Social Housing Neighbourhoods Research Articles

Challenging Silencing in Stigmatized Neighborhoods Through Collaborative Knowledge Production

Researchers are always potential traitors when they represent what they see or hear. This is of particular concern in the case of people in subaltern positions, who lack the power to challenge possible misrepresentations. This article deals with an old dilemma in critical social science: How to use language when research objects are silenced through dynamics of domination? Is it possible for research to create space for marginalized people to speak for themselves? This was one of the questions of the Université Populaire, a group initiative by actors in a marginalized social housing neighborhood in Grenoble. The community‐based people’s education initiative was created in a double context of violence and silence. As a result of incidents of violence, media coverage participates in depicting the neighborhood as a place of danger and otherness, which impedes voices from the neighborhood from being heard. The initiative of the Université Populaire made space for speech in this marginalized and racialized area of Grenoble dealing with the consequences of terrorist violence in France. It is an initiative the author has been involved in since its inception in 2015. This article explains how the author sought ways to reduce power asymmetry in research relationships, why she steered away from using interviews for data collection and organized public debates instead, and how this made space for speech.

Geographies of peace in the wake of non-war violence in the city: Agir pour la Paix in a marginalised neighbourhood in France

ABSTRACT Research on violently contested cities has focused on cities in the global South and on civil war contexts. This article makes the case for broadening this empirical scope to cities in non-war contexts, which are considered ‘at peace’ but where politicians regularly declare war on e.g. drugs and terrorism. Experiences of violence, such as riots, youth violence and the aftermaths of terrorist attacks in a marginalised social housing neighbourhood in Grenoble (France) serve as the empirical grounding of this argument. Participatory action research with different collectives in this neighbourhood shows that community initiatives were able to have a positive impact on the destructive consequences of different forms of paroxysmal violence. These collectives initiated action in the aftermath of paroxysmal violence. One of them placed peace at the heart of its approach. By weaving everyday relationships its members could repair the social tissue that violence had destroyed.

The production of socio-spatial injustice towards the Romani population during the franco regime: The neighborhoods of Lo Campano and los Mateos in Cartagena (Spain)

62.8% of the Romani population in Spain lives in settlements that are segregated from the urban center or in peripheral neighborhoods, a sign of their historical persecution and discrimination. Anti-Romani sentiment has been territorialized by eliminating autonomy and means of self-production of space, with urban planning and housing policies being a key element in the materialization of their urban segregation, particularly during the Franco regime. Identifying the Romani as a surplus element in urban space led to their expulsion from self-produced housing, relocating them to peripheral social housing neighborhoods. Through the case studies, this article analyzes the Lo Campano and Los Mateos neighborhoods in Cartagena, Spain, the production of socio-spatial injustice against the Romani during Franco's regime, using Nancy Fraser's (1996) definition of social justice, and Giddens' (1994) structuration theory, as an analytical framework. The results indicate that these policies formed the basis of an urban and housing necropolitical exercise against the Romani, identifying them as surplus to the urban space and expelling them from their self-built homes to peripheral social housing.

Exploring Energy Literacy in Italian Social Housing: A Survey of Inhabitants Preparing the Ground for Climate Transition

A low level of energy literacy can hamper the adoption of climate-responsive solutions in the built environment. This is often the case of social housing neighborhoods, where the implementation of improvement measures such as those from the EU Recovery Plan (PNRR in Italy) may become difficult because of the specific socio-cultural and economic criticalities. Here, inhabitants are more prone to misinformation as well as energy poverty. Therefore, understanding the level of knowledge and willingness to implement certain design actions at both site and building levels is of utmost importance to make the transition as effective and just as needed. The article presents a pilot survey conducted in two Italian social housing neighborhoods to assess residents’ understanding and preparedness to implement climate-responsive strategies, as well as literacy gaps about energy transition and related public fundings. This can prepare the ground for developing effective solutions to improve the livability of the built environment based on local needs and features that can be combined synergistically with financial incentives. The survey results are discussed, in addition to the upscaling potential.

