Large Housing Estates Research Articles

URBAN REGENERATION OF LARGE HOUSING ESTATES THROUGH THE HQE²R APPROACH – CASE OF BAB EZZOUAR (ALGIERS)

This article aims to adapt HQE²R approach to the Algerian “large housing estates”, through urban regeneration as a catch-up project. These neighborhoods constitute today a large stock of housing, mostly in decay, which deserves to be renewed. Nevertheless, they remain desirable neighborhoods due to their strategic urban location. The methodology consists of establishing a shared diagnosis model of sustainable development called HQDIL for detailed description of ZHUN Soummam according to urban actors, then an SD indicators assessment model called INDI as a decision support tool for the benefit of local authorities and their partners. In our study, we opted for INDI-2012 repository as a new operational tool which makes it possible to produce sustainability profiles through 127 composite indicators and 234 secondary indicators, first of all for an initial diagnosis, then by drawing up a potential scenario which describes the contribution of the urban regeneration project to improving the quality of life. Perceived visually, the neighborhood’s critical state with regard to the SD objectives was confirmed following the results of the assessment by themes, especially the indicators dealing with the quality of life of the inhabitants. The potential scenario for the urban regeneration project showed a very satisfying sustainability profile, if an action plan were to be implemented. The scenario showed a significant improvement in the neighborhood’s level of sustainability of 47% compared to the initial situation. This study promises to lead to a sustainable transformation of large housing estates in Bab Ezzouar thanks to shared challenges and proactive policies.

Social mix in Zagreb’s large housing estates

In Western and Northern Europe, post-war large housing estates (LHEs) stand out as areas of segregated and minority-populated housing, and have faced numerous attempts of reconstruction with the idea of social mixing. LHEs in Central and Eastern Europe had different developmental pathways. The heterogeneous structure of these estates has persisted until today, but due to the systematic neglect and aging, the estates are threatened by physical and social deterioration. The analysis is based on a survey conducted in Croatia in 2022 on two types of housing estates (socialist and post-socialist; N (Zagreb = 657). The results confirm that the social composition in both types of estates is mixed, with a predominance of middle-class residents and without pronounced social differences. The residential satisfaction is high, so the majority of residents are stayers. Nevertheless, certain regeneration policies should be adopted because the population of the socialist LHEs is aging, which could jeopardize the present heterogeneity and make maintenance of multifamily buildings more challenging, thus contributing to further deterioration of the estates.

Socialist in content, national in form: Small-scale housing estates in Budapest between 1945 and 1960

Abstract In the second half of the 20th century, solving the housing crisis became a significant social issue and political task throughout Europe, particularly in the countries of the Eastern Bloc. Although due to its quantity, prefabricated large mass housing estates became overrepresented, dozens of smaller, experimental, and diverse mass housing forms also emerged. It is hypothesized, that these small housing estates, due to their scale and quality, are urban planning projects that were realized across political, economic, and architectural changes. To demonstrate their adaptability, this paper presents the small housing estates built in one of the capitals of the Eastern Bloc countries—Budapest—during the most turbulent one-and-a-half decades of the socialist era (1945–1960). The research consists of three main parts: (1) Hungarian politics and housing policy, (2) Budapest's urban policy, and (3) a brief presentation of the urban planning and architectural aspects of Budapest's small housing estates. The result of the research is the creation of a complete small housing estates portfolio, illustrated archive articles, archival plans, and photographs. It becomes evident that although the times from World War II to the consolidation of power saw vastly different political eras, directives, and ideals realized, along with various architectural styles and housing policies, the small housing estate as an urban planning product was able to adapt and survive. Moreover, it is a valuable architectural, housing, and urban planning imprint of the era, the only mass housing form realized in numerous examples in Budapest.

