HOUSING + [CONFERENCE]

Housing is essential for a functional life
Housing can be the foundation for a social community 
Housing can stimulate community building
Housing extends beyond the private realm
Housing can be an essential part of infrastructure
Housing needs support of services and institutions
Housing is an important factor in community health
Housing ownership is an entry to the economy
Housing is the largest fabric of urbanity

The provision of affordable housing is a colossal challenge with an urgent and acute need for new solutions. In industrialized nations, housing is often the most expensive item in household budgets. Homelessness is one of the primary challenges faced by cities, with estimates for homeless populations reaching 600,000 in Europe and over 750,000 in the United States (UNHABITAT, 2011). Research suggests that in cities in developing countries, 881 million people live in slums, and by 2025, that number is likely to increase by 1.6 billion. In South Asia, housing deficits amount to 38 million dwellings. Due to a lack of affordable and well-located housing alternatives, the informal sector provides between 60 and 90 percent of housing in Zambia, Lima, Caracas and Ghana (UNHABITAT World Cities Report, 2016). With growing concerns of rapid rural to urban migration, natural disasters, and unprecedented rates of urbanization, these trends are likely to continue. The challenges to housing need to be addressed in interdisciplinary and multi-scalar ways; the traditional role of housing purely as shelter needs to be confronted.

Attempts at comprehensive affordable housing solutions have escaped the efforts of governments, private enterprises, and non-governmental organizations alike. Yet there are examples of progress made in the fields of social science, policy, and humanities. Design, however, is typically not an approach that comes to mind when one refers to housing affordability, whether at the scale of the house, neighborhood, or city. There is a dearth of affordable housing design that is inspiring, sustainable, inclusive, or substantial enough to satisfy the full spectrum of human rights and aspirations at a meaningful scale.

The Housing+ conference will explore interpretations of the ‘+’, extending the design dialogue beyond the scale of the housing unit. Panels will explore the role that housing has to play in various landscapes of urbanity such as public space and infrastructure. Speakers will address the challenges that designers face in the housing sector, including those related to affordability, resilience, health and sustainability.

When
3 May to 4 May 2018
Where
MIT Media Lab
75 Amherst Street
02139 Cambridge
Organizer
Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism
Link
MIT Media Lab

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