Sustainable urban forms in the Arabian Gulf: an evidence-based analysis of Kuwaiti social housing neighborhoods at Jaber Al-Ahmed City

In September 2015, the State of Kuwait signed the UN’s 2030 Agenda, committing to all 17 of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include the building of sustainable cities and communities through initiatives such as social housing. In response, the New Kuwait Vision 2035 has witnessed a shift in approach to the social housing paradigm at the state level. This paper examines the status of recent social housing projects in Jaber Al-Ahmed City, Kuwait, through a critical, evidence-based analysis of the decision-making processes and urban-architectural products that shaped its development. The mixed-methods data for this case study were generated via archival research and semi-structured interviews supplemented with field observations to evaluate the local and international sustainability agendas implemented in the city as process and product. Principles of Sustainable Urban Forms are implemented for the evaluation. The article also presents evidence of local urban practices (resident appropriation and participation), legitimized environmental practices, and community wellbeing. It concludes with recommendations for resolving issues in the current processes around the design and implementation of sustainable urban forms to inform future social housing developments. These recommendations for sustainable social housing in Kuwait provide an opportunity to revisit and reconsider the core values of sustainability while adding to the multiplicity of its definitions. Although recent social housing projects in Kuwait may demonstrate an overall effective process-to-product procedure as a means of architectural production that addresses the country’s housing demand, important aspects remain in question with regard to sustainable built environments.

Social housing as focus area for Nature-based Solutions to strengthen urban resilience and justice: Lessons from practice in the Netherlands

Social housing typically encompasses neighbourhoods with low social-economic status. Here, environmental problems like climate change and biodiversity loss have a higher impact than in other neighbourhoods. Applying Nature-based Solutions (NbS) may enhance the resilience of social housing neighbourhoods and as such make cities more just. In this article we explore to what extent NbS can be applied, given the physical, social and financial limitations that define Dutch social housing practice, and - by doing so – what NbS can contribute to environmental justice. Based upon several Living Lab experiences and dialogues with numerous housing corporations, ten NbS measures have been identified that likely will match with current practices in social housing. Implementing NbS contributes to all aspects of environmental justice, with distributional justice as the most straightforward one (more NbS means more environmental benefits). Procedural and recognitional justice were found to be of crucial importance to make greenspaces worthwhile for the residents. Our study draws attention to the fact that NbS knowledge is key but currently still insufficient, both within housing corporations as within the key partners (local authorities, landscaping firms). This means that there is a growing demand to increase NbS knowledge in the social housing sector. We finalize this article with recommendations on how to meet this demand.

Innovating digital POE platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study of co-production in Brazilian social housing

This paper deals with digital POE methods focusing on their reached potential in facilitating the face-to-face experiments demanded by the project. Recognized as a set of methods and instruments applied in environments during use, Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) can help manage the project process, providing diagnoses and recommendations that feed new projects and interventions in environments in use. POE approaches have been continually restructured in the face of new environmental, social, economic and especially technological demands. In early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns and quarantines made it challenging to continue to apply traditional face-to-face POE-based tools and techniques. Simultaneously, the MORA Housing Research Group was carrying out a research project in the city of Uberlândia (Brazil) focusing on the understanding of the relationship between the incidence of arboviruses in the case study social housing neighbourhood, the occupants’ practices, and the built environment management, through POE. The social distancing measures applied during the Covid-19 pandemic led the research team to transform methods from face-to-face to hybrid ones, comprising digital and physical approaches to co-produce durable solutions against dengue. The work comprises a five stage method using on-shelf digital platforms and designing other 2 specifically for the project’s purposes. By introducing the digital/physical hybrid POE format, the use of social networks and messaging applications significantly reduced the number of necessary visits by researchers to the neighbourhood from 20 to 5 in the first stage of the work, saving a lot of time and effort. The new tools were easy to use for all users. Users reported finding it pleasant to participate in activities with digitally remote researchers. The findings from this project indicate that the incorporation of new digital tools to facilitate physical POE research as a novel hybrid approach provides a successful alternative approach to standard POE processes that are based on face-to-face participation.

