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This document of synthesis has been coordinated by the Lead Partner of the SUITE Project with the collaboration of all the partners who have been taking part in SUITE The Housing Project: the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the Lawaetz Foundation; the city of Iasi; the Krakw Municipality; Medway Council; Nantes Mtropole; Newcastle Upon Tyne; Rennes Mtropole; Santiago de Compostela City Council and EMUVISSA; the city of Tallinn; as well as the URBACT experts who worked jointly with the project since its beginning in 2008: Darinka Czischke and Heidrun Feigelfeld. We would also like to show our special gratitude to CECODHAS and to the Group of Counsellors: International Union of Tenants, Feantsa and the EUROCITIES Working Group Housing. And, of course to all the members of the ULSG in the nine cities and those colleagues who have worked in the project in the past. Thanks to all of you, this is your work!

Anita Leirvik and Beln Mendoza SUITE project coordinators Lead Partner Santiago de Compostela City Council

Table of contents
Preface................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Introduction to SUITE The Housing Project..................................................................... 9 Local Action Plans SUITE An overview by the Lead Expert......... 11 Local Action Plan summaries:.......................................................................................................................... 16 The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg...................................................................... 18 Iasi City Council.................................................................................................................................................................. 23 Social integration in Krakw...................................................................................................................... 28 Medway Council................................................................................................................................................................ 32 Nantes Mtropole........................................................................................................................................................... 35 Newcastle City Council......................................................................................................................................... 39 Rennes Mtropole.......................................................................................................................................................... 42 Santiago de Compostela City Council.................................................................................. 46 Tallinn City...................................................................................................................................................................................... 50 Conclusions.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 53 Credits.................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 59

SUITE The Housing Project

Social and Urban Inclusion Through Housing

I sincerely hope, at the end of this experience, that the commitment undertaken by Santiago de Compostela to lead the SUITE project has lived up to your expectations. For our part, we have humbly endeavoured to contribute the experience and knowledge acquired during more than twenty years governing the city, in oder to guarantee the objectives of social integration and access to housing. The spatial spheres into which the urban area of Santiago is arranged are designed to integrate neighbourhoods and peripheries, starting from an urban development model that lays special emphasis on factors such as sustainable development, historical, urban and environmental restoration, and social integration. This model is based on the goals attained by rehabilitation and infrastructure policies, by means of which we have strived to generate habitable spaces around the city centre, where different types of families, of different ages and ethnic groups, with different economic and educational levels, can live together. A decade ago we set up our own public housing company, EMUVISSA, which, in collaboration with other state and regional administrations, manages the urbanisation of land and development of social housing for low-income families. Nevertheless, a solution was required for groups at risk of social exclusion. The SUITE project has given us the opportunity not only to continue advancing in the study of multiple factors to be taken into account to undertake sustainable urban development, but also to incorporate solutions for overcoming the crisis and laying the basis for a different framework for the future. The work method developed by the SUITE project network has proved to be an ideal system of analysis and exchange for the cities, since it enables us to approach the problem from a close-up, urban perspective; exchange experiences with other cities; and prepare a specific project, in which we have been able to get the private sector to understand our proposal and cooperate in the implementation of public policies. The diagnosis about the situation of social housing in Europe, attained after this period of work and exchanges among the partners and other players not included in the project, has resulted in nine local action plans (LAP). Thanks to these valuable tools, we local governments can further proposals enabling us

to increase and improve our management capacity, in the face of new economic, social, environmental and demographic challenges regarding the future development of our cities. In short, by working together we have found the keys that may help us to overcome the crisis without compromising our future. The SUITE project has demonstrated such effectiveness in this first stage that, in my opinion, it would be a mistake not to continue. Those of us in Santiago offer to continue leading a second development phase, in which we look forward to seeing you all again in order to continue advancing together along the road we have undertaken. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their contributions and fine attitude at all times. It has been a real pleasure working with the teams from all of the nine participating cities. Thank you and see you soon.

Xos A. Snchez Bugallo Mayor of Santiago de Compostela Lead Partner SUITE Project

INTRODUCTION TO SUITE THE HOUSING PROJECT

By The Lead Partner
We have come a long way since we started working on the idea of submitting this SUITE project to URBACT in 2007 for its approval in 2008. Many months of hard work and exchanges between partners and other actors have gone by, and day by day the project has been enriched and enhanced, up to this moment for closure and summing up. This final project report includes a diagnosis on the situation of social housing in Europe; three reports on the working groups three lines of action established within the framework of the project (social, economic and environmental); and finally, an executive summary of each of the nine partners local action plans (LAP). This report intends to offer a brief summary of the comprehensive work carried out by the partner cities LAPs and of the added value of SUITE for local governments. The SUITE project involves a change in orientation and scale in the analysis of possible solutions for the challenges facing cities when it comes to promoting sustainable urban development. It also represents a change in the speed and response capacity of the European administration in the face of problems. The economic crisis in Europe paralyzed to a certain degree the reflection of member states on non-immediate problems. The steps taken in conceptual frameworks gave way to the urgent need for implementing measures and actions aimed at getting around the crisis. However, programs such as URBACT II allowed us to continue exchanging experiences and knowledge about sustainable urban development and, at the same time, to include quick solutions to help navigate the crisis and to establish a different action framework for the future. The SUITE network gives us the opportunity to make practical progress in our way of dealing with the crisis of social housing construction in the cities. We must underline several important aspects of the work done by the SUITE network: 1.- It allowed us to continue thinking beyond the momentary situation of crisis. 2.- It helps us carry on facing the need for social housing, despite economic and social changes. 3.- The experiences and projects of the partners improve social cohesion and mark the beginning of a strong commitment to sustainable supplies in the area of housing, i.e. they deal with areas of strategic interest to overcome the economic crisis without compromising the future. They focus on structural policies, and not on temporary factors. In this way, the projects developed by the partners allow us to move forward with proposals which tackle the threefold objective of the economic-socialenvironmental mix. The different projects put more or less weight on each of these components, de-

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pending on the specific needs of the city, but all of them contribute one or several elements to improve the steering ability of local authorities in the face of the new economical, social, ecological and demographic challenges posed by the future development of our cities. Santiago de Compostela, with the SUITE objectives in sight, offered to lead the project because the local government does not want to stop thinking about future strategic areas, although, of course, like all the other cities, it is in urgent need of immediate solutions to specific problems arising from the new economic situation. Our priority is to find a better balance between the three pillars (economic, social, and environmental) of sustainable development policies, especially within the framework of the structural policies necessary for social cohesion, such as housing and town planning initiatives. The government of Santiago has been promoting economic-social mix for two decades now, by means of town planning that is able to support social mix from the base, as well as the development and management of such planning to achieve the goals of social integration and housing. Moreover, this has been done in collaboration with other administrations, at both the national and regional levels. For 10 years, through the public company EMUVISSA, the local administration has managed land urbanization and the promotion of social housing for low income families. However, we still needed to cater for a segment of the population that does not fit into the group of possible buyers of social housing: those at risk of social exclusion. There is no steady framework for reflection to help us move forward in the study and analysis of offers aimed at such social groups. That is the reason why SUITE poses a unique opportunity. First of all, it places the problem on the right scale for study: town level. The problems we face call for a close-up analysis of the different situations, for reflection amongst partners with similarities and who act at an urban level. Second, a commitment is made to work constantly, contrasting opinions, comparing actions, adding value to the proposals through the experience of other cities. A third advantage is its pragmatic requirement to develop a specific project with a programme for its implementation. And lastly, the inclusion of all the sectors involved in the action is made possible. The LAP have been an extremely important step forward in the cooperation between private and public sectors, in subjects that the public sector has difficulty understanding.

In the framework of this platform for reflecting, on the right scale, about the problems faced by social housing in cities, all the partners felt comfortable working together and being required to work constantly, in order to meet the difficulties posed by the process of project drafting and designing. And we felt comfortable because we are all cities, local administrations, and municipal governments, discussing our problems and working together with other local actors that conform the URBACT Local Support Groups established in each of the partners cities. We have worked non-stop to prepare the exchange of ideas, solutions and practices carried out in all the different general meetings that were held in some of the project partners cities. This series of meetings will culminate with the official closure meeting in Brussels, with the support of the Urban Intergroup of the European Parliament and CECODHAS. The suitability of SUITE for addressing the cities problems has therefore been proved. SUITE is a useful tool thanks to its scale, form, work pace and because it generates specific projects. The future improvement of this tool for inter-city learning and cooperation might depend on the support received by the projects in future editions, to boost the practical aspect of SUITE and evaluate its results. We can only improve what we can measure, and we need an implementation phase to check the results. Continuity is essential for this project, which should not stop at this planning phase. We need a second stage, and that is why Santiago is prepared to continue working and once again lead a project that is ready to take a step forward and specify execution actions, for all the projects developed by each of the partners. This is the challenge facing everyone that has been a part of the SUITE project. Mercedes Rosn Councillor for Housing and Planning Santiago de Compostela City Council Lead Partner - SUITE project

LOCAL ACTION PLANS SUITE

An overview by The Lead Expert

The role of Local Action Plans for The LAP Development Process an URBACT network
Local Action Plans (LAPs) play one of the main roles in the work programme of projects in URBACT II. The fundamental idea is to create a more direct and effective link between experiences gained at transregional and transnational levels and local conception, planning and implementation by anchoring the EU exchange at the project partners local level. URBACT Local Support Groups (ULSGs), associations of relevant actors on the spot, from city administration but also as far as possible from further afield, develop a Local Action Plan on a theme that is part of the project theme while exchanging experience and ideas as fruitfully as possible with the transnational level. The selection and definition of the partners sustainability focus was the starting point for them to choose their theme on the basis of the urgency of the problem and their interests. This decision was taken after an iterative process of discussion, questioning and analysis. As a further step we considered the inclusion of the theme as far as possible in a currently running or planned activity of the city/ agglomeration (a housing programme, a concept for the future, the departure point of a pilot project etc.) to produce synergies and increase the chances of realisation. This was also to be accompanied by limits, whether according to target groups, the legal form of housing (ownership, tenancy) or new construction or renovation among others, in order to reach an adequate level of concretisation. A pilot project was also to be conceived in so far as it made sense in the LAPs approach. The timing and content of steps for realisation were to be defined. It was also indispensable to clarify funding possibilities.

The Thematic Framework of the

LAPs in SUITE
In the case of this URBACT project, SUITE, of course, the LAPs developed by the nine partners revolve around the subject of housing, or more precisely, around housing programmes of various sizes and on various levels or closely connected housing-related analysis and planning. Housing and programmes concerned with it are indeed a very wide field and the project approach of integrated development with the inclusion of both social and economic as well as environment-related factors provides no limitation, on the contrary.