The Evolution of Cinemas in Prague from the Second Half of the Twentieth Century: A Contemporary Perspective

The article approaches the situation of Prague cinemas in the second half of the 20th century from the end of the Second World War to the Velvet Revolution within the socio-historical background from the point of view of an architect and a cinephile. The entire text is arranged chronologically in four paragraphs reflecting the contemporary political and social situation. It approximates the post-war period full of ideological ideals, when the construction of a dense network of cinemas became a key element of national renewal, not only in large cities but also in the regions. The following decade brought a paradigmatic shift, when local single-screen cinemas gave way to large cultural houses with multifunctional use (film, theatre, gallery, restaurant, sports facilities, etc.). It deals with the socially relaxed sixties, reflecting the synergy of various artistic disciplines, thanks to which Czechoslovakia presented to the world new artistic disciplines based precisely on film projection – “polyekran” (polyscreen) and “laterna magika” (a combination of projection and performance with live actors). The imaginary culmination of the new wave period was the opening of the luxury cinema 64 U Hradeb, which is given more attention in the text below. Furthermore, the text outlines the situation of cinemas in large Prague housing estates and deals with Czech brutalism in the context of foreign architecture and with the only brutalist cinema still operating today – the Dlabačov cinema. The final part of this article gives a brief overview of the total number of cinemas established in this period in the territory of Prague and a comparison with other European metropolises with a similar socio-cultural background. The research has the ambition to understand and approach how to integrate valuable cinema buildings on the territory of Prague into the daily life of contemporary Prague residents through the investigation of the cinema phenomenon, and the development of cinematography and cinema architecture as such, from its inception to the present day. The general logical processing methods are historical and socio-cultural analysis, architectural and urban research including architectural drawings, photographic documentation and a study of the urban development of the appearance of individual cinemas, comparison and deduction.

«Clean Off or Get Out». (Self)Governance, Community and Citizenship in New Large Housing Estates in Russian Cities

«Clean Off or Get Out». (Self)Governance, Community and Citizenship in New Large Housing Estates in Russian Cities

Old housing estates in the housing market of a post-socialist city: The case of Budapest

Housing estates were constructed by public authorities and private investors long before the era of large prefab housing estates. Their dwellings, like almost all flats, became privatised after 1989 in the postsocialist cities, thus they appeared in the housing market. The aim of this paper is to analyse their market position and to explore how their physical characteristics and residential environment influence the dwelling prices. It also examines the impact of the renovation of buildings with a special attention to its housing policy background.

Elastic Neighboring: Everyday Life Within the Geometry and Materiality of Large Housing Estates

This article aims to contribute to the study of the relationship between the increasing size and verticality of contemporary cities and the lived experiences of their residents. Drawing on 20 residential biographies of apartment owners in the newly built large housing estates (LHEs) on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia, I explore how their specific geometry and materiality co-constitute everyday neighboring interactions. As an analytical tool, I apply a version of social practice theory that treats materiality as an influential constitutive component of everyday life. The article shows how geometry, including verticality and size, as well as shared materiality, shape and mediate neighboring practices. I argue that diverse neighboring interactions, occurring simultaneously at larger and smaller scales, as well as in visible and invisible modes, are inherent in vibrantly gigantic and monolithic housing. The article coins the concept of elastic neighboring, focusing on the everyday oscillation between residents’ isolation and awareness of each other.

Assessing tenant health amid social housing redevelopment: lessons from a pilot project.

To trial methods for a future longitudinal study to: a) assess how the redevelopment of a large social housing estate affects the health of tenants; and b) act on health needs identified throughout the redevelopment. Type of program or service: Self-reported health assessment with referral to community-based link worker. Participants recruited from the tenant population completed (online or face-to-face) a health questionnaire covering self-reported health status and behaviours, housing conditions, sense of community, and demographics. Those identified as being at moderate/high risk of psychological distress and/or alcohol use disorder were contacted by a community-based link worker, who connected them with health/human services as appropriate. A total of 24 tenants were recruited for the pilot study against a target sample size of 50. The health questionnaire and referral process worked as expected, with no issues reported. This pilot study successfully trialled methods for: a) assessing tenants' health; and b) referring those identified as being likely to have unmet health service needs to a community-based link worker, leveraging existing collaborations between academics, the local health district and community groups. Fewer tenants than expected, and none aged younger than 35 years, participated in the survey. Furthermore, the substantial number of suspicious/fraudulent responses was not anticipated. Recruitment and data collection approaches must be reviewed to address these issues if this study is to be scaled up. Although only a pilot project, we connected several tenants who had unmet health needs with a health service. While it is impossible to generalise from our small sample, the number of referrals (one-quarter of participants) indicates a potentially large unmet need for health services in the community. It highlights the importance of link workers or other person-centred integrated care interventions in social housing populations.