Evaluations of energy upgrading interventions in social housing neighbourhoods in Greece: An approach that takes into account residents’ views

The European Union (EU) has committed to actions aimed at the energy efficiency of buildings, with a focus on the domestic sector. Most residential buildings in Greece are classified in the lowest energy categories, while the government attempts to upgrade them energy wise, through state subsidy programs. This study aims to evaluate the energy upgrading interventions in social housing areas, built in the capital of Greece, Athens. For this purpose, energy audits are performed in social housing in three different neighborhoods, in order to find the current building stock and later suggest energy upgrading solutions. The study is followed by a questionnaire survey to citizens of the neighborhoods under study. The majority of respondents consider significantly beneficial the energy-saving upgrade programs that the Greek Government has run in recent years, as they demand to be easier for everyone to participate. At the same time, respondents seem to be positive for future energy upgrade interventions, such as external insulation, frame replacement and implementation of renewable energy systems. Through the implementation of energy upgrade scenarios in the official national software for energy audits (TEE KENAK), results show that dwellings can upgrade up to 7 energy categories, with short payback time, reducing CO2 and primary energy emissions.

The role of affects in subjective constructions of neighborhood boundaries: An investigation of Bairro de Contumil (Porto, Portugal)

ABSTRACT This study draws upon cognitive maps and in-depth interviews with 15 unemployed women residing in a Portuguese social housing neighborhood (Bairro de Contumil) to explore how affects influence subjective neighborhood constructions. Despite Bairro de Contumil’s visible disconnection from its surroundings, its residents perceive its boundaries differently. The mental maps varied substantially, and none of the participants limited their neighborhood definition to the social housing area. In spite of this diversity, all participants used their habitual use of space and relationships as the main criteria for defining the neighborhood’s boundaries, both of which are strongly connected to their affects. The in-depth interviews revealed complex relations between place attachment, place identity, human relations, use of space, and spatial perception.

Advancing research on urban greenspace experiences and perceptions in disadvantaged communities: A social housing perspective

Empirical assessments of the experiences and perceptions of urban green space (UGS) in a social housing context are scant. Studying UGS perception in these contexts is important to understand how people experience and derive benefits from UGS in disadvantaged communities. This short communication provides interdisciplinary and methodological guidance on how to conduct empirical assessment of UGS experience and perception in social housing neighborhoods. For conducting these types of studies, we suggest researchers go beyond simply calculating UGS abundance around communities and consider assessing UGS experiences and perceptions. We suggest designing studies that account for the mixed nature of many social housing communities and that develop useful UGS perception measures that can be associated with wellbeing and community indicators. Finally, we also recommend: (1) designing studies at the local scale and developing strong relationsihps with the social housing communities before and while conducting these studies; (2) considering safety as a key component of UGS perception measures; (3) considering the association between UGS perception measures and wellbeing and community experience indicators to strengthen existing models of UGS benefit provision.

Changing Gellerup Park

Some low-income social housing neighborhoods are undergoing radical transformations in Denmark. Classified as “ghettos” and “parallel societies,” and marked by area-specific legislation, we identify a triple exposure in these neighborhoods. The residents are exposed to inequality, stigmatization, and discriminatory inter-ventions. Parallel to this, cultural policies and programs have ap-proached these same neighborhoods based on the assumption that they can be “elevated” through art. Drawing upon a broader re-search in art project in four social housing areas (Eriksson, Nielsen, Sørensen and Yates, 2022), this article focuses on Gellerup Park in Aarhus and considers how two site-specific art platforms address the site and time-specific conditions of the area, offering alterna-tive relations and forms of engagement.

Environmental Performance of a Cost-Effective Energy Renovation at the Neighbourhood Scale—The Case for Social Housing in Braga, Portugal

It is increasingly recognised that the energy renovation of the existing building stock will be determinant for achieving 2030 and 2050 decarbonisation targets in Europe. As operational energy is being dramatically reduced through regulatory efforts and funding from the European Union, the relevance of the environmental performance of these interventions becomes higher, namely regarding embodied energy and carbon emissions associated with the materials that compose the renovation solutions. Although some studies address these impacts in buildings, the range of studies focusing on the neighbourhood scale is limited. This article presents a methodological framework combining a life cycle cost assessment (LCC) and a life cycle assessment (LCA). The purpose is to assess the relevance of embodied energy and carbon emissions on the cost-effectiveness of building renovation solutions towards nZEB at the neighbourhood scale by comparing an operational energy approach and a whole life cycle approach in a case study of a social housing neighbourhood in Braga, Portugal. The results suggest an increase in indicators values demonstrating a negative impact on the achievable reduction of both energy and emissions when the whole life cycle approach is considered, which can constitute a critical point for policy formulation in the decarbonisation of the built environment.