The URBACT Local Support

Groups ULSG
After coming to a decision the URBACT Local Support Groups began local drafting work. Those who

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took part in the transnational exchange (and the participation of more ULSG members of the partners was expressly desired) reported their findings back to the ULSG, or conveyed questions to LAPs in the exchange activities of the network. Note: the creation of so-called URBACT Local Support Groups was an integral component of all URBACT II projects from the beginning. Local work groups which, starting from the local office concerned with the project (mostly city council departments), were intended to include as wide a circle as possible of actors relevant for the LAP (stakeholders, institutions and other actors) develop the LAP together, ideally with intensive exchange with the projects transnational discussion level. In accordance with this, SUITEs ULSG brought together a wide circle of participants. The main groups to be included were several different city council departments and similar institutions in the field of construction, architecture and housing management and administration, residents representatives and relevant research fields (urbanism, technology, sociology). While the development of the plan was progressing the circles of participants were repeatedly checked and modified according to new aspects if necessary.

and USLG concept and the fact should not be concealed that this naturally also goes hand in hand with the difficulties and imponderabilities of a learning process which is additionally characterised by widely different national and local circumstances, traditions, political situations and assigned areas of competence, as well as, in our case, also by forms of housing which are often difficult to compare. This was already shown by the initial discussion in the network to clarify the meaning of the term social housing for the individual partners. The ULSG members set themselves the challenge of bringing their activities related to a Local Action Plan into line with their everyday work and obligations, securing support on policy and decision-making level, reacting to changes of personnel in their own ranks and fitting in with the composition of the ULSG according to the Local Action Plan concretisation. As an example, local experience and routine are widely different in relation to the inclusion of residents or their representatives. Overall however, national differences should not be overestimated, as experience here shows. Commitment, support and range of involvement are strongly influenced by local situations and do not greatly reflect the generally supposed differences of mentality, new/old Member States, convergence or competitive regions. In any case motivated individuals play an important role, motors who carry the planning. On the special difficulties of obtaining access to European ERDF subsidies for projects to do with housing, please see the comments towards the end of this chapter. There have been targeted endeavours to ensure that such a LAP should not wear itself out in an individual action prompted by an EU project but should also be sustainable over time so that mid to long-term improvements are set in motion. All the projects LAPS meet this requirement and are aiming to secure local and national funds for continuation.

permits certain groupings according to interesting criteria. On the one hand of course this reflects the three pillars of sustainability and the above-mentioned primary focus selected in the LAP (e.g. focus on the environment), on the other hand the type of LAP is a motivation to comparisons. It is however obvious that in many fields there is already a close link between primarily the social and affordability and that a sharp separation is neither possible nor meaningful. We identified four groups, each with two or three LAPs. More than mixing: balanced neighbourhoods and building communities. (from social sustainability/social mix to a synergy) - Hamburg, Krakw and Iasi Improving access to housing: beyond businss as usual. (from economic sustainability /affordability to a synergy) Santiago de Compostela and Nantes Mtropole Sustainable housing: thinking outside the box. (from economic sustainability /affordability to a synergy) - Newcastle upon Tyne and Rennes Mtropole Beyond ecology: holistic effects, with people for people. (from environmental sustainability to synergy) - Medway Council and Tallinn Below are some remarks about these groups and their LAPs. For details of the LAPs themselves, please see the brief descriptions. This report can naturally give only a highly abbreviated insight into the individual LAPs. Links are therefore provided for access to more detailed versions. Some of these more detailed descriptions are also available in the national language, which makes a great deal of sense because the fundamental level of communication should be the local. 1 More than mixing: balanced neighbourhoods and building communities. (from social and economic sustainability to a synergy) Hamburg, Germany (Hamburg Region): Socially Compatible Refurbishment (SCoRe) Iasi, Romania (Nord East Region): Affordable Housing - Policies regarding the provision of affordable housing Krakw, Poland (Malopolskie Region): Local Action Plan for social mix in housing (KRAKW-MIX) What these LAPs have in common is that they are primarily concerned with the question of how affordable housing for low earners can be provided or safeguarded with the acceptance of the neighbourhood

while providing good quality. Municipal housing programmes combined with accompanying measures and targeted funding were drawn upon as tools. Because the Hamburg ULSG sees its main concern chosen for the LAP as the early avoidance of negative effects of gentrification, on the basis of an existing implementation, it is testing how far models for community building projects (based on special funding frameworks) can be an efficient tool in the development of balanced neighbourhoods. The result will be a manual addressed towards local to European levels. The City of Iasi is developing a comprehensive housing programme with the aim of reducing the high demand through extending the supply of social housing, targeted purchasing of building land, benefits and supporting services for especially affected groups such as the homeless and Roma. The City of Krakw has the ambitious aim of tackling several urgent tasks at the same time: formulating a new housing policy, facilitating social integration through support for residents, publicity campaigns for better acceptance of social housing construction by neighbourhoods, image building and a more efficient housing and benefits distribution system with the emphasis on measures which can be applied short-term and economically. All three managed to integrate each aspect of sustainability in the LAP in one way or another. Besides evaluation of the efforts towards social mixing, keeping access open for households with special needs and low income (e.g. sole earners) and comprehensive resident participation Hamburg also took notice of the environmental standards achieved in the renovation. Besides its attention to affordability and accessibility for priority groups (young households) and efficient delivery, Iasi is also taking on the responsibility of putting energy efficiency in the foreground, especially in new construction. Krakw on the other hand continued its raising of environmental standards under affordable conditions already begun in social housing pilot projects. 2 Improving access to housing: beyond business as usual. (from economic sustainability to a synergy) Nantes Mtropole, France (Pays-de-laLoire Region): Affordable housing in Nantes Mtropole (LCH - Low-Cost Housing) Santiago de Compostela, Spain (Lead Partner) (Galicia Region): Increased offer of rental housing (To Rent)

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Progress and Synthesis

The partners and their local work groups received stimuli from the networks concern with the three focuses of the project (social, economic and environmentally related sustainability in housing) which were approached step by step. The passing on of material, the questioning before the thematic workshops, the workshops themselves, comparisons between the LAPS and the post-processing gave food for thought for the further development of the drafts. The next important step in the LAP development was the joint analysis of how far the various LAPs had already achieved an integrating quality, i.e. having also sufficiently taken account of the other two factors as well as their respective sustainability focus in order to create a synthesis. This is the most fundamental requirement for the aim of the project. Ultimately this was mainly provided by the Synthesis Workshop with preliminary questioning. This is where the final stimuli for as integrative an orientation as possible for the LAPs was achieved before completion.

The Broad Variety of the LAPs

On account of the previously mentioned wide spectrum, both in the chosen theme of housing as well as the set challenge of aiming for a synergy of all three pillars of sustainability as well as the different basic local housing situations, the result according the type of LAPs turned out, as expected, to be widely different. We see this as a special quality because it demonstrates in how different a way and under what different conditions this synergy can by all means be achieved. This impressively confirms that the project achieved its aim.

Challenges
New ground was broken in URBACT with the LAP

A Grouping
However, examination of the new LAPs nevertheless

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The aim better access to affordable housing is shared by both LAPs but the paths towards this are very different due to widely different histories in housing and the various forms of organisation and allocation of responsibility. This makes a comparison all the more interesting. The contents of the LAPs are contributions to housing programmes which open up new ways of access to housing. Santiago de Compostela is dedicating itself to a paradigm shift which is still not widespread in Spain in that it is changing over to providing lower earners with affordable housing to rent rather than as owner-occupied. This is intended to be tested as a pilot project on the basis of new construction with accompanying examination. Nantes Mtropole, an administrative unit which stretches far beyond the city and which implements the common policy, including housing policy, of the whole agglomeration, is extending its already ambitious housing programme in order to cover the still existing great demand for affordable home ownership for young first-time buyers. This is intended to stop young households moving away from the agglomeration. The core is the testing of pilot projects in compact individual housing operations and the promotion of such developments in professional affordable home ownership workshops. The achievement of integrated sustainability was also visibly the aim in this group. Accompanying the new provision Santiago de Compostela is tying in easily accessible rental flats with preparatory and accompanying housing related social services. High environmental standards have been set as an aim in new construction. Nantes Mtropole: The orientation of the LAP and the chosen pilot project towards densification, ecoconstruction principles, a greater mix in the types of housing and the connection to the numerous already existing social services related to housing guarantee attention to all sustainability criteria. The city of Nantes, the core of Nantes Mtropole, has recently been allocated the Green Capital Award 2013 as a pioneer in matters of environmental quality and brings its experience into the LAP. 3 Sustainable housing: thinking outside the box. (from economic sustainability to a synergy) Newcastle upon Tyne , UK (North East Region): Urban Village - An inclusive and mutually supportive community Rennes Mtropole, France (Bretagne Region): Container housing in Rennes Mtropole (B3 Built By Boxes)

As different as these plans may be both of these LAPs have a special approach the direct implementation of an innovative concept and a strongly experimental character. In Newcastle the experimental element lies in a concept for the development of a clearly socially mixed community with the inclusion of heavily disadvantaged groups. It is ultimately secondary whether new construction or the refurbishment of old building substance is the basis. Despite a tense financial situation a pilot project is under development. Cost arguments are dominant but the social components, including support services are also very closely interwoven. In its urgent search for affordable housing Rennes Mtropole, also an agglomeration administration of a newer kind, is aiming for a significant reduction in building costs and therefore experimenting with new building material, norming and variability. Containers are to be included as basic elements. As in Nantes Mtropole the target groups are young families of low-income buyers in first-time home-ownership. A prototype and a pilot project serve as the test object. Despite the aim of large cost reductions both LAPs also meet the demand for social and environmental sustainability in order to provide integrated quality. In Newcastle through the permeation of the cohabitation concept with holistic environmentally-friendly principles, in Rennes Mtropole with great attention to technically high environmental and energy-saving standards in the construction design as well as intended residents participation. 4 Beyond ecology: holistic effects, with people, for people. (from environmental sustainability to a synergy) Medway Council, UK (South East Region): Developing a focussed property-specific DATABASE (Medway In Focus) Tallinn, Estonia (Eesti Region): Energy saving in social housing (ESIS) Here are the two LAPs whose primary approach is in environmental concerns. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia has set itself the aim of demonstrating energysaving solutions in the field of social housing and introducing them into the private sector as part of an ambitious overall strategy for the promotion of local energy-saving policies. Two low-energy standard social housing buildings as well as semi-detached and detached homes for orphans serve as pilot projects. Medway Council has developed a detailed houseby-house database for the whole area on the basis of which housing standard, choice and affordability of housing is intended to be improved along with health and well-being. Fuel poverty should also be reduced.

However, both LAPs are also strongly entwined with other sustainability criteria. Tallinn is targeting low-income groups for whom affordable small flats should be made available and they are also creating provision for a special target group which takes first place in the priorities in the social field orphans. Medway Council will not only be able to make a considerable reduction in energy requirement in old building stock on the basis of its database, analysis and coordinated actions but also address many other measures to improve the housing situation. By bringing together initiatives and resources (including an approach to include residents) it has a strongly integrative character. Furthermore, in the pilot field access is being sought to a new group of migrants from Slovakia, presumably Sinti or Roma.

grammes (e.g. in peripheral areas). It can be seen that all three structural funds can by all means be drawn upon for the implementation of various aspects of SUITEs LAPs. They have also been discussed in the project and, as provided for in the structure of URBACT projects, efforts are being made to set up contact to the regional or national authorities managing these funds, the Managing Authorities. However, our short experience has shown that for numerous reasons access to application for such funds for LAPs could not be established. These include the novelty of the material for all participants (also for Managing Authorities in the relevant regions), the sometimes lacking relationship to the Operational Programmes, difficulties in definition, contact problems, a lack of national co-financing possibilities and the advanced point in time of the funding period. At that time only one of the LAPs, Tallinn, has achieved a high level of concretisation in relation to ERDF funding. However, since all the plans have at least a mediumterm horizon, there are opportunities to be well prepared to apply for funds in the next funding period. It is therefore all the more important, also for the SUITE network, to establish a clearly structured future Cohesion Policy which accounts for the importance of housing in its integration in urban developments and which recognises components of housing which go beyond national borders into a common European responsibility and which provides relevant funds. Please see these brief descriptions of Local Action Plans of the SUITE networks partners which we hope are informative and provide stimulus for your own innovative action.

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Funding by the European

Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Possibilities to receive ERDF funds for plans connected with housing have developed very dramatically during the duration of the programme, which means also during the SUITE project period. Overall there are three existing forms of funding. However, they brought no new funds with them but were conceived as a redistribution of existing resources. At the beginning of the project there was already one form of funding, the ERDF Programme 2007-2013 which provides the opportunity to include housingrelated funding for regions in New Member States (the EU 12) up to an amount of 2% of the total ERDF allocation. In particular, this funding is intended to promote the refurbishment of the common parts of residential buildings, measures to increase energyefficiency and the transformation of buildings owned by non-profit or public bodies into affordable housing. Triggered by the crisis in Europe, urgent social priorities and by discussion on Climate Change, two further forms of funding were added from April 2009, now for all Member States. In the first of these forms expenditure on energy efficiency improvements and on the use of renewable energy in existing housing is eligible (up to an amount of 4%). The proposal was intended to pay special attention to the most vulnerable households who too often suffer from fuel poverty. Finally, in April 2010 the funding spectrum for all Member States was extended to housing-related expenditure for marginalised groups, such as Roma communities and others. This should also make it possible to put in place measures against exclusion (up to 3%) outside integrated urban renewal pro-

Heidrun Feigelfeld Lead Expert SUITE Prroject

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LOCAL ACTION PLAN SUMMARIES

A synthesis of the Local Action Plans of the partners of SUITE The Housing Project
This section represents an overview of the Local Action Plans of the nine partners that have been working together in SUITE The Housing Project

City of Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

City of Iasi (Romania)

Newcastle Upon Tyne (United Kingdom)

Nantes Mtropole (France)

City of Hamburg (Germany)

Medway Council (United Kingdom)

Tallinn CIty (Estonia)

Rennes Mtropole (France)

City of Krakw (Poland)

modernization of housing, influx of high-priced shops, migration of the resident population.

