Abstract
The lack of affordable housing is gaining increasing recognition as a factor that both slows economic growth and effects the right to housing. The lack of housing hinders businesses, as it is hard to attract employees if they cannot find a decent place to live. Key workers (e.g. teachers, nurses and emergency responders) are at increasing risk of being priced out of dwellings in proximity to their jobs. Vulnerable people searching for work in cities are at risk of exclusion due to soaring housing markets. The lack of affordable housing is now often regarded as an economic problem that reflects the current dominant paradigm of housing as an economic good. Moreover, housing is a human right as confirmed in Habitat III in Quito, 2016: Housing at the centre of urban development. This lecture addresses housing as a multidimensional issue and topic for governments to address.
Keywords: Housing, urban development, values, governance
About the Speaker
Prof. Marja Elsinga holds the Chair Housing Institutions & Governance in Delft University of Technology and is visiting professor in the College of Architecture and Urban Planning in Tongji University in Shanghai, China. She has published widely in the field of housing, was involved in a range of research projects for the European Commission, is associate editor of Housing and Society and associate editor in chief of Elsevier’s Encyclopedia of Housing & Home. Her focus is on adequate housing for all as she demonstrates in leadership of the “1 Million Home project” and the Global Urban Lab in Delft University.