Urban growth and land subsidence: Multi-decadal investigation using human settlement data and satellite InSAR in Morelia, Mexico

Limited attention is typically paid to the cause-effect relationship between land subsidence due to aquifers overexploitation in expanding metropolises and urban growth models and patterns. This paper implements an integrated urban and satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) approach to investigate subsidence, multi-decadal urban growth and peopling trends in the Metropolitan Area of Morelia (ZMM) in the Mexican state of Michoacán. Stacking of JRC's Global Human Settlement Layer, DLR's World Settlement Footprint and INEGI's National Geostatistical Framework datasets reveals a predominant edge-expansion growth model, with urban densification in 1975–2020 and some sprawling in 1990–2000. Population of the ZMM doubled in the last 30 years, reaching over 1 million inhabitants. The ENVISAT and Sentinel-1 InSAR analysis confirms that subsidence is structurally-controlled by the main normal faults within the Cuitzeo half-graben. Differential sinking and ground discontinuities are aligned with buried tectonic faults and contrasting compressible sediment thickness. Non-linearly deforming subsidence bowls develop at extraction wells in both old and newly urbanized sectors of the ZMM. Maximum vertical displacement velocities increased from −2.5 cm/year in 2003−2010 to −9.0 cm/year in 2014–2021, with subsidence migrating towards recently urbanized zones. More than 250 new groundwater wells were added to the public registry since 2000, many of which within new urban sectors. Time-lapse InSAR reveals a 4 km2 rapidly subsiding bowl that formed at the largest social housing neighbourhood of Villas del Pedregal, as building lots were progressively completed and sold, and new wells registered. With angular distortions due to the differential subsidence reaching 0.12% in 2014–2021, new buildings and roads are exposed to fracturing and surface faulting risk of comparable level as the city historic building blocks located along the main faults. By providing useful insights into the relationship between urban growth and land subsidence in the ZMM, the approach proves valuable for application to other metropolises worldwide.

A Case Study on a Stochastic-Based Optimisation Approach towards the Integration of Photovoltaic Panels in Multi-Residential Social Housing

The socioeconomic reality and the energy retrofit potential of the social housing neighbourhoods in Portugal are stimulating challenges to be addressed by research to pursue suitable energy efficient strategies to be integrated into these buildings. Therefore, this study explored a stochastic-based optimisation approach towards the integration of photovoltaic (PV) panels, considering different scenarios that combine the occupancy rate, the internal gains, the envelope refurbishment and the heating system efficiency. The optimisation approach has as its objective the minimisation of the life cycle cost of the photovoltaic system while using a limited space area on the rooftop for its installation. This study allowed concluding that the use of passive measures such as improving the thermal performance of the building envelope is essential to attain a lower optimal-sizing of a photovoltaic installation. The results reveal a decreasing trend in the PV optimal sizing, attaining a reduction up to 30% of the total number of PV panels installed on the sloped rooftop in several scenarios with 50% of occupancy rate. However, the impact can be greater when passive measures are coupled to more efficient heating systems, with higher COP, which result in a decrease up to 64% of the number of PV panels. Thus, the approach proposed is of paramount importance to aid in the decision-making process of design and sizing of photovoltaic installation, highlighting the practical application potential for social housing and a contribution for mitigation of the energy poverty of low-income families that live in these buildings.