Actions taken (Local Action Plan)

Main Focus
The Local Action Plan of Hamburg that is going to be carried out within the framework of the SUITE project aims at making a contribution to preventing the negative effects of gentrification. A special form of housing that has become increasingly popular during recent years is housing projects which are carried out by so-called BaugemeinschaftenII. Relating to the experience gained from a large number of building community projects in Hamburg, there is strong evidence that these projects are able to cause a positive impact on all three areas of sustainability on which the SUITE project is based: 1. Creation of an appropriate social mix that contributes to a stabilization of the local neighbourhood. 2. Provision of affordable housing through a creative combination of various financing models (e.g. combination of privately owned flats and cooperative rental apartments in one project). 3. Provision of refurbished housing with a high environmental standard. Therefore the Local Action Plan focuses mainly on the constructive impacts housing projects - especially those which are undertaken in redevelopmentneedy buildings - can have on achieving or maintaining the social and cultural diversity in the district and to cushion or avoid the negative effects of gentrification.

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LAP of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

By the Johann Daniel Lawaetz Foundation on behalf of the Ministry for Social and Family Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection with the collaboration of the ULSG members

Socially Compatible

Refurbishment (SCoRe) Background / Problem

Both the Federal Government of Germany and the Senate of Hamburg have ambitious climate protection targets. By 2020 the Federal Government plans to have reduced the heating needs of all buildings by 20%. The housing stock in Germany is even supposed to have a carbon-neutral energy balance by 2050. According to information from the Hamburg City Development Authority there are 875.529 dwellings in 237.101 residential buildings, among them 132.779 detached houses, 26.590 semi-detached houses and 77.732 apartment buildings (data of 2008). The Tenants Association estimates that some 120.000 flats are in need of energy efficient renovation. But while the transfer of the redevelopment in urban building stocks (approximately 15% of the apartments are owned by the municipal housing company SAGAGWG, another 15% are owned by traditional housing cooperatives) to the rent is largely socially compatible, the redevelopment of dwellings in private property often leads to a dramatic increase in rents. Currently, up to 11% p.a. of the refurbishment costs can be allocated to the rent, which often causes an immediate or a step by step displacement of lowincome tenants from the renovated apartments. Clearly detectable gentrification processes in inner city residential areas Attractive inner city residential areas, in particular, like St. Georg, Eimsbttel, Ottensen, Schanzenviertel and St. Pauli, are acutely threatened by gentrification. Signs of this are e.g. increasing rents, the luxury

When looking at the current situation on the housing market in Hamburg, the following main problems can be identified: Acute lack of affordable rental housing, particularly social housing for tenants with a low income The actions of the City of Hamburg to build new social housing are not sufficient to increase the stock. At the same time the social housing rent control ends for many flats during the next two decades. Planned regulatory measures of the Senate of Hamburg to keep up the rent control for the housing stock of the municipal housing company SAGA GWG will stabilize the amount of social housing only at the present stage, but are not sufficient to generate an increase in the supply of social housing. The market pressure on low-income tenants (e.g. single parents and students) will therefore continue to grow, especially in the neighbourhoods which are attractive for members of the creative class (according to R. Floridas classificationI). Energy saving reconstruction requirements for a large percentage of rental flats

Target Groups
The target groups of the LAP are on the one hand potential initiators of building community projects, and on the other hand professionals from public policy and government (e.g. mayors, local politicians and urban planners) who want to use building community projects as a(n) (additional) tool in the urban development of their cities.

Main Steps
The Local Action Plan for Hamburg aims at a detailed analysis of the often successfully tested model of building community projects and wants to make it available as a tool for housing measures or the basis of a similar programme in other cities. The actions are divided into three main steps:

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I. Analysis of a successful building community project The first step is a scientific analysis of a successful housing project, which describes in detail the key factors that contributed to the success of the project in the three thematic areas of sustainability. The Good Practice Example selected for this purpose is the housing project Greves Garten in Hamburg-BergedorfIII. The research is being carried out in close cooperation with representatives of the residential project. II. Production and publication of a manual for building community projects The results of the scientific research will be summarized and presented as a manual for building community projects. This manual is intended to be useful on different action levels: - On the local level to help develop and carry out new housing projects and contribute new aspects to the current discourse on the prevention of gentrification in inner-city quarters of Hamburg. - On the national level by transferring knowledge to other German cities and municipalities that are interested in promoting housing projects in this way. - On the European level by making the findings accessible to other European cities, among others the partners of the SUITE network, and by incorporating the experience into a transnational discourse (e.g. within the framework of URBACT and CECODHAS). III. Dissemination The results of the research and the manual will be presented firstly within the context of a ULSG Workshop. Further presentations are planned in the framework of international conferences. The manual will for example be used by the Lawaetz Foundation in the counseling of community building projects. Timeline The following timeline describes the main steps of implementation:

Challenges
The main challenge in the implementation of the Local Action Plan in Hamburg is a lack of personnel and financial resources. It cannot be assumed that the managing authority of the SUITE project in Hamburg, the Ministry for Social and Family Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection (BSG) will be able to provide additional resources for its dissemination and further measures. This had to be taken into consideration when defining the aims. It was therefore decided to choose a strictly limited aspect of the main topic of gentrification that can be implemented during the running phase of the project and by using the financial resources available for Hamburg from the SUITE budget.

SUITE Network Impact

The cooperation within the network SUITE gave a strong boost to the development of the topic of the Local Action Plan. It became clear that the successful and advancing tradition of building communities in Hamburg makes it worthwhile analyzing the key success factors of the instrument building community project systematically in order to make it applicable for other projects in Hamburg, in Germany and in other European cities.

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Contacts:
Peter Hoffmann-Wick Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Ministry for Social and Family Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection peter.hoffmann-wick@bsg.hamburg.de Wolfgang Khn Johann Daniel Lawaetz Foundation kuehn@lawaetz.de

Future Issues Outcome

Lessons Learnt Through the exchange with the SUITE partner cities it became clear that some aspects such as the target groups or the possible dimension of community building projects had to be described more clearly. Success Factors The Local Action Plan for Hamburg provides an active contribution to the current debate on housing policy and gentrification in Hamburg. Currently a lot of discussions are taking place on this subject. Stakeholders that represent the rights of tenants focus in particular on this subject. Also numerous publications in the media show that it is a topic of public interest. The concentration on building community projects adds another aspect to the discussion, because the role of housing projects in cushioning or avoiding the negative aspects of gentrification has rarely been taken into closer consideration so far. By focusing particularly on the building community project Greves Garten, the aim is not primarily the representation of a single good-practice example, but the development of general recommendations for small housing measures, developed on the basis of a concrete project. Furthermore, the integrative approach of the Local Action Plan is in accordance with Hamburgs Framework Programme for Integrative City Development (RISE- Rahmenprogramm Integrierte StadtteilentwicklungIV) that requires close cooperation of different governmental departments of the City of Hamburg and its districts. The aim is an embedding of building communities in wider projects for the rehabilitation of socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods and the development of new neighbourhoods, e.g. in industrial areas or on inner-city wastelands that are provided for conversion.

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Appendix

Building Community Project

Description of the Project
Basic Data Goals Desire for neighbourly living and mutual support Affordable housing for families in the district Preservation of 100 year old historical buildings Careful increase of inner city density Energy savings as contribution to climate protection Situated in the east of Hamburg (district of Bergedorf) Size of the property 5.181 square meters Completed in late 2006 5 multiple family dwellings, 4 detached houses 7 renovated existing buildings, 2 new buildings 30 residential units 92 inhabitants (21 families with 37 children and adolescents) Rent from 5.40 to 6.30 (per square meter) Gas-fired condensing boilers Solar collector area of 45 square meters in support of the heating Decentralized water heating via heat exchangers in the flats Controlled ventilation system (without heat recovery)

Key Success Factors (Group) Common wish, unifying idea (family) Willingness to contribute personal resources. Motto: Anything we do ourselves helps to save money! Learning from the experiences of other residential projects Personal accountability Well functioning organization and communication within the group Maintenance of the property is a joint task

Key Success Factors (financial/technical) Professional guidance (but group is the owner) Financial support from urban programs (but group has financial risk) Careful increase of inner city density through new houses and refurbishing/developing attic space Combination of owner-occupied units and rented units: Individual owners subsidize communally owned property

Technical Standard District heating network with 8 attached single- and multi-family homes Wood pellet heating

Florida, Richard: Cities and the Creative Class (New York, 2005)

II This term describes a group of people that have decided to form their own community and want to create their living environment according to their own special requirements. Although there is not a fully synonymous expression in English, Baugemeinschaft can be translated best as building community. In the following this term is used. III

You will find some information about this project in the appendix. See http://www.hamburg.de/ueber-rise/2672658/ueber-rise.html [12.01.2011]

IV

LAP of Iasi City Council

By the Department of Development and European Projects and Iasi City Council with the collaboration of the ULSG members

Background / Problem
Introduction
Social Housing is a basic and fundamental issue affecting individuals and communities and an important determinant of health and well-being. It is also the largest asset for most families and a key element of both the wealth and health of individuals and the overall economy. Housing affects the national economy and a range of stakeholders including consumers, builders, developers, realtors, landlords and mortgage lenders. Iasi Municipality needs a long-term and sustaining funding framework for housing that provides sufficient and predictable funding to enable implementation of solutions locally.

was of 105392, presenting a slight increase tendency. The structure of family households from Iasi, in 2008, indicated a percentage of 10% for one member families, 15% for couples and 75% for families of more than two members. Regarding populations structure according the main demographic variables, sex distribution was constantly kept within 2010, different to the last situation registered in 2002, so 52,7% represents the feminine population and 47,3% represents the masculine population. Within 2010, the age category for Iasi population is structured as follows: young citizens under 35 years old cover 48,8% of population (150894 inhabitants), citizens aged between 35 and 60 cover 36,4% of population (112577 inhabitants), elders over 60 cover 14,7% (45372 inhabitants).

Demography
The territory we will make reference to is that of Iasi City, of 94, 7 km2 surface, representing the center of a metropolitan area of 787, 87 km2. The Iasi population, registered on 1st January 2010, was of 308843 inhabitants, following an increasing tendency of 3,2% annual rate, but the estimated drift for the next period is of 3,4%. The number of households last registered (in 2002)

The Roma population of Iasi increased within last years, from 0,6% of total population (1898 persons) in 2002 to 1,2% (3679 persons) in 2008. In 2010, the number of citizens that benefit of social assistance reached 68000.

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The unemployment rate of citizens in Iasi reached a number of 5822 on 30th April 2010, covering 2,61% of stable population, more than 2008, when the unemployment rate covered 2,21%. Unemployments structure on age categories analyzed in 2010 is: young people under 25 years old 704, persons between 25 and 30 years old 596, persons between 30 - 40 years old 1406, persons between 40 50 years old 1438, persons over 50 1678.

rehabilitate a large number of dwellings. In terms of dwelling market price levels, these have registered an upward trend until the end of 2008 (in 2007, the increase was 20-30%), the explanation being found in the increasing gap between the low bid and the rising level of demand. Later however, dwelling price levels dropped a lot, with the emergence of economic and financial crisis. The rental prices had the same development path. Social dwelling vacancy rate is the proportion of social dwellings which are available but not occupied, and is one of the key indicators used to measure social dwelling needs in a certain territory. In Iasi, the small number of new social dwellings causes pressure on the existing park, and translates into lower rates of vacancy. Social dwellings are living places, access restricted by norms, meant to support families with financial problems in buying a house. These dwellings are structured upon a standard and are meant to be rented (or joint property) for a price below market price. The target population applying for this kind of living places should meet the following conditions: - should not have a dwelling; - familys monthly net medium income (family applying for such a dwelling) or the income of the person requiring the dwelling, within last 12 months, should be 20 % lower than net medium wage established by law ; - persons that have never received state support Within social dwellings, we also include another category of dwellings- convenient dwellings. These are the private property of Iasi Municipality, and are designated for persons or families that do not own and never owned a dwelling as their property, that have never been supported by state within loans or construction works for building a dwelling and/or are not involved as owners in renting contracts for a dwelling awarded according Law 114/1996.

