Addressing the Affordable Housing Crisis

The Blended Intensive Programme “Housing Solutions in the 21stCentury Cities: Facing the Affordable Housing Crisis” is a short-duration course promoted under the Erasmus+ initiative. Adopting an interdisciplinary and “learning-by-doing” approach, the BIP has both online and in-person components, combining seminars by specialists and private and public housing sector actors, case studies, study visits, and practical work with tutorial support.

The programme includeded main components:

• October 23, 2024: Inaugural session featuring lectures by international experts on AI in housing research, interdisciplinary methodologies, and urban density trends.
• November 21, 2024: Final online session after the in-person experience, where participants present a booklet integrating their assignments and findings.

The in-person experience consists of academic seminars, industry insights, and hands-on exercises:

• Seminars by leading academics:
  Joaquim Montezuma (Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão) and Sónia Alves (Instituto de Ciências Sociais) discuss affordable housing in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and relevant public policy strategies like inclusionary zoning.
• Real-world case studies: Presentations by public and private sector experts, including Susana Rato and Joana Couto (Lisbon’s Urban Rehabilitation Society) and Fernando Vasco Costa (CEO of Vizta).
  A study visit to an affordable housing rehabilitation project in Lisbon.
• Applied urban planning exercise: A hands-on project in Odivelas, tackling real urban housing challenges with support from the municipality’s Strategic Planning and Special Projects Office.

Institutional Framework and Participants:

The BIP is led by Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon / Department of Architecture and Urbanism (DAU), coordinated by Sandra Marques Pereira and Pedro Pinto (Iscte/DAU and DINÂMIA’CET-Iscte), in collaboration with:
Institutional Partners
Eight European universities: UAntwerp (Belgium), U Belgrade (Serbia), TH OWL University (Germany), Hasselt U (Belgium), STU Bratislava (Slovakia), “Gh. Asachi” Technical University of Iasi (Romania), U Salerno (Italy), and Iscte (Portugal).
Municipality of Odivelas (Lisbon Metropolitan Area).

Participants:
37 students from participating universities, primarily from architecture backgrounds.
16 professors and researchers from the partner institutions, including leading names like Selin Geerinckx, Stephanie Stratmann, and Hans Sachs.

Associated Projects:
SIZA_3City / SIZA/UES/0014/2019 (Foundation for Science and Technology – FCT)
InCities (European Commission-funded project)
Production Team
Fábio Rodrigues Correia – Design and development of support materials.
Tristão de Quiroga – Production assistant.

This programme provides an exceptional opportunity for students, researchers, and professionals to engage with cutting-edge affordable housing solutions in an interdisciplinary and practice-based environment