OCT 09 / 10.00 am – 12.00 am / BME K210 + online

Chairs:

Dr. Julianna SZABÓ PhD / Budapest, H
BME Department of Urban Planning and Design / Cohousing Budapest Association / E-Co-Housing

Dr. habil. Aleksandra DJUKIĆ PhD / Belgrade, Sr
UNI-BE Department of Urbanism / LinkenIn / Researchgate

 

SUMMARY

New Collective Experiences in the Central and Eastern European Housing Sector

As a result of (re)privatization of the housing stock, the growth of social disparities, and the one-sided housing policies, a distorted housing market has developed in most of the cities in the post-socialist countries, generating problems in affordability, mobility, sustainability, etc. Community housing initiatives could be a solution to these issues in many aspects. Despite their low proportion on the housing market in Western Europe, many researchers see community housing as a realistic and promising alternative to the traditional urban housing sectors, and especially to the single-family model. They could offer an alternative to urban real estate developments or the state or municipal social rental housing sector, melted to a minimum in these countries. However, experience has shown that the co-housing movement faces accumulated difficulties and show little practical results in the post-socialist region. 

Community housing experiments show a very heterogeneous picture in their philosophy, architecture, organizational and financing forms, community building methods, depending on the different housing traditions, legal framework, and housing policy trends of the countries. In this session, we are looking for researchers who are partners in founding an east-west European co-housing think-tank. Our topic is the analysis of the new experiments, the general obstacles to community housing experiments, and the creation of new models. We are waiting for abstracts on the following topics:

– the use of community housing models in urban development, especially in urban renewal processes,
– urban development, real estate policy, and housing policy instruments supporting community housing,
– participatory planning methodologies in community housing models,
– financing models of community housing models, methods for affordability,
– organizational and social models of community housing,
– experiences of co-housing development from the socialist period,
– co-housing for ageing population and multigenerational community,
– is co-housing the future of design?
– co-housing – sustainable community.

 

ABSTRACTS

Anica DRAGUTINOVIC & Prof. Uta POTTGIESSER / Delft Nl / Sr
Regenerative Design and Co-Commitment as Decisive Factors in Mass Housing Revitalisation

The paper introduces a participatory method for re-generation of the common spaces in residential neighbourhoods, especially in the case of post-war mass housing. The method combines regenerative design and co-commitment that are recognized as decisive factors in mass housing revitalization. The spatial focus of the research is on New Belgrade Blocks (Serbia) that are part of the larger phenomenon of the post-socialist urban heritage. The neighbourhoods that are part of this larger framework are having common attributes and facing similar issues nowadays. Comprehending and managing change in these neighbourhoods requires community-driven actions that would include all relevant stakeholders in the process through co-commitment. The actions, that would be based on regenerative and biophilic design, would ensure both maintenance of green spaces of the neighbourhoods, as well as integration of new nature-based solutions. The approach is enhancing the role of community and highlighting the important values of common spaces in ensuring the vitality of mass housing and co-creating healthy and liveable environments. The paper is contributing to contemporary discussions on resilient cities and communities and promoting participatory and integrated urban renewal.

 

Yulia BELOSLYUDTSEVA & Dr. Vitaly STADNIKOV / Moscow Ru
Problems of land division as an essential instrument of regulation and urban regeneration in Post-Soviet Russia

The transition to market economy in the post-socialist countries marked the need for the formation of property rights, a legal real estate market, and therefore zoning and land-use regulation system. Subsequently, the process of land subdivision has started and continues up till the present moment. This paper is focused on the practices of land division in two types of territories in Russian cities – that of historic cores and Soviet large housing estates. In the post-soviet economy, the consequence of the privatization policy shows that it is focused on the premises by themselves, but not the buildings and plots. In this article we highlight the spectrum of problems connected to this phenomenon, focusing on those related to management, financing, and renewal of territories.

 

Diana GALOS / Cluj Ro
Urban Housing in the Countryside: Community Building and Real Estate Policies

Today, Romania is characterized by a demographic decline in the traditional village as the active rural population chooses to live in the nearby urban centre or to migrate in Western Europe. At the same time, the rural areas located near the big cities became attractive for many families living in these cities because of the affordability of land and the vicinity of nature. Some move to residential developments built by investors, while others choose to build their new homes in metropolitan villages. In the latter case, the needs and interests of the newcomers are different from those of the local population. As a case study, in a shrinking village near Cluj-Napoca (a secondary city in Romania), an investor is building a city in miniature on the principles of New Urbanism. From a real estate point of view, the project is a success as all the houses are sold. This paper intends to analyse how New Urbanism principles apply to this project and what is its novelty, but also to discover the strategies the investors have for integrating an urban residential development in a typical Romanian village.

 

Zofia PIOTROWSKA / Warsaw Pl
Reimagining Housing Cooperatives in Poland: Transformation Strategies for the Future

Housing cooperatives have a long history and until this day they are recognized as an important partner in the implementation of sustainable housing policies. Most studies in the field have only focused on the context of Western European cities. This research set out to examine how the cooperative agenda is regarded in Central and Eastern Europe. It analyses the heritage of state socialism in countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the historical role of housing cooperatives as the main pillars of housing provision. The principal objective was to investigate the impact of this heritage on the present-day functioning of the housing cooperatives. The main focus is on the economic transformation and its consequences on cooperative housing. The research analysis in detail the context of Poland, where 16% of the housing stock is still owned by cooperatives. This number is diminishing as the apartments are gradually transformed into private ownership and there are only 2,700 new cooperative units built every year. The study implies that the legal conditions pushed cooperatives into a deadlock and limited their investment possibilities. It presents the existing potential for cooperatives to take part in the provision of affordable housing. The findings presented in this thesis prove that the cooperative heritage could be transformed into a truly democratic model. Therefore, instead of completely erasing it, the post-socialist legacy, in terms of the physical resources as well as their organizational structure, needs to be revised and restructured in order to revive the cooperative movement.

 

Annamária BABOS / Budapest H
Key Challenges of Implementing the Cohousing Model in CEE Countries Comparison Hungary and Poland

Nowadays the cohousing model is widely applied in different countries of Western Europe. The adaptation of this model is in its initial phase among the Central Eastern European countries (CEE). While this model is also capable of developing post-socialist urban housing, on a small-scale This essay proposes to map and categorize the key challenges of implementing the cohousing model in CEE countries, like the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The method is to analyse and compare the experimental cohousing projects in Hungary and Poland. In Hungary, cohousing NGOs and initial grassroots groups are formed, while in Poland projects are under development and some pilot projects are being implemented. The analysis is around the characteristics of creation and the adaptation of the cohousing model. It tries to unravel the reasons for the success of the Polish case studies, as well as to collect their difficulties. The expected outcome of the essay is a structural overview of the obstacles and possibilities of implementing the cohousing model in Hungary and the European post-socialist region. This overview could highlight the key challenges of the topic and it can be as a basis of the cohousing implementation framework.