scalable. We will critically review the causes and consequences of the current housing crisis and the various strategies through which a wide range of actors at local, national and international level are addressing the housing question.
Learning objective
The students will learn to understand the meaning of housing in relation to its broader socioeconomic, cultural, political, and spatial context and to critically reflect on the viability, effectiveness and sustainability of different housing strategies.
Content
Housing is a human right but also one of the most daunting challenges of urbanisation globally. Currently over one billion people lack adequate and affordable housing, a number that may increase to 1.6 billion people within a decade. Ensuring access to adequate, safe and affordable housing to all is one of the targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, this target is unlikely to be met without a radical change in housing policies and practices. Indeed, meeting millions of people’s housing needs requires innovative solutions that are inclusive, sustainable and scalable. The course focuses on the causes and consequences of the global housing crisis. Further it will critically reflect upon the concept of adequate housing and on the various strategies through which national governments, municipalities, the private sector, and communities in different contexts have been, or are currently addressing the housing question.
Lecture notes
A reader will be distributed at the beginning of the semester containing an overview of all lectures, the involved exercises, and required readings.
Performance assessment
Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again)
Performance assessment as a semester course