Today, we face a widespread housing crisis on a worldwide scale, and it is about to inflict societal damage and disruption, also in Western societies. With this symposium, we want to address the problems surrounding housing and envision solutions to those. In addition to issues of architecture and urban planning, the underlying economic and political realities which dictate housing need a radical rethink. The present is not working at all. What our symposium tries to achieve are new ways of housing, elaborated by the different stakeholder groups relevant for housing and urban planning, such as private business, investors, architects, and government officials. To find these new ways, the critical success factors have to be defined for providing the necessary solutions.

Also in architectural terms, housing is not just about houses. The city is to be regarded as a whole, delivering quality of life for its inhabitants, provided by its architectural ensembles, its houses and other buildings, its places, streets, and parks. As housing does, a city provides identity. How to make housing within a city fabric? Speaking of ‘Housing’ is speaking of what identifies us, what belongs to us, what characterizes us, and what manifests our community, society, and culture. Housing has become the most sensitive subject in architecture today and demands in-depth reflection on an ongoing basis. On the one hand, we need affordable housing to avoid social disruption, without destroying the cultural heritage. On the other hand, ‘affordable’ is not identical with just building standardized housing blocks where people get isolated and alienated, as has been the case in many major cities around the world.

These considerations also apply to new cities to be built, and to new parts of an existing city. Properly built new city spaces can provide a sense of identity and community as old cities held, by building city spaces where life can be vibrant and at the same time functional. Reflecting on housing includes concepts about the city as a consistent whole and as a place of identity and belonging. Urban planning has to consider the quality of life and not just functionalities. Therefore, housing is not just about houses but has to include considerations and plans to revitalize the public space and its various forms of appropriation. This space is intended to be intercultural, plural and to safeguard rights and access for all.

Our symposium will last for three days, having as its goals the examination, analysis, and the creation of solutions in regards to developing a working plan that presents housing concepts that will allow the city of today and the future to be a viable space for human beings. An important factor of concern will be how to combine the private and public sectors in a positive manner for the community, society, and its cultural values. On the first day, we will deal with Recognizing the City, as a base for elaborating solutions. On the second day, we have to Re-interpret Housing and elaborate critical success factors for different stakeholders working together. On the third day, we will Re-imagine Space in the light of a new public/private space dynamics and new housing typologies.