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The labour market of Iasi, within last census, registered an active population of 136504 citizens (the difference till reaching the whole population is of 184384, this number representing the inactive citizens), out of which 119791 were active persons. The number of retired citizens upon then same date was 59256, and the number of pupils and students was 84885. The structure of Iasi family households in 2008 indicated a percentage of 10% for families of one member, 15% for couples and 75% for families of more than two members.

Problem
Brief description of the problem
The objective of the action plan is to secure new long term government investment to harness and maximize the impact of existing assets and new investment. Over a sustained period this will reduce homelessness, improve housing affordability and restore a well-functioning housing system with healthy dynamic neighborhoods. The objective of this Local Action Plan is the proposal of measures / activities to address problems facing the social / affordable dwellings in Iasi. Strengthening solidarity and ensuring social and territorial balance of city residents living standards is the main priority of the objective. Social dwelling policy is at the crossroads of a variety of needs that must be met, which involves the definition of intervention priorities to the whole urban community and a very active partnership approach. The economic development support of all urban agglomeration sectors represent the objective that must be considered, although in practice this objective is difficult to be achieve in the short term.

Urban challenges
Iasi is an important economic center in Romania. It has developed commercial activities within metals, antibiotics, textiles, wines and meat, but it is also an important banking center. This city has become a representative IT center, submitting many software companies, and it is recognized as being a cultural center, with two prestigious high class universities. Instead of all this, Iasi area is well known as having a poor wage rate/ incomes and a reduced level of employed working force. Social dwelling sector is characterized by a general failure, but the most affected groups are young families, families evacuated from their homes, families of low incomes and whose members have no job, and those living in old buildings, whose technical parameters are extremely low. Many citizens are not able to satisfy their housing need without additional financial aid. Some of that aid should come from better targeting of subsidies. The social dwelling sector has been neglected with large scale privatization. But, given the low incomes of a large proportion of the population and the growing number of evictions, it takes a significant number of these dwellings to be temporary offered to people that cant afford to own a dwelling. In this regard, a major problem is the demand pressure, in terms of failure for the construction of such dwellings. This sector is facing also, with the need to

Action taken
Steps taken and policy adopted
Iasi Municipality is proposing a comprehensive strategy over the next years to meet the following targets. The priorities are: (1) to preserve and enhance existing assets; (2) to reduce homelessness and the number of people needing social housing; and (3) to expand the supply of affordable housing necessary to meet existing and future need. 1. Reduce homelessness in next years: Create new transitional supportive and permanent affordable housing opportunities and appropriate support to stabilize underlying issues that contribute to chronic homelessness (e.g., mental health and addiction). 2. Expand the stock of affordable, social housing: A growing population creates new households. This goal aims to create enough new permanent affordable housing to stabilize housing need. This housing can include new construction and acquisition/preservation of existing market units. 3. Reduce the backlog in core housing need in the next years:

Target groups
Social housing policies try to address the housing problem but have often been implemented in such ways that the people in real need are not reached and/or the social housing projects do not improve the overall living conditions of people or lack a contribution to sustainable urban development of their problems. Developing and therefore allowing for better implementation of social housing contributes directly to the living conditions and to the growth of cities in the developing world.

26

This will use a variety of approaches, including rental assistance and assisted home ownership, as well as new construction or acquisition/preservation, to expand the number of affordable housing units. This document first sets the context for a more comprehensive approach: why housing matters and where the housing system is currently failing. Then it identifies a range of approaches and priorities that together can respond to these problems and improve outcomes in an inclusive and comprehensive way. In order to reach this purpose, the specific activities / measures we propose are the following: reviving the production / construction of social dwellings, acting on blocking factors such as insufficient land, available for such dwelling construction. regarding the affordable dwellings, offers development involve the activities as: incitement of promoters and investors within this field, maintaining the dwelling renting price within the lower limits, encouraging the introduction of affordable collective dwellings in the circuit. However, the difficulties of implementing these measures, related to the lack of a public-private partnership (current and on short term) to secure conditions favorable to investment in this sector, and the major difficulties of Romany ethnicity social integration should be taken into account. the response to local demand for social dwellings requires a collective effort that faces an extremely restrictive national and local context, characterized by the lack of funds necessary for implementation of construction works. In this context, ensuring conditions for increasing volume of EU funds used to finance the construction of social dwellings becomes a major component. ensuring continued funding of essential programs within a term planning based on needs / demand. promoting ecological dwellings construction, energy efficient. investment for ensuring the quality of social / affordable dwelling stock. location of social / affordable dwellings near public transport axes and centers of economic activity, to ensure a high level of accessibility. It should be noted however that this requires the development of urban transport infrastructure and an urban development structured policy, and difficult tasks to be performed in the current context, on the short term. spotting and exploiting the land opportunities in urban areas. For now, on a first assessment, we find insufficient land that can be used to build

social dwellings. anticipating the future needs of dwellings in order to create land reserves on medium and long term. ensuring the diversification of dwellings occupation, coupled with measures to meet the dwelling needs of young people and ethnic integration. increase / maintain the social dwellings share of low-class at a highest level.

Challenges come across

Retain the existing supply of affordable housing. Maintain and expand the housing rehabilitation program. Ensure an adequate land supply for affordable housing. Develop and support public and private programs.

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Financing
Financial sources that can be mobilized to finance the construction of social dwellings include the following major components: 1. Local budget - setting an annual budget of investment in social dwellings in the urban community. In Romanias current economic conditions, local budget funds for this purpose are, and probably will remain at a low level, insufficient compared with what would be necessary. 2. Attracted funds - looking for opportunities to allocate loans to finance the construction of social and affordable dwellings. Unfavorable economic and financial context makes it difficult to attract, in favorable terms, such funds. 3. European funds - ensuring the conditions to increase the volume of EU funds used to finance the construction of social dwellings.

Policy adapted
Improving the planning process to ensure it encompasses the full range of issues. Develop closer working relationships with local institutions to raise awareness of the process of providing affordable housing. Ensure that affordable housing is integral to community plans. Make use of existing sites such as empty or under-used buildings to develop affordable housing. Bring more empty properties back into use

Future issues to address

How it is possible to integrate different classes of target groups (mostly roma people) to live together in the same buildings without confronting problems.

SUITE networks impact on LAP

This network helped us to improve our goals and image regarding building social housing

Outcome
Lessons learnt
Determine which are the goals and the policies regarding social and affordable housing. Iasi City Hall realized that all the partners have problems regarding construction of social housing and also with the target groups that each one is addressing to.

Contacts:
Beatrice Fotache City Hall of Iasi Department of Development and European Projects Iasi - Romania Tel:0040720037566 E-mail: beatricefotache@yahoo.com Catalina Lucaci Department of Development and European Projects Iasi - Romania Tel: 0040744793271 E-mail: katalucaci@yahoo.com

Success factors
Identify reasons for empty properties. Make use of existing sites such as empty or under used buildings to develop affordable housing. Make planning more supportive by consistency of decision-making. Affordable housing must be an essential part of a community plan and integrated into the citys aspirations. Reduce building costs and increase energy efficiency, planners should be more willing to accept lower cost buildings. Provide education on planning for young people.

tions through the formulation of a new housing policy. The impulse for the preparation of changes in the law appeared thanks to Krakws accession to the SUITE project, and works on the preparation of their content progressed during this projects execution period. The entire draft of the new housing policy has already been prepared. It is expected that in the next few months the draft resolution concerning housing policy will be presented for the approval of the Krakw City Hall. The housing policy is a strategic document of the sectorial programme importance that specifies long-term goals in the area of housing in Krakw.

The latter programme involves making available flats of higher standard in the expected location (in Krakw the propertys location is the key factor determining the value of the flat) to occupants with higher income on condition that they engage their own financial means in the renovation or decoration of the premises. At the same time the remaining groups of tenants will be carefully selected to populate every building after a thorough and multilateral analysis of the living situation of those applying for housing aid. In recent years there have been noted results of conducting public consultations with regard to important city investments, which granted the consultation procedure with the rank of a Krakw City Hall resolution. The first public consultations with regard to housing investment were conducted during the implementation of the SUITE project and with the use of experienced gained from this project.

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Local Action Plan for social integration in Krakw

By the Municipality of Krakw with the collaboration of the ULSG members Introduction
Krakw is the most globally known Polish city which is attractive in terms of both economy and tourism. Thanks to its remarkable history and dynamic present it provides its inhabitants with prestigious living conditions, which is why property prices are very high in comparison to other cities in Poland. What is more, there is a considerable share of old buildings belonging to private owners that had previously been managed by the Municipality, but that in the last dozen or so years have been intensively taken over, frequently together with their occupants, by their initial owners or their legal successors. The economic plans of these owners and the economic calculations result in the current tenants often being forced to leave their flats. At the same time, since 2002, the owner is entitled to claims for damages from the municipality with regard to the nonprovision of social premises to the person holding the right to such premises on the basis of a court order.

The strength of the anticipated update is its complementary nature, as work is simultaneously conducted on the draft update of long-term programme for the management of the Municipalitys housing resources (also a sectorial programme) and the draft update of resolution concerning the principles of renting residential premises belonging to these resources. One of the top principles of the new housing policy is the practical execution of the idea of social integration that will be implemented, for example, on the basis of previous favorable experiences gained from populating communal buildings in the Ruczaj neighborhood which Krakw presented as a successful venture in the area of social integration as part of the SUITE project.

Apart from the conflict between the owners of buildings and flat tenants, another characteristic feature of the accommodation situation in Krakw is the emergence of social protests at the planning, design or execution stages of communal housing investments. In previous years such protests caused delays in investments, reduction of their size and introduction by the Krakw City Hall of formal restrictions while conducting investments that involved the obligation of obtaining Krakw City Halls permission for the execution of residential buildings and the limitation of communal investments to individual buildings, as well as the restrictions concerning the management of premises in the central zone of the City. In view of budget difficulties and lack of investment possibilities for the rapid solution of housing problems through construction of several thousand communal flats in a short period of time, the opportunity for mitigating these problems may be introduced by a new housing policy that would envisage infrastructural and social mechanisms enabling both construction of greater number of new communal flats and the simultaneous implementation of social integration.

3) Improvement of the system of rent reductions and housing allowances, including the breakdown of liabilities into instilments and the possibility of working off of rent arrears:
Apart from the national system of housing allowances that enables some inhabitants to receive cofinancing of their flat maintenance costs, in Krakw there functions a system of rent reductions covering tenants of communal premises. The introduction of the system of rent reductions in 2008 not only provided some tenants with low income with the possibility of meeting their rent payment obligations, but also had a favourable impact on the Municipalitys financial situation because the proceeds for the City budget from the due rent for residential premises increased. Another instrument is the support system which enables breaking the non-paid liabilities to the Municipality for using residential premises down into instalments. In 2010 another amendment to this system was introduced. At the end of last year an agreement was reached by several municipal institutions which provided unemployed tenants threatened with social exclusion, who were behind with rent payments to the Municipality, with the possibility of employment and working off of the existing arrears. On the basis of the above-mentioned agreement the Social Integration Centre organises temporary employment for debtors involving, for example, cleaning or renovation works. Part of their remuneration is regularly allocated for the repayment of debt. In this way people in difficult living conditions have the

2) Mitigation of conflicts through the implementation of social integration executed by way of the following actions:
a/ Exchange programme. b/ Occupant assistance programme. c/ Public consultations and media campaigns. Due to the impossibility of immediate and radical improvement of the housing situation and the impossibility of the total elimination of conflicts between the entities that coexist in the housing sphere in Krakw, the obvious stipulation and opportunity for the mitigation of existing conflicts and their effects would be the implementation of such methods and procedures that would enable the practical execution of the principle of social integration in Krakw. The stipulated means of social integration implementation is the execution of the exchange programme and the occupant assistance programme. The essence of the former is the creation of opportunities for the occupants to adapt the size and structure of premises, and thus the rent, to the financial abilities and the number of household members living in the given premises.

