A conference addressing the urgent problem of housing and homelessness in the contemporary world and its particular effects in the UK context.

Organised by The Centre for Social Change and Justice at the University of East London

Dates: July 6^th and 7^th, 2023.

Location: University of East London University Square Stratford, 1 Salway Road, London, E15 1NF

FREE. Reserve ticket via Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-politics-of-housing-tickets-638780799567?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=escb

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Housing has become one of the definitive social issues of our times. At a time when unequal access to wealth and resources threatens to disenfranchise large sectors of the population, both in the UK and elsewhere, increasing numbers of people are insecurely housed and in danger of homelessness. Housing is no longer a private matter: rather its political and public dimensions are more visible through polarised urban populations experiencing the binaries of unaffordability, eviction and social cleansing set against speculative development, unfettered rents, large dormant properties and unattainable property prices. The meaning and uses of housing have also become more acutely ambivalent when its purpose as a market commodity is often in conflict with its use as shelter. 

As cities become inhospitable to any form of activity other than rent-seeking, young people and low income populations  in particular are being priced-out of the urban environment. These factors are already impacting the cultural life of cities and making life increasingly precarious for cultural producers, from independent retailers to performing artists.  The impact on collective and individual mental and physical health is likely to be considerable. 

How did we get here and what can we do about it? How can we live, work, create and care under these circumstances? And if we can’t, what are the consequences? What is the future of experimentation, innovation and access in the fields of architecture, social housing and household-creation? Where and how will we live in a century defined by unprecedented challenges, and how can we contribute to meaningful public conversations - and efficacious political struggles - around these crucial issues?

Invited Speakers:

Penny Bernstock (UCL)

Eoin O’Broin (TD for Dublin Mid-West), author of Home: Why Public Housing is the Answer

Tom Copley (Greater London Assembly Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development)

Cllr Aydin Dikerdem (Cabinet Lead for Housing, Wandsworth Council)

Michael Edwards (The Bartlett, UCL)

Mara Ferreri (Politecnico di Torino), author of Platform Economies and Urban Planning

Rokshana Fiaz, OBE (Mayor of Newham)

Arman Hashemi (University of East London)

Owen Hatherley, author of Red Metropolis: Socialism and the Government of London, Modern Buildings in Britain: a Gazetteer and many others

Loretta Lees (Boston University), co-author of Defensible Space on the Move

Cllr James McAsh (Cabinet Member for the Climate Emergency & Sustainable Development, Southwark Council)

Sem Moema (London Assembly Member for North East and Deputy Chair of Housing Committee)

Cllr Anthony Okereke (Leader of Greenwich Council)

Paul Watt (Birkbeck, University of London), author of Estate Regeneration & Its Discontents

 

 

Organising committee:  Penny Bernstock, Jeremy Gilbert, Lynne McCarthy, Anna Minton and Debra Benita Shaw