Housing and the City

Housing is a fundamental building block of urban life, a basic infrastructure on which many things depend, from the life courses of individuals and families to political, economic and environmental processes. In different cultural contexts, housing ‘systems’ have emerged, that reflect the dwelling practices of households and families, architectural traditions, socio-spatial processes guided through planning and design, as well as political, economic and financial considerations. In recent decades, as neoliberalism has become a dominant force shaping urban environments, housing has become increasingly commodified, privatized, and ultimately financialized. This has led to enduring states of housing crisis and growing inequalities in many countries.
In this course, we take housing seriously and explore the last 100 years or so of history in urban housing by taking a tenure approach. We discuss different ways in which the design, planning, production, and allocation of housing have changed in relation to tenures such as social housing, homeownership, and private rental. We also discuss key phenomena of our time from the rise of Airbnb to growing homelessness, by taking a broad cross-national view.
The format of the course is flexible, consisting of a substantial self-study, in-class discussions based on prepared material, one study trip, and tutorials working toward a final assignment. Reading materials, documentaries, and podcasts are available every week via Canvas. You will be expected to prepare these before class time through ungraded reflections, and to engage in staged discussions with your colleagues and instructor - we are all learning in this course!

After succesful completion of this course the student will be able to:

• Develop and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of housing systems and the housing challenges of our time by reading and participating in classroom discussions.
• Be able to formulate critical arguments about housing topics based on a heterogeneous set of learning materials, via reflection questions/ short essays.
• Be able to design and implement a housing case study, including secondary and primary research, addressing in their analysis several perspectives (spatial/architectural design/social/political/economic) on the chosen housing phenomenon.
• Critically Reflect on the role of design strategies and planning decisions on the quality of urban housing through written and oral presentation.
• Compare the influences that different stakeholders have on shaping housing policy, planning, and design through written and oral presentation.