In the trajectory of “housing in diversity” we looked at two urgent urban questions: the housing question and the diversity question. The trajectory organised four Master Thesis Ateliers between 2018-2022. In each atelier, we focused on concrete cases such as the Sint-Bernadettewijk and Nieuw-Gent. In a transdisciplinary team, we looked for experimental concepts that could formulate an answer to the permanent crisis of urban housing and the challenge of living together in diversity. The trajectory focused on questions such as: How should cities socially and spatially deal with the ever diversifying society? Which could be solutions for the dysfunctional housing market of Ghent? How can social housing companies renew their patrimony and simultaneously shorten the waiting list?
In other words, the trajectory “housing in diversity” seized the diversity question to reflect on the future of urban housing policy. Putting the diversity issue and the housing issue in relation to each other required a rethinking of housing types and urban development models for integration, reinventing participation processes and citizen participation, and developing new policy instruments and management coalitions to realise broadening and diversity. The outputs were developed into several masters theses on the Nieuw-Gent case, on the Sint-Bernadettewijk case, on the Watersportbaan case and on arrival neighbourhoods.
Organizer: Luce Beeckmans (KULeuven)