Neighborhood satisfaction in large housing estates of Central and East European cities: insights from Novi Sad, Serbia

Neighborhood satisfaction in large housing estates of Central and East European cities: insights from Novi Sad, Serbia

The Vagaries of Sonic Neighborly Life: Privacy at Home and Sound Politics in Post-Socialist Mass Housing

The article contributes to understanding of how collective life in post-socialist mass housing is ordered by discussing the ambiguous relations that exist between sound, privacy, and home. It demonstrates how residents of Severnaya Dolina, a large housing estate in St. Petersburg, Russia, experience certain neighborly sounds as nuisances and calls to action to react to and prevent sonic intrusions. Privacy at home is a collective achievement: Residents assemble complex combinations of materials, regulations, relationships, and practices to achieve privacy in their apartments. Analyses of sources, circulation, articulations, evaluations, and contestations of sound in Severnaya Dolina demonstrate how residents, who can hardly rely on the local authorities to create and regulate privacy, employ various sound politics. They define who and what is accountable for sound circulations and evoke various means to create privacy.

Housing Satisfaction: A Comparison between Post-Second World War Large Housing Estates and Post-Socialist Multifamily Residential Neighbourhoods in Slovenia

As a reaction to the critical writings of urban sociologists regarding the quality of post-Second World War large housing estates (monotonous architectural design, cheap/poor quality building materials, high building density, minimum dwelling sizes, overcrowding, etc.), fewer problematic types of mass housing neighbourhoods started to emerge, first in Western European countries in the 1970s, and later in Eastern European countries after they abandoned the planned economy system of the communist era and adopted the market economy system. One of the major concerns often raised in this regard is that, due to a variety of negative aspects associated with post-WWII housing estates, these neighbourhoods may eventually end up as concentrations of low-income households, after the more affluent residents relocate to the more attractive, less problematic residential neighbourhoods. Such developments are, understandably, undesirable. This concern inherently assumes that the inhabitants of post-WWII housing estates are not satisfied with their housing and are, as a result, expected to move away, as soon as they can. This hypothesis presents the focus of discussion in this paper. We examine its validity with the help of the findings of a comparative study between post-WII large housing estates and post-socialist multifamily residential neighbourhoods that was conducted in Slovenia in 2021. Contrary to the hypothetical assumptions, our analyses of the research results reveal that the inhabitants of post-WWII large housing estates are (a) generally quite satisfied with their dwellings and residential neighbourhood and that (b) a large majority of them have no intention to move. Understanding people’s satisfaction with their housing circumstances requires a complex analysis of their attitudes that goes beyond surface-level observations and encompasses a broader range of psychological and social influences on housing choices, suggesting the need to incorporate these aspects into future research. The consideration of these aspects is essential in order to ensure the longer-term sustainability of post-WWII large housing estates.

Utilitarian heritage

While modern heritage is often discussed as a critical resource for sustainable urban and social development, the future of such housing is often limited not by technical but rather by cultural, historical, or socio-economic constraints. In cities with a socialist past, mass housing provided individual apartments for a number of Soviet families and tended to create particular spatial qualities. However, with the collapse of the socialist system, attitudes towards such housing began to transform. This paper is a reflection on the range of perceptions of this heritage, attitudes towards it, and difficulties in shaping contextually informed renewal policy approaches. To what extent do traumatic experiences of the past and the rational use of resources in the present mutually influence each other? This article introduces the controversial debate based on the cases of three former socialist countries: Moldova, Armenia, and Uzbekistan. On the one hand, the ubiquity of mass housing in post-socialist countries fostered tolerance for such a typology. On the other hand, large housing estates are a constant reminder of the traumatic experience of the socialist experiment. This essay discusses the present and the future of large residential estates based on reports, policies, media, and collected expert interviews on approaches to working with mass housing areas. Together, the three contributions and joint reflections attempt to add to the debate about the past, present, and future of middle-class mass housing in various social, cultural, and political conditions.