Main problems and challenges

In order to perform its obligations resulting from the valid court decisions, the Municipality of Krakw should provide nearly 2,800 premises. Every year the Krakw City Hall registers approx. 300 new eviction orders and approx. 660 applications from people interested in accommodation aid from the Municipality for various causes.

Undertaken measures
1) Introduction of a new housing policy:
The first method to improve the housing situation in Krakw is to introduce changes in the local regula-

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opportunity to work and earn money, the Municipality recovers rent arrears for flats, and additionally the communal buildings are renovated and areas cleaned. Further possibilities in the area of proper management of housing resources should be provided for in the Granit Integrated System for Property Management, an IT system introduced in 2009 for servicing the housing resources of the Municipality.

pansion and modernization of the Internet module of the Public Information Bulletin of the City of Krakw servicing the premises exchange, and should enable fully interactive communication between the Department of Housing of the Krakw City Hall, which is the organizer of the exchanges, and individual bidders who will become the direct beneficiaries of the exchange programme. At the same time special care will be given to the selection of tenants for vacant premises, mostly in the areas of greater concentration of flats or buildings at the Municipalitys disposal. There will be observed the principle stating that the qualification of tenants will be completed with the participation of the representatives of the District Councils where the buildings and premises for population are located. As before, the selection of tenants at a given area will involve the consideration of opinions of other institutions that have conclusive information about the behavior and needs of potential tenants, including, for example, law-enforcement bodies, entities providing social help and some non-governmental organizations. It needs to be stressed that such measures are to integrate the members of various communities that also include people threatened with social exclusion (e.g. the homeless, wards of childrens homes, the disabled). As part of the conducted social integration, consideration will also be given to spatial conditions i.e. compliance with existing management plans, care for the proper quantity of green areas, recreational devices and playgrounds for children, the availability of parking lots, and the general aesthetics of the space. What is more, public consultations will be conducted with regard to the next city housing investments. Thus populated locations will constitute places with friendly neighborhoods and the factor supporting the process of necessary integration for the inhabitants themselves. They will also be desirable or, at least, peaceful neighborhoods for their direct surroundings, i.e. other residential settlements or institutions offering both public and commercial services. As their numbers rise in time, the harmoniously designed and deliberately populated enclaves should become a factor not only positively shaping the spatial quality of the City but also favorably affecting its social fabric. The housing estate rehabilitation processes should also be conducive to this end. The development of additional forms of assistance for occupants, like the possibility of working off of rent arrears that has recently been made available by the Social Integra-

tion Centre will help to counteract the social exclusion of people threatened with this phenomenon, will contribute to the improvement of the method of management of communal residential resources, will enable the rational usage of funds allocated for the occupational activation of the unemployed, and at the same time, thanks to the completion of renovation and cleaning works with the use of these funds, will have a favorable effect on the quality of city space. Another asset is the possibility of reducing the number of orders of eviction from the communal resources, because people who are behind with payments will be able to undertake measures to prevent the eviction or effectively apply for the reinstatement of their legal title to the premises if the eviction has already been ordered.

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Anticipated results of the implementation of the Local Action Plan

1) Strategic goals:
Liquidate the deficit of flats to be populated, Reduce the number and sum of damages paid by the Municipality to the owners of private buildings, whose occupants have received eviction orders with the right to social premises to the minimum, Reduce the scale of conflicts between the residents groups and the representatives of interest groups.

Contacts:
For the LAP: Edward Siatka Edward.Siatka@um.krakow.pl For the city: umk@um.krakow.pl

2) Short-term goals:
Full and possibly versatile usage of the premises exchange mechanism, and the simultaneous involvement of the tenants and owners own resources at the possibly broad scale in order to improve their own housing situation, Development of occupant assistance measures conducted by such organizations as the Social Integration Centre, Prevention of conflicts by the initiation of information measures conducted on a broad scale and in the possibly varied manner.

The results of these measures can be achieved with the minimum involvement of resources, can be immediately applied, and are successively being launched. The continuation of the exchange programme and the occupant assistance programme will help the Municipality to save financial resources thanks to the assumption of the cost of renovation or decoration of the premises by the tenants interested in living in these premises. It also needs to be mentioned that the psychological aspect of this method of flat renting becomes essential, because numerous experiences show that a tenant who has invested their own work and money in the assigned flat cares for this flat in a better way than a person who has not made any contribution upon receiving the flat. These programmes may be popularized by the ex-

Map of the Luton and Wayfield Ward (district)

Problem
The Luton and All Saints area in Chatham is an area of closely packed Victorian terraced housing and 1970s built social housing. The steep narrow streets are isolated from the centre of Chatham by a dual carriageway. Overall the housing within the ward of Luton and Wayfield is primarily owner occupied (41%). 39% of the properties are rented of which 25% are tenants of a Housing Association, the largest of which is mhs Homes, with 14% of the total stock. In line with good practice and building upon previous experience we are targeting resources into priority areas, which have been identified using a range of data sources. This approach complements the councils Social Regeneration Strategy, which identifies target areas for more widespread action. As part of the development of this approach, research was shared and consultation and stakeholder engagement from particular communities helped shape and inform the approach taken. Luton and All Saints has been identified as a priority area in the 2006 Stock Condition Survey, the 2008-11 Housing Strategy and the Social Regeneration Strategy. This is due to a number of issues including a large number of empty homes, poor energy efficiency, disrepair, homelessness, fuel poverty and a large number of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO). Through local survey work it was found that in 2009 there were 100 households from the new arrival Slovak community across Medway of which forty-eight are clustered close together in the All Saints and adjacent Luton neighborhoods. There is an average of six Slovak people living in each of these households and some of these households include more people extended families as well as children and parents. This has created a significant and growing pressure on Medways Housing Services to address and manage issues arising from increased numbers of houses of multiple occupations and overcrowding in the Luton and All Saints neighborhoods. The situation is a growing problem in these neighborhoods.
A.) Damage to Terraced housing in Magpie Hall Road B.) A typical terrace of houses in the district

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Local Action Plan of Medway Council

by Rachel Britt of the Housing Team, Medway Council Background and Setting
Most UK local authorities have completed significant work in order to increase energy efficiency, alleviate fuel poverty and improve the level of decency in housing stock. With an increased focus on these challenging targets, particularly in the area of CO2 reduction, local authorities are now looking at ways in which these targets can be met. This is against a background of the significant work already completed and many of the quick win measures being installed, leaving a dispersed mix of potential measures across housing stock. In addition, the difficulty of measuring and monitoring progress in areas such as CO2 reduction is a challenge. The UK official measurement for CO2 reduction is National Indicator 186, which uses sophisticated data collection and modelling techniques to measure actual changes in energy use. However, they are produced with a two-year time lag and as a result it is difficult to observe if activity is having an effect on energy usage. The In Focus project seeks to undertake targeted housing research across all of Medway, which can be used to provide information on overall conditions and trends but can also be interrogated down to an individual property level. Working in association with the Energy Savings Trust Advice Centre and the Creative Environmental Network we have developed a detailed Medway-wide house-by-house database, which draws together a wide variety of information including data on: House type, tenure Home Energy Check data Council Tax band Income and benefit entitlement

C.) Elevated houses and walkway in Luton Road area with electrical and Gas services on display

This information has then been used to model the possible impact of improvements to housing stock and in particular it will allow us to focus on the impact of work to improve energy efficiency. The main aims for the project being to: Improve housing standards, choice and affordability Improve health, well-being and reduce health inequalities Reduce Fuel Poverty Bring empty properties back into use

of the National Landlords Association, which has helped to ensure that this is not just a Local Authority led project. Co-operation between various council departments and external agencies through this group has been very productive. So far public and political support has been strong and helpful. The Councils Portfolio Holder for Housing has a seat on the SHPB and is therefore closely involved in the project. Key to the success of the project is a clear understanding of local needs and ensuring that the community is engaged and has the opportunity to help shape and influence local delivery. As part of this project we are liaising with the Partners and Communities Together (PACT) group which was set up as a neighborhood owned approach allowing local people to identify those issues which impact upon the quality of life on their doorstep and to work alongside the police and local agencies to find a resolution. The In Focus project was introduced to the Luton PACT group in May 2010 where ward councillors, residents, the police and landlords were present. In July 2009, Medway Council was awarded 88,103 to help manage the transitional impacts of migration throughout 2009/10. The funding was used to pro-

Action Taken
The main strength of the In Focus project is the pooling of resources to build on existing work in the area so that shared goals are achieved. The project is supported by the Strategic Housing Partnership Board (SHPB); a dynamic forum of key public and private players involved in housing that are brought together to help deliver decent and safe homes for all residents living in Medway. A sub-group of the board, the Private Sector Housing Strategy Monitoring Group, is leading on the project and meet on a quarterly basis with progress reported back to the SHPB. The Private Sector Housing Strategy Monitoring Group is chaired by the Kent representative

This work is at an early stage and will be delivered over a 5yr+ period. Further consultation is currently underway with the community to help inform the development of specific projects in addition to work already underway in the area, which is now being, picked up under the overall In Focus umbrella.

34

vide new migrant arrivals with better access to housing advice and solutions and to ensure the availability of safe and decent homes in the private sector. A dedicated housing services adviser for new migrant communities was appointed from the Roma speaking community. Operating in a neighborhood outreach capacity, the adviser monitors and ensures that new arrival migrant communities residing in primarily private rented accommodation have access to equitable services and that the standard of accommodation is in line with Decent Homes Standards and HMO regulations. A neighborhood housing information and advice service for new arrival migrant communities was also be established, offering support services in relation to housing, employment and welfare entitlements as well as informal legal advice and financial management expertise offered by partner voluntary and community organisations. There have been no additional resources allocated to the project, instead it concentrates on the pooling of resources and bringing together funding sources.

Fund was withdrawn for 2010/11 and we have had to find additional resources within existing services to fund the specialist housing adviser services. Funding for the work carried out by Creative Environmental Networks has not yet been guaranteed for 2011/12 and so this element of the project may not be able to be delivered. Welfare benefits, including housing benefit, are undergoing radical changes. These could affect the affordability of housing in Medway for those with low incomes, particularly in the private rented sector. Claimants living in Medway will lose an average of 48 per month, compared to over 600 in affluent boroughs of London. This is likely to result in people moving into Medway leading to overstretched services with less resources available, increased pressure on housing in the Private Sector and vulnerable people being hit the hardest. We have to be realistic about what we can achieve in this challenging climate. It is more important than ever that we focus our efforts and resources in the right places and that the services we do offer operate efficiently and make a real difference. Government proposals to change the council housing finance system may give local authorities greater control over their finances, allowing them to reinvest income from their homes to meet local housing need. The project will be re-evaluated once the Councils budgets have been set in April 2011.

