Back to school with... Andrea Prins - session #2

The second in a series of three evenings about social housing, with Andrea Prins, Bernd Vlay and Anne-Jo Visser. Taking place on 18 February

Session #2 - THE MEANING OF SOCIAL
Affordable homes for all? Social Housing between crisis and creativity

After being ignored for a long time, the lack of affordable, social housing in the Netherlands has become ubiquitous. In the current debate, most of the attention is focused on numbers: too few homes are being built compared to what should be needed. High construction costs are used as an argument to make social housing seem like an unprofitable investment. Moreover, there is a maze of rules that people must navigate to qualify for social housing. This narrowing perspective on numbers and regulations, overlooks something important: the resident and the experience of habitation itself. As a result, many (young) people do not even consider living in a social project. Not only is social housing discouragingly scarce, it also suffers from a negative image. In this series we discuss these issues from different perspectives. What do decent spatial floor plans look like? What do decent spatial floor plans look like? What could, and should, the term “social” encompass? And why do we know so little about alternatives to home ownership?

The meaning of social

On this second evening in the series, we will focus on the meaning of social. In the Netherlands, social housing is now primarily reserved for the poor or those in trouble - a scarce resource, burdened with stigma and prejudice against its residents. But what if "social" didn’t just mean help for individuals in need, but instead reflected a broader societal responsibility? This isn’t just wordplay; it’s a fundamental shift in perspective. Rather than viewing housing as a personal issue, it becomes a collective, socio-political priority.

Together with the Austrians architect Bernd Vlay we will look at examples from Vienna and/or Graz (Austria), where social housing is available for everyone who wants to pay a fair rent for a moderate home, making social housing a basic facility for all.