From ‘Orthogonal’ Sprawl to ‘Curvilinear’ Dense: Assessing Accessibility Indices for Urban Networks of Social Housing in UAE

The shift towards designing more dense urban social housing neighbourhoods has started with the embracing of urban sustainability principles by the UAE government since the beginning of the 21st century. The assessment of the recent neighbourhoods designs still lacks concrete evidence about their expected performance especially for pedestrian mobility networks. This concern is gaining further significance with the noticeable tendency of most of the recent urban designs towards developing organic and curvilinear networks instead of the conventional orthogonal grids of the mobility networks that distinguished the traditionally designed neighbourhoods in the country. To bridge this gap, the research comparatively and quantitively analysed the accessibility performance indicators of both of the traditional and the modern urban network designs. The research adopted the Case Study method with quantitative investigation tools that are fundamental to Urban Network Analysis, especially in relation to Accessibility. The simulation of the urban networks of two selected urban social housing neighbourhood forms, representing the networks of both the traditional urban orthogonal sprawl and the recent curvilinear dense one, were utilized employing the UNA toolbox. Three complementary Accessibility Indices were analysed including: Reach, Gravity and Straightness. Through this analysis, the aspects that affected the accessibility performance of the two urban form paradigms and the problems that have been associated with the designs of the urban networks of the new social housing projects, have been revealed. It became evident that the denser urban form was not sufficient in enabling more accessible facilities in the recent neighbourhoods designs. The orthogonal grid, even with its very low Floor Area Ratio showed better performance of in the three accessibility indices especially the Straightness index, if compared with the much denser curvilinear grid with it ‘naturally longer’ pattern. The inefficient number and the inappropriate distribution locally provided facilities in relation to the pedestrian mobility networks have contributed to these disappointing results. So, it is essential to include this and/or similar urban network quantitative simulation tools to help develop genuinely sustainable urban forms for this significant type of urban development in the UAE cities.

Housing motivated youth in low-income neighborhoods: How practitioners shape conditions for encounters across diversity in ‘intentional’ social mix programs in Milan and Paris

ABSTRACT The concept of social mix has been thoroughly examined in the housing literature. Research to date finds little evidence of encounters between socially diverse residents living in mixed settings. This paper provides comparative insights into new, socially mixed housing initiatives in Milan and Paris that have been conceived to promote encounters among diverse residents. Both initiatives, implemented by not-for-profit organizations, provide affordable housing for university students or young professionals in low-income social housing neighborhoods in exchange for their commitment to organize solidarity activities with and for their social housing neighbors. The paper examines how frameworks provided by housing practitioners for “intentional” encounters between motivated youth and low-income residents shape these encounters and considers the receptivity of the youth population to intentionally engage in common projects across diversity. It distils some core conditions within these programs that promote encounters among diverse residents.

The Importance of In Situ Characterisation for the Mitigation of Poor Indoor Environmental Conditions in Social Housing

The energy efficiency improvements in existing buildings have become priority concerns of the European Union to encourage energy efficiency amongst residents and buildings as well as facility managers. The characterisation of the building stock plays an important role in the definition of energy renovation strategies. In Portugal, there are over 120,000 social housing flats. This paper focused on the holistic characterisation of a social housing neighbourhood concerning the “in situ” assessment of the indoor environmental conditions and thermal comfort over one year as well as air permeability tests of the flats and evaluation of the energy consumption. The hygrothermal monitoring campaign was carried out using thermo-hygrometer sensors to record the indoor air temperature and relative humidity of a large number of flats over a 12-month period. The airtightness of these flats was determined resourcing fan pressurisation test (blower door test). A relationship between the users’ modifications in the flats and their consequence over the air permeability was pursued and the importance of balconies and exhaust fans for the flats’ air permeability was discussed. The hygrothermal monitoring campaign of the case study was carried out, in order to assess the indoor thermal comfort according the ASHRAE 55 standard. The results show a significant discomfort rate, suggesting that the users are living in unhealthy environmental conditions and the issues that most contribute to the poor indoor environmental conditions that characterise this building stock. In addition, the energy, gas, and water consumption of the flats were collected, and a statistical analysis was performed. Correlations between the variables were observed and two clusters were identified. Cluster 1 includes the lower energy consumption flats, but no real impact on the thermal comfort was found as the entire dataset presented low indoor air temperatures.