Outcome
In 2009/10, 42 empty properties were brought back into use in the area with the help of 2.5 million worth of funding from the Homes and Communities Agency. 23 households were re-housed to suitable accommodation via the overcrowding scheme and nearly 400,000 out of a total budget of 1.2 million was spent on renewing 49 properties in the private sector. In September 2010, we carried out a targeted energy advice campaign when a mail out went to 5,000 residents in the In Focus Project area and neighboring wards whose property showed a good potential to install energy savings measures. An Energy Savings Trust advisor who provided doorstep assistance on energy savings measures then further targeted around 250 properties. Funding was secured from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to deliver a fuel bill workshop offering advice on reducing energy bills among low-income households. Between January and July 2010, 167 people were given advice at the housing advice surgeries with the majority of queries being Child Tax Credits, Housing Benefit and Private Sector issues. For the same time period, inspections were carried out in 23 private sector properties. The main challenge for the project is funding. The Council has agreed to a 23.5m programme of revenue savings in 2011/12 in response to cuts in Government grants and other budgetary pressures. Services are being reviewed to improve efficiency and to reduce areas of discretionary spending. The second year of funding under the Migrant Impacts

Contacts:
Rachel Britt Housing Team Medway Council rachel.britt@medway.gov.uk

LAP of Nantes Mtropole

By Nantes Mtropole Introduction
Cities are the ideal venue for social, cultural and economic advancement. The conditions for the formation of towns are well known: density of human activities, polarisation, i.e. the concentration of diversified urban functions and accessibility, which is to say moving around easily. To continue to grow by offering more services which are accessible to all, Nantes Mtropole has to organise these three conditions across its territory: this is the challenge facing a territorial development strategy. Within this strategy, housing is the cornerstone of quality of life and of living our lives alongside one another. The housing issue is not limited to quantitative targets. Rather, it has to be seen from the standpoint of an analysis of human needs and the way they correspond to the supply. Thanks to its skills and competences, Nantes Mtropole is seeking to develop sustainable and innovative urban projects while ensuring exit prices that are tailored to the needs of households. This approach, initiated by the pilot operations, is in the process of being generalised to all the operations across the Community. undertaken by Nantes Mtropole and the municipalities to search for a balanced development in the housing supply and for maintaining the attractiveness of the metropolitan area as a whole. The expected results of this kind of approach are: To advance the concept of density and contribute to its wider acceptance by policymakers and local residents; Create a positive image of more compact individual housing operations, to promote the development and normalisation of this type of products in the future across the territory of the conurbation of Nantes. Guarantee a certain quality of treatment, for example the implementation of eco-construction principles while meeting the expectations of households (final price). Make the most of pilot aspect of these operations, to produce housing programmes which are both affordable and provide a good social mix. The example of a pilot operation in Bouaye: ZAC des Ormeaux Bouaye is one of 24 municipalities that make up Nantes Mtropole, situated in the southwest of the conurbation. In 1994, because it was looking to create a new urban area around the high school which was to be set up in the early 2000s, the municipal council decided to create a Concerted Development Zone (ZAC des Ormeaux), comprising a central sector to accommodate all of the public facilities and a series of diverse housing districts in a well structured landscaped setting. The pilot operation in Bouaye is particularly inter-

1. Towards innovative and sustainable projects

The Local Housing Program was an opportunity to highlight a threefold phenomenon: Urban sprawl Urban expansion which consumes a great deal of land The social segregation of the territory With this in mind, a number of major strategic orientations have been selected to guide the joint action

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Definition of a pilot housing operation:

It is of course the case that individual, detached houses are predominantly what households are looking for, particularly family households, and that many middle income households are no longer able to carry out their house buying project within the conurbation. Because of this, the pilot housing operations that Nantes Mtropole is looking to promote by means of this call for projects from the municipalities has two objectives in mind: The promotion of dense forms of individual housing... ...at an affordable price to meet the needs of households who are currently financially excluded from home ownership on the territory of Nantes Mtropole.

looking for individual housing, while at the same time enabling the creation of urban housing that uses less space and is affordable. Developing housing production that focuses on young families with small children, creating and strengthening the climb up the property ladder and improving the diversity of the population.

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Bouaye in Nantes Mtropole - 6,172 inhabitants

The fact that the ZAC des Ormeaux is a pilot operation made it possible to revisit the overall outline plan to improve the overall density of the project and its urban form. A considerable amount of in-depth work was carried out on the orientation of the homes, so as to preserve privacy while accepting a certain level of density. The programme was reoriented in order to integrate affordable and social housing in to every sector. Example, the intermediary housing, such as the terraced houses, can be private, social or affordable. As for the plots of land reserved for building projects, some small plots were set aside for first-time buyers.
ZAC des Ormeaux

esting because it takes into account the three main aspects of sustainable development as the SUITE project. Nantes Mtropole was a partner in this project. High-quality work was carried out with the municipality and the developer in order to improve the quality of the project (urban form, density) and to adapt the supply to the demands of the population and to achieve a greater mix in the types of housing on offer (affordable and social housing) and therefore in the social composition of this developing neighbourhood.

2. From the pilot operation to the generalisation of sustainable urban development operations thanks to an ambitious action plan
The generalisation of pilot operations involves: Controlling costs in order to obtain final prices that are suited to those households which are usually excluded from home ownership; A compact and well oriented urban form with a focus on preserving the privacy of future residents; A form of housing which meets the needs of families (location, parking, energy control); Dialogue between elected officials and trade professionals.

The objectives of the project

The objectives of the towns development project, shared between Nantes Mtropole and the municipal council, are as follows: A growth rate in housing supply in Bouaye, fixed according to the construction needs and potential of the town, of 60 dwellings per year on average over the next 10 years. Promoting exemplary sustainable development practices by initiating an eco-housing estate, based on: the bioclimatic design and comfort of the buildings energy management and use of renewable energies Development of a genuine social mix using appropriate housing typologies. Implementation of a form of urbanisation that concerns itself with preserving the quality of the landscape, the biodiversity and resources (storm water management, waste disposal, energy savings). Providing a response to the needs of households

Conclusion
The aim of pilot operations is to test, in real situations, how to achieve affordable housing, for which all the costs are carefully controlled, and which offers buyers housing products at sales prices that have ceased to be the norm on the market across the conurbation. This scale is still experimental, first in terms of quantity and second in its ability to spread further afield, although the challenge facing the city one that has been identified clearly in the new PLH is to make affordable first-time home ownership account for up to 25% of the needs in new production in the

metropolitan area over the coming years.

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Under these conditions, one of the key elements of the approach is the commitment of business partners to sharing the challenges of this policy, with their capacity to reflect collectively on the economic feasibility and technical implementation conditions for home affordability. This is the role taken up by Nantes Mtropole, which has given rise to the following initiative: The professional affordable home ownership workshops, a necessary step to bringing together professionals around a common goal and working together to develop operational solutions This approach will be complemented by similar work bringing together elected officials from the municipalities of Nantes Mtropole to look at urban development in the city. The way the partnership will work on self-build programmes is designed to lead to the production of considerable numbers of new homes. As regards operations, Nantes Mtropole has taken over the housing ZAC (Concerted Development Zone) competence to underscore the fact that the community as a whole is focused on all the global projects.

Contacts:
Angle Lafaye European Project Officer Urbact2-SUITE Direction Gnrale du Dveloppement Urbain 2 cours du Champ de Mars 44923 NANTES CEDEX 9 Angele.LAFAYE@nantesmetropole.fr

Newcastle City Council Local Action Plan

By Newcastle City Council Background
Urban Village (UV) is a proposal to develop a mixed community of high quality environmentally friendly affordable accommodation for people who:
want to live in high quality affordable accommodation in a vibrant city centre mixed and mutually supportive community, for example: people who are ready to move on from supported housing people leaving health / care facilities eg drug rehabilitation graduates who want to remain in the city key workers people who are involved in business start ups gic coherence to the schemes recently developed or in development for people moving from supported housing or seeking to developed, that we have called Transitional Tenancies eg Bevans (30 units), Star Centre (20 units) Salvation Army (8 units) Centrepoint (6 units) and the proposed 47+ units for Tyne Housing and SVP in the Ouseburn. There are pros and cons in not concentrating any particular group in a specific area. But there is no reason not to consider both developing an UV in the Crisis sense of a large project on a single site (http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/crisis-supportivehousing-model.htmlhttp://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/ crisis-supportive-housing-model.html) and applying the principles to the pepper potted accommodation for this client group. This is an extension of the successful arrangements Newcastle City Council (NCC) and Your Homes Newcastle (YHN the citys largest landlords with 30,000 stock) have developed to facilitate a holistic approach to the housing market eg the Pathways to Independence (Case study Pathways to Independence for young people in Newcastle (UK)), Preventing Eviction Protocols and the Housing and Employment Compact. The effectiveness of this approach is seen in the reduction of YHN evictions to just 18 over the last 3 months from 66 evictions when the scheme started in 2006, the low-

The economic downturn and reduction in public funding for housing has meant that we have refined the concept. The principles behind the UV idea can be applied remotely a Remote Urban Village (RUV). This would be a means of providing greater strate-

est rate of the core cities.

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This suggests that the levels of demand are sufficient - The viability and demand is dependent upon the offer. There are no robust statistics available on demand for this type of product, but the information above is indicative of the demand for 1 and 2 bed council accommodation. The level of demand is tied to affordability and the quality of the accommodation. Inevitably the price increases, as does demand, with improvements in the quality and location. Crisis recommends a minimum of 100 units to create the economies of scale required to collocate extensive support services. However the more services provided on site the more that defines the needs of the community eg drugs and mental health workers and this can then define community opposition. The principles can be applied to a range of smaller units serving a similar client group across the community. However this loses the advantages of an explicitly mixed community and the mutual support that potentially brings.

How would it be allocated?

Through your Choice Homes, the councils housing allocations process, regardless of the tenure, this would support NCC/YHNs aspiration to move towards housing options that seeks to meet all affordable housing aspirations through a coordinated citywide approach. This would be covered by a local lettings policy that would define the characteristics of prospective tenants as described above. Again we could work more closely with prospective partners.

We are in the process of developing a pre-tenancy training programme to create a robust system for supported housing providers to prepare people for sustainable independence and to help reduce the duplication of the provision of support services. YHN will develop the passport to independence so its clear from the landlords perspective what is needed to sustain a tenancy. At present the emphasis of support services can be more about advocating for their clients right to independent accommodation rather than helping their clients to address the reasons for their ineligibility and ensuring they have the skills and support they need to make the transition to independence. We are simultaneously working to develop a single site UV. Currently this is being developed with Tyne Housing in the Ousburn valley. However this is being delayed by the problems in securing capital funding.

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Support services
The services will be determined by the needs of the community. It would be inappropriate to accommodate people who cannot demonstrate readiness for independent living. As well as being dysfunctional this would be unlikely to secure planning permission. A primary need of people who are moving to independence is protection from bad influences and this can be supported by the design of a secure but transparent and open environment where staff and residents interact.

The problem
Who is the market currently failing what can the UV offer? How many units are viable?
The table below shows the expressions of interest in 1 and 2 bed accommodation in Sheildfield advertised through Your Choice Homes between April March 2010

Range of affordable rent levels in Sheildfield for September 2010:

Newcastle private rented LHA rates: 1 bedroom property (shared) 62.00 1 bedroom property (self contained) 94.36 2 bedroom property 106.51 (NB these benefit levels are likely to drop)

Actions taken and Outcomes

There have been a number of seminars and meetings to explore and refine the concept including the commissioning of consultants to develop and adapt the idea to Newcastles housing market. The adapted concept has produced 56 units of accommodation with 47 in the pipeline. Tyne Housing have a site with planning permission and we are in the process of seeking to require capital grant from UK and European sources to make the scheme affordable.

YHN: YHN 1 bedroom Tyneside flat typical for Shieldfield area basic rent 57.45 YHN 2 bedroom flat typical of Shieldfield area basic rent 56.32

Home Housing Housing Associations: Typical RSL 1 bedroom flat basic rent 58.04 Typical RSL 2 bedroom flat basic rent 62.24

Contacts:
Neil Munslow Housing and Welfare Services Manager Adult & Culture Services Directorate Newcastle upon Tyne neil.munslow@newcastle.gov.uk

What other services should be available:

Business and retail This would fit with the One Plan particularly the aspiration to support small business. To take the concept further would require a full scale evaluation with ABR. More would be need to be investigated with specific partners eg the universities about what is required. Shieldfield is close to the Design and Business schools and there maybe specific offers that are required.

Faced with this alarming situation and the lack of real large-scale expertise regarding first-time home ownership for lower income families, Rennes Mtropole has decided to study potential solutions in terms of industrial production processes that would meet all the architectural quality, urban and environmental criteria required for decent housing. Therefore, Rennes Mtropole first of all approached its development partner (Territoires, a semi-public company) to compile an inventory of existing practices regarding cost control and industrialized production processes. The choice of the still experimental B3 project is the result of this initial diagnosis and Rennes Mtropole is now focusing on promoting this project. This project is developed by the architect Clment Gillet with a prototype house built in Pont-Pan, and an 11-home building project under construction in Saint-Gilles (part of Rennes Mtropole). The basic module is a High Cube 40 ft shipping container, offering 25 to 27 m of living space according to the facilities included.

