Design criteria for adequate and affordable housing towards current social, demographic and economic trends

For more than three decades, the evolving social, demographic and economic situation in developed nations has presented important challenges for housing designers, planners and investors, including those involved in the field of public intervention in social housing. Despite their undeniable merits on a theoretical level, efforts to respond to these challenges through new approaches in housing design (Universal Design, Open Building Architecture and others) have not delivered the anticipated results. Thus, almost all housing units on the market today are designed to meet the needs of traditional households, which are still assumed to be universal, stable and homogeneous. It is critical that we look at why the traditional paradigms persist in the minds of the general public and most of those involved in housing. Key factors appear to be • the prevalence of short-term concerns among the general public and major stakeholders; • industry conservatism, cultural resistance, and the stylistic preferences of customers; • reciprocal ignorance of the legitimate concerns of researchers, decision makers and investors; • normative, legal and technical obstacles generated by multiple levels and scattered decision-making authorities; and • additional initial costs and financial risks associated with innovative projects. The challenges we must face from now on to ensure that housing is both adequate and affordable can be expressed in the form of design criteria. The following are particularly important: • Individual: a habitat that can be adjusted to the needs of each occupant in order to minimize the irritants of shared occupancy and accommodate individual desires for privacy and an independent lifestyle and social life. • Family: a habitat that offers the flexibility to accommodate the occupants’ daily and weekly cycles and the specific needs that result from the great diversity and ongoing evolution of households.