Urban densification, energy efficiency and affordability of housing

Organised by Housing Europe and hosted by Paris Habitat. Supported by the European Commission as part of the ABRACADABRA project. 

Cities and social housing providers are facing 2 challenges: how to find the land to build more and cheaper housing units and how to accelerate the renovation of existing homes. To propose common solutions to those challenges, the European project ABRACADABRA has tested and implemented measure to increase the urban density by adding habitable space to existing buildings. This extra surface, through the income it creates for the social housing provider, can help finance the renovation of the entire building. It can also help reshape the urban landscape, or transform former non-residential buildings into housing units.

Find the land

“Access to land is typically the biggest constraint for housing development and one of the major drivers of cost. In places such as Auckland and Rio de Janeiro, the cost of land often exceeds 40 % of total property prices. In extreme cases such as San Francisco, land is so scarce that it can account for as much as 80 % of a home’s price”[1].

Finance energy efficiency

The renovation of social housing is the most obvious example of how environment and social justice considerations can be combined.  Making renovation affordable for low-income social housing residents is the key question for social housing providers.

In this context, the cost of renovation and the various schemes and mechanisms to finance it are determining factors. Bringing down the cost of renovation and, at the same time, the cost of finance are the challenges housing providers are confronted with. The regulatory and financial frameworks in the different countries can either help or on hamper the search for such cost efficient investments. 

Improve the city

Transforming empty non-residential buildings (like former factories or military barracks) into affordable housing units, adding residential units of top of schools or public buildings, adding new common areas (like roof gardens) are examples of how city landscape and social interactions can change for the better. New services can emerge thanks to innovative architectural solutions like adds-on. In that context, successful collaboration and co-creation with residents becomes even more central to the developments. Indeed densify the city will have to go hand in hand with the provision of new services for children, elderly people, young workers, etc.

[1]                      https://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/meeting-societys-expectations/housing-affordability-a-supply-side-tool-kit-for-cities#Find-the-land

Registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScER3cvrLN8RXQSiu6_BXnVERGMePT…​ 

Agenda: http://www.housingeurope.eu/event-1113/urban-densification-energy-effic…