Under the 2005-2012 local housing program (extended to 2014), production targets were set at 36,000 units, 50% intended for very low to intermediate income households.

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The B3 project
For Rennes Mtropole, the local action plans selection of the B3 project has several advantages regarding local housing policy: building costs control, which is essential in providing affordable homes for lower-income households; the diversity of solutions offered by modular forms and services, which can provide different answers in terms of domestic amenities or architectural and urban quality; energy performance, which is crucial in terms of both eco-friendliness and heating costs for households (a key solvency factor); speed of implementation, resulting from the industrial building process; the job creation perspective with the establishment of several production lines; dramatically reduced construction times; and finally, a contribution to the recycling of a basic commodity, with a short industrial life cycle and high financial and environmental storage costs (use of space).

LAP of Rennes Mtropole

Container housing in Rennes Mtropole
In line with the challenges and objectives of the Leipzig Charter, Rennes Mtropole already has proactive and innovative strategy and action plans for integrated sustainable development: The Metropolitan Authoritys project defining its sustainable development strategy, the Pays de Rennes Concerted Planning Document (Schma de Cohrence Territoriale du Pays de Rennes) that implements it on the ground, the mobilization of local players, the Metro Barometer enabling the tracking and monitoring of this strategy. The Metropolitan Authority project is materialised into and complemented by various sectorial plans and projects (Social Development Project, Energy Climate Plan, Local Housing Program, Urban Transport Plan, etc.). Other Rennes Mtropole policies and action plans line up with the objectives set by the Leipzig Charter, including the urban shapes working group, the BBC (low energy consumption buildings) project, etc. In terms of first-time homeownership, Rennes Mtropole has already put in place innovative programmes and procedures, including: sale price supervision, allocation rules, grants, etc. An experimental approach has also been established with the social housing organizations in order to de-

By Rennes Mtropole and Investeam with the collaboration of the ULSG members
fine a zone-based rent policy aimed at meeting the challenges of social mixity. These programmes are the authoritys initial response to the challenges and represent a degree of expertise which can be improved and expanded. They deserve to be completed and complemented by the experiences and practices of our European colleagues, whose approach and systems are significantly different.

Rennes Mtropoles partners work

The partners exchanges on the three themes of the SUITE project (i.e. social, economic and environmental aspects) prompted Rennes Mtropole to select the B3 housing project and to speed up its implementation. SUITE served as a stimulus, as Rennes Mtropole was eager to make a contribution through an actual full-scale development project. The local support group established on Rennes Mtropoles initiative was intended to disseminate the outcomes of exchanges of information at the European level (involvement in the 24-26 June 2009 meeting) during the initial phase, then to consolidate the local action plan in the second phase of the project. Beyond the local support group, the project supported by Rennes Mtropole has been the subject of numerous meetings and events involving various partners: several B3 prototype housing visits were organised with local councillors and technicians; a B3 prototype open house was held on 29 May 2010 to allow all the councillors to visit the house; Les Chromatiques operation, located in SaintGilles and its marketing.

A prototype A first prototype of a detached family home was built in Pont-Pan, a local authority belonging to Rennes Mtropole. The house is lived in and can be used to assess the level of home comforts as well as that of heating bills, etc. All construction stages have been conducted so as to assess the best possible solutions to implement, and to get the right balance between technical simplicity and timeliness, and quality building. The advantages and disadvantages of each process step have been tested and the building process validated. In parallel, several studies have been carried out to provide a plurality of shapes and arrangements and to define the outlines of a perennial and diverse range of building solutions. and a full scale experimentation Full scale experimentation of the B3 project will be implemented in a town northwest of Rennes, SaintGilles. The fears expressed by different institutional players regarding the B3 project showed some (probably un-

Rennes Mtropoles main focus: keeping housing costs under control and encouraging local experimentation
The project must be seen against the backdrop of a building shortfall of economically accessible housing for low income families. Without the intervention of local authorities, the private market only spontaneously produces either very upmarket housing in the urban core provided by private developers or very down-market housing a long way from the city centre with no guarantee of quality (i.e. individual house building). This situation leads to the exclusion of lowincome families from the urban core, forcing them to move out to distant peripheral areas, with all the well-known disadvantages that this entails in terms of transport costs and wasted time, pollution, urban sprawl, social and individual isolation, etc.

This local action plan is part of the strategy developed by Rennes Mtropole (through its local housing program - PLH) to meet affordable and sustainable housing production targets.

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conscious) prejudice regarding industrial (production line) dwellings. Following World War II and right up to the 1970s, reconstruction needs resulted in the massive development of high-rise apartment housing. These high-rise buildings are clearly associated in peoples minds with the concept of an industrialized building process (Crane Road), which now has a very poor reputation among building project contractors. Industrial building process experiments such as this one reveal concerns about the quality of the housing produced (in terms of acoustics, thermal insulation, aesthetic qualities, etc.). The monitoring of the project from construction through to final delivery is therefore the next key stage which can reverse this fear. While the concept gave rise to fairly drawn out discussions, the project itself was set up in record time (between May and November 2010) and the 11 units have been awarded to first-time buyers. Building work began. The B3 experimental project in St-Gilles will include an estate of 11 individual houses, called Les Chromatiques: comprising eight 3-bedroom houses with 93 to 101 m of living area and three 4-bedroom houses with 120 m of living area and a patio. The houses are intended for lower-income buyers who are eligible for Rennes Mtropoles first-time homeownership grants. The project demonstrates in situ how the B3 concept can meet the aims it is designed to achieve, i.e.: architectural innovation through a deliberately contemporary approach but avoiding the pitfalls of visual monotony; building quality designed to meet the BBC Effinergie energy-efficiency criteria; guaranteed domestic comfort, with private spaces preserved thanks to the patio, a bona fide living area open to the sky; low building costs, at under 1,600 / m incl. VAT, offering larger surface areas than those found in more traditional building programmes.

a preserve of high-income households. The project also shows that beyond the purely architectural merits, buyers are prepared to go along with the concept of container-based dwellings. Resident participation Much like the Greves Garden experiment in Hamburg, the B3 project could involve a more collaborative approach with future residents. The modular container concept offers a lot of flexibility in the interior architectural design and organization. It would therefore be easy to envisage a more cooperative approach involving the residents in the definition of the project, before the request for the building permit (the official authorization given to a building project) is actually filed.

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Container house prototype, Pont-Pan

Contacts:
Stephanie Andr Stephanie Andr s.andre@agglo-rennesmetropole.fr Valrie Corlou investeam35@gmail.com

While the Les Chromatiques project only represents a small fraction of grant-aided first-time homeownership housing sold in 2010 (around 800 housing units in total), it offers exciting prospects. The speed at which the houses were sold (in 2 months: October and November 2010) proves, if need be, the demand for comfortable and economically accessible housing. Beyond the economic relevance of the project, its architectural and urban planning aspects are also attractive for household buyers, thereby demonstrating that contemporary architecture is not necessarily
Container house prototype, Pont-Pan

Objectives of the Local Action Plan

The Plans ultimate goal is the promotion of social mix and integration by way of housing, consolidating balanced options (between ownership and renting, between private and public sectors), within the reach of different social segments, with the implementation of programmes for integrating underprivileged groups. The ambitious, wide-ranging nature of this purpose involves the need for establishing a long-term strategy that is flexible and adaptable in time, according to the circumstances. This strategy should include different mid-term Action Plans, adapted to the circumstances at each moment and therefore capable of suitably adopting actions aimed at obtaining real results, which would otherwise run the risk of simply remaining on paper. Therefore, the developed Action Plan includes the term Phase I in its title. It is the first Plan included in the strategy described above, centred on a period of around five years, programming specific actions that make up the first step in this new undertaking.

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SUNP: Not planned land for building development SUP: Planned land for building development SUD: Delimited land for building development PERI: Special plan for internal reform

SUBSIDIZED HOUSING (expropriation)

LAP of Santiago de Compostela City Council

By EMUVISSA and Santiago de Compostela City Council with the collaboration of the ULSG members A proposal for social integration based on housing for rent (Phase I) Reference Framework
Todays general panorama presents us with a reality in which homeownership has become practically the only feasible alternative, due to limited available housing for rent, at least at competitive prices compared to available housing for ownership. Although in recent years high housing prices were not an obstacle in view of the financial facilities offered by banks, the onset of the economic crisis means that the opposite is true and that access to housing has become impossible in many cases. Now more than ever, there is a clear lack of attainable options for different social segments (especially those of medium and low income). In the case of the city of Santiago, for quite a few years it has led the way in establishing active housing policies, developing land and creating a well-organized and sufficient range of housing for different social segments, mainly for ownership, with special emphasis on subsidized housing. Although these municipal housing policies have alleviated to a certain extent the effects of the crisis in the sector compared to other cities, it is clear that the model for accessing housing, almost exclusively for ownership, should be widened and provide more alternatives, promoting housing for rent, consolidating privatesector housing and creating public-sector housing. On the other hand, in relation to social integration strategies, the aforementioned housing policies have enabled urban development to be accompanied by a high degree of social mix, by integrating different types of free-market and subsided housing. However, it is necessary to provide a specific solution for those groups, especially underprivileged ones, that are affected not only by economic problems and unemployment but also by problems due to educational and cultural deficiencies and differences. This requires more support than merely a house; specific supplementary measures and actions are also necessary to guarantee their full integration. In any case, the solutions should be led by public authorities, especially at municipal level, by preparing policies and programmes targeting the problem. EMUVISSA LANDS Total sums of housing: 6,682 housing (4,712 subsidized) Total of industrial land: 84.23 has.

FREE HOUSING (cooperation)

Proposed Actions
The Action Plan will focus especially on implementing a pilot project that consists in constructing the first building of state-subsidized housing for rent, which will be aimed at underprivileged groups and will implement social integration programmes. On the other hand, other types of actions are proposed in order to attain the wider-ranging objectives described above, such as promoting public- and private-sector subsidized housing for rent.

INDUSTRIAL LAND (cooperation)

ACTION 1 PILOT PROJECT

PHASE 1 LAUNCHING THE PROJECT Phase aimed at preliminary studies of the project and their subsequent presentation.

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The objective, on the one hand, is looking for the most suitable hypotheses enabling the real development of the project, from an urbanistic, economic and social perspective and, on the other hand, preparing supplementary social integration programmes that will be implemented in the project: Activity 1 Feasibility Study Activity 2 Supplementary Programme PHASE 2 DEVELOPING THE PROJECT Phase aimed at implementing the project and setting in motion rents and supplementary programmes. The objective is to make the project a reality and this requires the following sub-phases or activities: Activity 4 Construction of the building Activity 5 Entry of tenants and implementation of supplementary programmes

women with dependents. However, there are few experiences (except with immigrants) of dealing globally while focusing on the urbanistic perspective with the problem of integrating certain groups. Housing is a basic element of social integration, as well as a constitutional right recognized in Spain. Housing policies should therefore be social policies required for the cohesion of society; because housing policies are also urbanistic and social policies. By constitutional mandate, public authorities should promote the necessary conditions for attaining land use in accordance with the general interest and prevent speculation. Land and housing policies, which are structural policies, operate in the mid and long term. Every intervention action in this type of policies does not produce immediate results, which is why it is necessary to detect and deal with them early on in order to adopt solutions. The right to a decent home is also linked to the right to an inhabitable and integrated, unified and sustainable city. The different Housing Plans that have been implemented since 2005 have highlighted this nature in their main points. They have favored the construction of and access to subsidized housing, and promoted initiatives to facilitate access to housing for those groups with the greatest difficulties for obtaining a decent home. The last two Housing Plans have endeavored to balance the type of ownership of the primary residence, and renting is being stimulated to move towards an equaling of ownership and promote the use of unoccupied homes. However, there is an underlying problem of scale in the way of dealing with the problem. Acceptable results in matters of social integration can only be obtained by means of profound knowledge of the reality and personal monitoring of those involved. This reality questions the States capacity for managing such problems. Economic and regulatory incentives can and should be organized by state and regional administrations, but the implementation of the programme and execution of the actions should be undertaken at municipal level. Starting from these reasons, Santiagos LAP has consisted in reflecting on these matters, detecting problems, choosing solutions and, finally, establishing a pilot project based on cooperation between the administrations and private sector, and on collaboration among all those involved in the matter to try to develop a possible solution. The Local Action Plan being carried out in Santiago consists in programming very precise actions resulting in a broader strategy for social integration, based on providing housing for groups at risk of exclusion, incorporating the different public- and private-sector actors interested in the subject.

