Affordable housing is a broader concept than social housing. While social housing is a highly regulated form of affordable housing, the term affordable housing is not defined anywhere in legislation. A spoke with six different stakeholders – architects, cooperatives, an urban development company and a project developer – who each sought to provide a better understanding of affordable housing from their own perspective.

The Scandinavia blocks consist of two apartment buildings in the former port area of Ghent with more than 300 homes. These were built in the 1960s as a social housing project by a private developer for people on low incomes. Today, almost all of the residents are owners, but they are economically fragile, which means that the necessary renovation of the buildings will force many to sell their homes. On the initiative of the city of Ghent, in collaboration with the Ghent City Architect and with the support of Stedenbeleid Vlaanderen, a concept study was commissioned last year into the possibilities for urban integration, energy transition and the quality of living in the buildings. A spoke with Tomas Ooms (Studio Tuin en Wereld) and Harold Fallon (Agwa), who are working with Domus Mundi to develop the concept study and present it to the City.