There exists a clear and direct connection between housing and participatory design processes. Dwellers possess ‘expert’ knowledge of their own ways of living and so can meaningfully contribute to shaping domestic spaces that reflect their everyday needs. This knowledge positions them as valuable contributors to architectural decision-making processes related to housing design.

Take, then, the following proposal: greater effort should be made by architects to involve future inhabitants in shaping the architectural qualities of their living spaces – houses, flats, cottages, studios – in order to ensure their adequacy. Historically, this disposition towards co-creation in housing was reserved to private and exclusive commissions. Nowadays, many agree with the imperative to extend it to large social commissions; different strategies and tools are being tried out by architects and political actors as a means of meeting this imperative. Exemplary case studies include those of French architect and activist Patrick Bouchain, whose experimental ‘habitat participatif’ initiatives set benchmarks in community-driven development.