Affordable housing

The main goal of the master thesis is to findi new ways to increasing the stock of affordable housing in Tallinn and therefore move towards a new understanding in the society that housing is a basic human right which cannot be left solely to the market economy.

Social housing contributes to tackle exclusion by providing affordable homes of decent quality standards in accessible places by helping households to achieve social integration through the labour market, reducing disparities in wealth and income, prevent social polarization by combating spatial segregation and improving quality of life through its potential to increase energy-efficiency. To reach these goals I have proposed three different strategies as the experience of older markets show that there isn’t a single solution for these problems and key to success is to include all parties and to establish cooperation.\nThe first approach deals with publicly financed rental housing by analyzing their position in the city, architectural and constructional properties and potential problems. This is influenced by the government’s plan to help municipalities build more social housing.\nThe second strategy involves the private sector in creating affordable housing through inclusionary zoning legislation. IZ policies require or encourage new residential developments to make a certain percentage of the housing units affordable to low- or moderate income residents.\nThe third part of the thesis deals with engaging the residents in the design and construction process of affordable housing. This supplements the traditional methods of creating social housing with grassroots initiative and participatory design which has the potential to transform the future resident’s roll from a customer to a builder and maker.