Built Space Hinders Lived Space: Social Encounters and Appropriation in Large Housing Estates

The fundamental structural, demographic, and socio-economic changes afflicting large housing estates in Eastern German cities raise questions about how these neighborhoods could be maintained and developed into attractive residential locations where people want to live and settle down. Besides personal, social, economic, and even administrative factors, individual location decisions are influenced by the physical conditions of space and how they affect a sense of “home”—a crucial precondition for long-term habitation. In terms of urban planning and regeneration activities, we ask: To what extent do the current physical and infrastructural conditions (“built space”) of large housing estates encourage residents to “feel at home”? We understand home as an atmosphere of well-being and belonging that is based on the individual and communal appropriation of spaces, which in turn presupposes the possibility of contact and social exchanges among neighbors. The concept of “home” we present here is grounded in philosophical anthropology, new phenomenology, and architectural theory. It provides a specific spatial approach to housing from which we develop indicators to evaluate space. In particular, we apply the concept of “lived space” to evaluate infrastructural amenities, open and green spaces, as well as built structures in three case studies of large housing estates in East German cities. We aim to uncover local potentials for and obstacles to spatial appropriation and encounters in these settings. This allows us to draw conclusions on how urban regeneration policies and measures can make large housing estates more liveable in the long term by promoting encounters and appropriation.

Imposing ‘Enclosed Communities’? Urban Gating of Large Housing Estates in Sweden and France

Gated communities and gated housing enclaves have primarily been identified as elite spaces of privilege that support self-imposed disaffiliation and spatial and social withdrawal by the affluent. Over the past decade, however, European countries have also seen a rise of gating in large housing estates. Drawing on previous research and a comparative case study that includes interviews, observations, and mapping, this article analyses policies and practices of gating in large housing estates since 2010 in Malmö, Sweden and since 2000 in Paris, France. We argue, first, that gating is legitimised by policy arguments about ‘defensible space’, by a critique of the modernist design, and by a perceived need for diversification. Secondly, we expand the notion of urban gating and identify four types of enclosure: complete enclosure, semi-enclosure, enclosure through densification, and enclosure of parks and playgrounds. We conclude that the notion of the welfare state has changed, not only in financial terms but also as an urban form, leading to the micro-segregation of housing and land, which makes visible the social stratification within large housing estates. Gating of large housing estates thus leads to ‘enclosed communities’ rather than ‘gated communities’.

„Das ging ja nur hier…“ – Wohneigentümerstrukturen und Segregation in ostdeutschen Großwohnsiedlungen

Throughout the last two decades, large housing estates in eastern Germany have become the scene of an increased concentration of low-income households. At the same time, considerable shifts in the structure of home ownership have been documented in these areas. National and international investors have acquired large housing stocks here and become a fundamental part of the local housing markets. This paper discusses the connection between both developments. Based on a case study in two large housing estates in Halle (Saale) and Schwerin, it is argued that the relative impoverishment of large housing estates can be traced back to two developments on the supply side: On the one hand, municipal housing companies are increasingly made responsible for the provision of homes for households that cannot provide for themselves on the market. Due to the uneven spatial distribution of municipal housing, this leads to an increased concentration of poor households in the large housing estates. On the other hand, letting policies of financial investors are characterised by tight yield requirements. In view of a rather restrained demand for the housing they manage, they therefore increasingly rent their flats to population groups that are avoided by other landlords. Together, these developments operate like a ‘segregation machine’, which continuously shifts low-income population groups to the large housing estates.

Investigating the impacts of urban built environments on users of multiple services in elderly care facilities

This paper aims to characterize the varied urban settings community-based elderly care facilities are located, and examine whether characteristics of urban built environments influence the number of older people attending care facilities for multiple services. The dataset incorporates 108 cases of community-based elderly care facilities and usage records from over 17000 users collected in the Chinese city of Nanjing. A network-based approach was employed to comprehensively describe urban built environments surrounding care facilities with a series of metrics on street morphology and land-uses. It was found that urban built environments significantly influenced the number of users attending care facilities. Facilities having more users tended to locate in places with more shops and stores, on major arterial streets of the city, or inside large housing estates in the outer city. Moreover, urban factors performed differently in affecting users of different services as services accepting spontaneous users were more likely to be influenced by street morphology. This study revealed specific urban factors facilitating older people's usage of care resources. It also generated practical implications regarding the strategies for the planning of spatial locations and service provision to improve the utilization of community-based elderly care.