The Regeneraci\xf3n Urbana, Calidad de Vida y Salud - RUCAS project: a Chilean multi-methods study to evaluate the impact of urban regeneration on resident health and wellbeing

BackgroundThe available evidence of the health effects of urban regeneration is scarce In Latin America, and there are no studies focused on formal housing that longitudinally evaluate the impact of housing and neighborhood interventions on health. The “Regeneración Urbana, Calidad de Vida y Salud” (Urban Regeneration, Quality of Life, and Health) or RUCAS project is a longitudinal, multi-method study that will evaluate the impact of an intervention focused on dwellings, built environment and community on the health and wellbeing of the population in two social housing neighborhoods in Chile.MethodsRUCAS consists of a longitudinal study where inhabitants exposed and unexposed to the intervention will be compared over time within the study neighborhoods (cohorts), capitalizing on interventions as a natural experiment. Researchers have developed a specific conceptual framework and identified potential causal mechanisms. Proximal and more distal intervention effects will be measured with five instruments, implemented pre- and post-interventions between 2018 and 2021: a household survey, an observation tool to evaluate dwelling conditions, hygrochrons for measuring temperature and humidity inside dwellings, systematic observation of recreational areas, and qualitative interviews. Survey baseline data (956 households, 3130 individuals) is presented to describe sociodemographics, housing and health characteristics of both cohorts, noting that neighborhoods studied show worse conditions than the Chilean population.DiscussionRUCAS’ design allows for a comprehensive evaluation of the effects that the intervention could have on various dimensions of health and health determinants. RUCAS will face some challenges, like changes in the intervention process due to adjustments of the master plan, exogenous factors –including COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns– and lost to follow-up. Given the stepped wedge design, that the study capitalizes on within household changes over time, the possibility of adjusting data collection process and complementarity of methods, RUCAS has the flexibility to adapt to these circumstances. Also, RUCAS’ outreach and retention strategy has led to high retention rates. RUCAS will provide evidence to inform regeneration processes, highlighting the need to consider potential health effects of regeneration in designing such interventions and, more broadly, health as a key priority in urban and housing policies.

Low Energy Renovation of Social Housing: Recommendations on Monitoring and Renewable Energies Use

Social housing represents a part of the whole building stock with a high risk of energy poverty, and it should be treated as a priority in renovation strategies, due to its potential for improvement and the need to fight that risk. Renovation actions are currently designed based on patterns that have been shown to be disparate from the reality of social housing. Thereby, a monitoring study is essential for the evaluation of the actual conditions. An in-depth characterization of a social housing neighborhood, located in the North of Portugal, was carried out. Indoor hygrothermal conditions were analyzed through a monitoring campaign. It was possible to identify the differences in indoor conditions of the dwellings and understand the influence of occupancy density and occupants’ behavior. In order to identify the actual occupancy and the type of use, a social survey was performed. A renovation action will soon take place, and a monitoring and survey plan is proposed for the post-renovation period, based on a previous evaluation of the renovation impact, using DesignBuilder software and the real occupancy profiles. In social housing context, since energy consumption for heating and cooling is punctual or non-existent, the focus of low energy renovation should be based on passive strategies that reduce the energy demand. The remaining energy needs should be supplied by renewable energy sources, reducing energy poverty, and enhancing quality of life.

Requalification of Social Housing: Ingote plateau (Coimbra)

Social housing neighbourhoods are issues for several approaches and studies in all domains, the architectural scope and the urban scale. There are several examples of academic research focused on this topic. However, there is still much ink to spill regarding the scientific interest of peripheries, such as in the case of Ingote plateau, a suburb at the Portuguese city of Coimbra. This suburb is the result of three housing developments from different periods of time, according to the national policy to provide social houses: the Ingote (1970s), the António Sérgio (1980s), and the Rosa (1990s) suburbs. These residential areas are associated with the problems related to the suburban social housing, such as scarcity of social and economic means or shortage of urban conditions. Social housing suburbs are complex entities and their rapid growth has contributed to change the spatial identity of cities, leaving room for new questions about the concept of neighbourhood and its role at the urban scale. As this article aims to show, the geographical location of Ingote plateau makes it a target of territorial and social exclusions. Therefore, an urban design solution was proposed in order to rethink this area, developing strategies for its integration in the urban fabric. As the main conclusion, the project maintains the number of dwellings, improving the quality of public spaces, facilities, greenery and leisure to serve not only the local community but also the city as a whole. The main goal was to reinforce the identity, promoting the safety of locals, making them proud of their suburb.