Tackling the Global Housing Challenges: Relevance and Replicability of Switzerland’s and Uruguay’s Housing Cooperatives’ Policies and Strategies

In a global context characterised by the governmental withdrawal from the housing sector, the commodification of housing, and the inability of the private sector to cater to the needs of low-income people, housing cooperatives are being rediscovered as a third way in the provision of affordable housing. However, questions related to the transferability of the housing cooperative model have thus far hardly been researched.

Switzerland and Uruguay are internationally recognised as world leaders in cooperative housing and are committed to share their knowledge and experience internationally. This raises the following questions: What is the global relevance and replicability of their approaches? What are their international cooperation strategies? What are the socio-economic, cultural and institutional conditions for housing cooperatives to play a role in the provision of adequate and affordable housing?

The project addresses these questions through an interdisciplinary approach. Research will be conducted in Uruguay and Switzerland and on a sample of the countries with whom they have established international cooperation. The project contributes to gain a better understanding on the role of international cooperation in the dissemination of best practices and on the opportunities and challenges to tackle the global affordable housing crisis through housing cooperatives.