The second record of Pipistrellus kuhlii lepidus Blyth, 1845 (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Warsaw (central Poland)

A male of Pipistrellus kuhlii lepidus was found in a large housing estate in Warsaw (central Poland) on 9th March 2023. The bat hibernated in a crevice on balcony on the sixth storey of a residential house. This is the second finding of this species in Warsaw, which may suggest that a stable population of the species has been formed there. The presence of P. k. lepidus in Warsaw is probably an effect of its natural expansion from south-east Europe.

‘This Corresponds with the Study’

In this paper, we elaborate on the role of scientific knowledge for the development of municipal urban development strategies in the East German cities of Schwerin and Halle (Saale). We will focus on the topic of segregation that has increasingly become an issue with regard to large housing estates, which have recently experienced growing numbers of immigrants. Using the concept of knowledge regimes we analyse, how the scientific debate on segregation is introduced in the administrative discourse, and which changes it provokes in municipal strategies and practices. Our analysis points to the importance of local political contexts, which are crucial for whether and how segregation and migration are problematised. Furthermore, it reveals that despite the different visibility of the topic, comparable policies have been developed in both cities.

ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN TRANSFORMATIONS OF LARGE HOUSING ESTATE RELATED TO FUNCTIONAL DIVERSIFICATION: CASE OF KELENFÖLD IN BUDAPEST

Large housing estates (LHEs) is a global product of modern planning and architecture based on the concept of the functional city. However, during the last decades, these inherited mass housing neighborhoods have been gradually transformed in their social and physical context. Much of this change is due to functional diversification of LHEs following rising consummation demands. The objective of the research is to create a general simple typology discovering this phenomenon and providing a method to make case study analysis and comparative studies. How to classify functional diversification and morphological transformations in LHEs in general? What are the functional and morphological values that were preserved from modern development period and what are the new characteristics of contemporary transformations? What are the special characteristics of the functional diversification in a post-socialist city? Kelenföld case study from Budapest is introduced to test the typology by using local documents and fieldwork methods in architecture: mapping, morphological analysis, and photo making. Kelenföld is one of the best located and the first LHE in Budapest realized with large panel technology in the 60’s, being today intensively developed and favored by its users.

A Comparison of Different Machine Learning Algorithms in the Classification of Impervious Surfaces: Case Study of the Housing Estate Fort Bema in Warsaw (Poland)

The aim of this study is to extract impervious surfaces and show their spatial distribution, using different machine learning algorithms. For this purpose, geoprocessing and remote sensing techniques were used and three classification methods for digital images were compared, namely Support Vector Machines (SVM), Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Random Trees (RT) classifiers. The study area is one of the most prestigious and the largest housing estates in Warsaw (Poland), the Fort Bema housing complex, which is also an exemplary model for hydrological solutions. The study was prepared on the Geographic Information System platform (GIS) using aerial optical images, orthorectified and thus provided with a suitable coordinate system. The use of these data is therefore supported by the accuracy of the resulting infrared channel product with a pixel size of 0.25 m, making the results much more accurate compared to satellite imagery. The results of the SVM, ML and RT classifiers were compared using the confusion matrix, accuracy (Root Mean Square Error /RMSE/) and kappa index. This showed that the three algorithms were able to successfully discriminate between targets. Overall, the three classifiers had errors, but specifically for impervious surfaces, the highest accuracy was achieved with the SVM classifier (the highest percentage of overall accuracy), followed by ML and RT with 91.51%, 91.35% and 84.52% of the results, respectively. A comparison of the visual results and the confusion matrix shows that although visually the RT method appears to be the most detailed classification into pervious and impervious surfaces, the results were not always correct, e.g., water/shadow was detected as an impervious surface. The NDVI index was also mapped for the same spatial study area and its application in the evaluation of pervious surfaces was explained. The results obtained with the GIS platform, presented in this paper, provide a better understanding of how these advanced classifiers work, which in turn can provide insightful guidance for their selection and combination in real-world applications. The paper also provides an overview of the main works/studies dealing with impervious surface mapping, with different methods for their assessment (including the use of conventional remote sensing, NDVI, multisensory and cross-source data, ‘social sensing’ and classification methods such as SVM, ML and RT), as well as an overview of the research results.