Housing policy and practice that broaden imaginations for housing futures

A series of policy briefs that elaborate on six key themes in housing policy, providing examples of innovative approaches and possible entry points to deliver equitable and inclusive outcomes. The themes are policy frameworks; governance approaches; participation; access to land; housing finance; and local building materials.

The Land Policy Observatory, launched by Public Works Studio, is an innovative online platform dedicated to producing and disseminating critical knowledge on land issues in Lebanon. By closely monitoring urban planning institutions, particularly the General Directorate of Urban Planning, the observatory examines laws, decrees, and policies affecting public property, housing, the environment, and urban development. It aims to promote equitable development and spatial justice within Lebanon's policy-making framework.

In an effort to advocate for affordable housing and more inclusive cities, Think Housing competition sought innovative proposals for inclusive urban housing options that challenge the dominant models of urban development by reversing ongoing displacements of low and middle-income residents from the city. Teams of multidisciplinary practitioners and/or students were invited to articulate feasible proposals that respond to the imperative of inclusive housing.

A research project in Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone investigates the factors affecting the governance of the supply chain for building materials used in informal settlements, seeking to fill a knowledge gap that is crucial to improving the housing conditions of the urban poor and achieving a fair transition towards a more sustainable building and construction industry.

A series of videos from across the world shows the lived experiences of those on the front line of housing injustice, and what housing justice means for them.

How do global coalitions of civil society, non-governmental and community-based organisations, social movements and academics, make visible, defend and produce habitat rights? This conversation with the President of the Habitat International Coalition (HIC), Adriana Allen, examines HIC’s perspectives on the practices, knowledges and pedagogies for translocal housing activism through reflections structured along several themes.

An open knowledge portal for advocacy on fair housing and spatial justice. Main themes: Awareness material, investigative reports, policies & strategies, data & mapping. By 10 Tooba.

A research initiative lead by a global cohort of scholars to advance innovative conceptual and methodological approaches around urban vacancy, occupation, and commoning. There have been a series of seminars and engagements on the questions of vacancy, occupation and commoning, all of which are geared towards understanding these phenomena in different contexts with a view to influencing policy and practice. By University of Cape Town, Human Sciences Research Council, TU Wien, Trinity College Dublin

A collaborative research project about informal land and building occupations in Bogota, Cape Town and Sao Paulo. Developed closely with activists, the City Occupied platform seeks to properly understand and reposition land occupations in urban development discourse and practice.

A publication arguing for a shift in South Africa's housing delivery model away from housing projects built by large private developers and towards proper support and funding for self-built housing. While quite technical in nature, the core argument that the state cannot withdraw its funding and support for housing construction as it moves away from direct provision is incredibly important in the South African context. By Isandla Institute & Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa