Community of practice: Housing and Equitable Cities

This community of practice brings together a network of scholars, activists, policy makers and practitioners interested in promoting access to adequate urban housing and more equitable cities. The COP is rooted in an understanding that cities around the world, especially in rapidly urbanising countries in the global South, face a systemic housing crisis that is interlinked with issues of poverty, urban inequalities, and socio-spatial segregation. An increasing number of urban residents are excluded from formal property markets and state provision of housing, thus relying on informal practices to inhabit urban spaces and access opportunities. As such, practices of land and building occupations, informal rental housing, tented camps and urban commoning become integral features of urban landscapes, considerably shaping our neighbourhoods and cities. At the same time, housing and real estate function as important income-generating and wealth accumulation opportunities, albeit very unequally distributed across cities and the urban population. This COP centres the role of housing in urbanisation processes by pursuing three overarching goals:

  1. To research how housing policy and practice shape urban residents’ wellbeing, their access to the city, and larger processes of urbanization
  2. To contribute to local, national and global policy debates on how housing can help to create more inclusive and equitable cities
  3. To contribute to global theory from a Southern perspective on housing and urbanization 

Members of the COP Housing and Equitable Cities are currently involved in the following projects: For more about this project please click on link below: COP:  Membership list  

Read more about their activities here

Activities between April and September 2024