Visualizing Equitable Housing: A Prototype for a Framework

Margaux Lespagnard (), Waldo Galle and Niels De Temmerman
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Margaux Lespagnard: Department of Architectural Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Waldo Galle: Department of Architectural Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Niels De Temmerman: Department of Architectural Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1050 Brussels, Belgium

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-26

Abstract: Many citizens, researchers, civil organizations, and policymakers strive for equitable housing. Changing demographics, rising housing prices, and material and energy crises all add to the complexity of that quest. Responding to it, even on a project scale, requires a holistic view. Yet practitioners often work in niches. In contrast, an overarching, interdisciplinary understanding of equitable housing by all stakeholders is expected to bring more sustainable and just housing. In the academic literature, researchers have already defined many criteria of what equitable housing can entail. Nevertheless, this knowledge does not seep through to practitioners who design and develop equitable housing projects. Therefore, this paper proposes a prototype for an equitable housing framework. This framework is designed to facilitate an open discussion between all stakeholders in a project. To develop this framework, an explorative literature study and fifteen semi-structured interviews resulted in a long list of 418 considerations for equitable housing. These considerations are socially, financially, and environmentally oriented. To structure the considerations, they were categorized into fifteen dimensions and visualized in a doughnut-like framework. The framework is designed to encourage users to vocalize their needs and intentions, and to trigger systemic insights. It directs them towards sustainable, social, and inclusive decisions, based on the needs of all stakeholders involved. Moreover, the equitable housing framework allows understanding and analysing their thought patterns and intentions.

Keywords: affordable housing; building design; user participation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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