Affordable Housing Forum

The challenge of decent housing for all groups of society is evidently growing in a context of contemporary neo-liberal developments in almost all western countries and in a growing number of developing countries. Market-oriented housing policies still often put ownership models in favor. At the same time the wider implications of this consist of inadequate supply and unaffordable offers only for the middle-income and upper classes. The economic and human toll of the housing affordability gap is enormous and still increasing. Alternative tested and/ or novel models of organizing and financing housing (Co-Housing, etc.) are sparsely promoted nor systematically studied. It is the high interest of the ETH Wohnforum – ETH CASE to explore more in the theoretical and practical discussion of housing policies and measures, financial and organizational as well as social models of low-cost /affordable housing.  They may be historical experiments or contemporary ones, state-subsidized, by private investors, or not-for-profit oriented, bottom up or top down models. The research and knowledge platform is the “Affordable Housing Forum“ at ETH Wohnforum - ETH CASE.

The aims of the Forum are:

• to intensify research and innovation on low cost housing, analyze and compare these models within local contexts and the global tendencies
• to evaluate existing housing models and mechanisms
• to increase the knowledge and qualify the involved actors
• to put the focus on the financial and the social dimensions of affordable housing
• and to develop education, mediation and participation in affordable housing