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Since both activities (1 and 2) are a main part of the Action Plans essence, they have been developed in parallel to the latter, with the former and their results being part of the Plan itself. In the case of the pilot projects feasibility study, funding is of special importance. This is so because even if the study shows the project to be feasible, these results are highly fragile due to the important dependence on sufficient public funding (grants) so that the investment can be recovered within a reasonable time period.

PHASE 3 PRESENTATION OF PROJECT RESULTS Phase aimed at notifying the public and public-sector entities about the results obtained from applying the pilot project, which is an activity per se: Activity 6 Presentation of project results

ACTION 2 PROMOTING HOUSING FOR RENT

In parallel to the start of the pilot project, we propose activities aimed at attaining the broadest objectives of promoting public- and private-sector subsidized housing for rent: Activity 1 Town planning study Activity 2 Launch of new plots

The currently available grants for initiatives related to subsidised housing come mainly from the 20092012 Housing Plan (both state and regional). In this regard, and coinciding with the objectives of the proposed Action Plan, the Housing Plan promotes renovation and renting as opposed to new housing for ownership, and it specifically establishes a series of large incentives for establishing subsidised accommodation aimed at especially underprivileged groups. Activity 3 Presentation of project

Contacts:
For the LAP: Diego Briega Architect EMUVISSA dbriega@emuvissa.com For the Project: Beln Mendoza SUITE project bmendozac@santiagodecompostela.org

Conclusion
Current programmes designed to solve the integration problems of groups facing social-insertion difficulties deal with partial aspects: employment, education healthcare, social conflicts, housing, etc. From an urbanistic perspective, subsidizing housing for rent is an objective that covers the needs of specific groups: youths, domestic violence victims,

prove their living standards. Clients who have been using the re-socialization service (shelters for people with coping difficulties and Social Housing Units) have reported improved health and growth in income. 25% of clients could pay more for living costs if they were able to obtain higher-level housing. Pursuant to the above, for ensuring the functioning of the re-socialization system, Tallinn has the need for additional social housing units and social and municipal houses. The weaknesses of already built social housing units are the lack of social rooms for low income groups, the low accessibility of social services, difficulties in grouping of persons inside the houses, planning of the houses.

Widening the use of solar energy is important for buildings that have low energy consumption.

Financial means
By the year 2020 ca 13 million EUR will be spent on the renovation and insulation of municipally owned buildings. This is expected to provide an estimated energy saving from 50 to 100 GWh per year. In addition to the city and investor funds, energy saving efforts can also be financed by use of various aid funds like the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The distribution of financing resources is organized through the Enterprise Estonia. The new social construction in Tallinn is basically financed by ERDF (according to the local programme of urban areas). The priority is directed to the improvement of living environment, i.e. development of public infrastructure related to the increase in social security (more info http://www.eas.ee/index.php/ for-public-and-non-profit-sectors/development-ofpublic-services/programme-for-the-developmentof-urban-areas ).

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LAP of Tallinn City

Orphans
One of the priorities of municipal welfare is to ensure for children a favorable development environment for satisfying their basic and special needs in order to raise people who are healthy, capable and willing to work and develop. For promoting substitute care, one of the objectives of the Tallinn welfare is to reorganize a childrens home into smaller units, with twin apartments and twin houses for up to 16 children. The weaknesses of existing model of orphanages are contained in concentration of children to the big isolated houses, which makes difficult the childrens social integration. For the purpose of the re-organization of orphanages, two-family housing units will be built for the children in the Mustame and Kopli centre and social work in orphanages will be re-organized, as a result of which the children will be better prepared for independent life and integrate into society.

By the City Property Department with the collaboration of the ULSG members Energy saving in social housing Social housing system in Tallinn
Tallinn has set up a system for the re-socialization of excluded and homeless people that is divided into four levels. The clients have constant access to professional counseling and assistance by social workers and lodging facilities with amenities corresponding to the specific level.

III level
Social housing units for people with coping difficulties. Social housing units are meant for 24-hour use. Housing conditions are relatively modest. 1-3 people per room.

The construction of social houses

The objective is to make the social services more accessible for low-income groups through increasing the supply of social rooms. The result of the project is the best rehabilitation possibilities for the target group. Two low-energy social houses will be constructed in the frame of the project (totally for 140 persons). The total cost of the project is 2 844 068 EUR, incl. 85% financed by ERDF and 15% city financing.

IV level
Social and municipal houses. Social and municipal houses are tenant buildings that belong to the city. Lodging conditions are similar to standard apartment houses and all persons or families have their own individual living premises. Tenants are required to pay for all communal services. Social services are provided in the first three types of housing units, whereas the first type provides emergency care and the next two provide re-socialization service. All levels have access to assistance and counseling by social workers.

I level
Night houses and shelters for the provision of emergency care. Night houses are only for night-time use; those homeless people who because of their health cannot be sent out during the day are also allowed to remain in the shelter during the day; lodging facilities are extremely modest, with 10 to 20 people sharing one room; the service is free for the clients.

Environmental aspects in social construction

The City of Tallinn has set up the activities t reduce CO emission by the year 2020 up to 20%. The heat supply of buildings is one of the most important possibilities in conserving energy. The renovation and insulation of existing buildings achieves up to 30% savings. New buildings will be built according to the requirements of EU directives. In the heat supply of buildings, the following conservation measures must be emphasized: Renovation must be preceded by a building energy audit; The energy label is a mandatory requirement for new buildings, necessary for buildings that change owners and recommended for all buildings; The installation of heating pumps should increase by 1.5 times;

The construction of orphanages

The main objective is to minimize the difference in social behaviour of children living in families and children living in orphanages through construction of small houses at the same providing the orphans with family friendly conditions. The result is socially adopted child who has family experience to start the independent life. Four double houses (totally eight families, six children in each family) and three detached houses (six children per every house) will be constructed in the frame of the project. Total cost of the project is 2 876 024 EUR, incl. 85% financed by ERDF and 15% self-financing.

II level
Shelters for people with coping difficulties. Shelter is meant for 24-hour use. Lodging conditions are modest and there are 6 to 10 people per room. In wintertime, when night houses are overcrowded, overnight lodging is also provided by shelters.

General problems and interests of the city in social housing

Low-income people
The multi-level system of social housing motivates people to develop themselves so that they can im-

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Implementation of energy saving and renewable energy elements

All project buildings have high quality insulation, the implemented solar panels for water heating purposes and the air-water heating pumps and ventilation systems with heat recovery. The aim is to produce the buildings with low energy consumption - < 40 kw/m per year.
Social house Mnniku 92 (for 90 persons):

Social impact
Social houses
The positive impact of the project is the social services are more accessible for low-income groups. The result is the best rehabilitation possibilities for the target group. The social services enable the person to independently cope in conditions that are as similar to standard conditions as possible. Low-income people can achieve the goal of independent life through meeting his or her housing need and the organization of daily life.

Orphanages
Social house Varre 7 (for 50 persons)

The general vision of double houses

The project has a directly positive impact on equality, since it helps to promote equal opportunities between risk groups. The gap between the childrens home and home children will shrink when children directed to the substitution service live in small units. Life in home-like conditions in small houses will help children from the childrens home to better adapt to society in the future. The objective is to ensure that children without parental care have equal opportunities with other children for development and an independent life. What is important is that a child who lives in a substitute home does not feel excluded and is an active and accepted member of society and eligible on the labour market. A substitute home will help children from the childrens home to obtain better preparation for independent life and normal life. Housing of children in smaller houses located around the city will reduce anonymity, increase the responsibility of families in organizing their daily life, help to reduce the childrens problem behaviour, create a home feeling and help the children to better integrate into society.

Contacts:
Natalie Neill Chief Official Tallinn City Property Department Natalie.Neill@tallinnlv.ee

Location of collectors on building roofs (least shading)

Conclusions

By the URBACT experts: Darinka Czischke (Thematic Expert) and Heidrun Feigelfeld (Lead Expert) Sustainable housing: an ambitious but worthwhile goal
The SUITE project posed itself an ambitious question: how to integrate the three pillars of sustainability in the field of housing. What does this mean? As defined initially by the project, sustainable housing should be, at the same time, environmentally sound, economically viable and socially inclusive. Achieving these three goals in one project at the same time is indeed an ambitious aim. While there are many initiatives dealing with the issue of housing sustainability, evidence shows that most of these have focused on one or at the most on two of the three components. Often, the lack of resources or the need to achieve quick results has led to sustainability being hijacked by a specific bias within the three dimensions of the original concept. Therefore, tackling housing sustainability while balancing its three pillars has resulted in a challenging task. There are many reasons for this, such as lack of integrated planning cultures and strategies; scarce funding to fulfil all three (or at least two of the three) sustainability dimensions; different priorities, etc. However, as a result of a systematic exchange within this network, the work carried out by the SUITE partner cities over the last two years has born interesting lessons for other cities aiming at the same goal. In this chapter we will summarize these lessons and turn them into policy dilemmas and recommendations by adopting a multi-level perspective.

Integrating the three aspects of sustainability

Table 1 provides an overview of the main lessons resulting from each of the three thematic meetings of SUITE. When asked about which of the three aspects was most difficult to integrate, the majority of the projects partners answered the economic aspect. Perhaps this answer relates not only to the availability of actual funding but also to highly volatile macro contexts (e.g. economic crisis, changing governmental agendas, regulation, etc.), which render this dimension more difficult to pin down at city level. On a second place, some partner cities also mentioned the environmental aspect as difficult. For example, for some cities from new EU member states, confronting a huge need of housing provision and of renovation of the stock while including the involvement of tenants / home-owners is not yet high on the agenda. Last but not least, it was interesting to hear from partners that the social dimension seemed to be the most included in their future actions. This contrasts with the overall tendency, as we explain later on, to overlook this aspect in the context of major development or city investment projects. Perhaps it is an issue of scale: at smaller scale, investing in so-

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by partners across the three thematic meetings. It became evident from these examples that continuity needs to stretch to at least three elements: a) Political leadership; b) Funding; and c) Collaboration between partners. Robust institutional agreements, which cut across governments of different political signs, are key to achieving a coherent final result. In addition, this involves a good working relationship between all project partners: private, public, third sector, citizens, etc. Continuity and coherence throughout the project are key to make it work. As with the thematic visits, the best practice examples from SUITE partners have proven that high initial investments do pay-off in the longer term, such as in the the following cases: the comprehensive regeneration project of the Nantes Malakoff social housing estate; the current new construction program in Rennes; the Newcastle Riverside Dene refurbishment; the Hamburg large scale regeneration World Quarter, or small scale Greves Garden; and also Santiago de Compostelas variety of new housing offers, based on a targeted land policy show promising results.
Table 1: Main lessons of each of the three Thematic Meetings of SUITE

4. Integrating policy and actions across territorial scales

Project partners emphasised that sustainable housing cannot be seen in isolation from its wider territorial and administrative context. Sustainability is about networks, grids, and interdependencies between all these territorial/administrative levels. These interdependences stretch across the three dimensions, economic, environmental and social. To be sustainable at local level (housing project, neighbourhood), thinking about infrastructure and service provision at urban and regional scale needs to be embedded. Socially sustainable communities require social infrastructure such as schools, health centres, social care services that are at good distance / accessible to people not only by car, by public transport. Location of housing needs to be in connection with actual and possible job sources for its residents. Road networks, public transport systems, waste collection provision all these and more elements of urban and territorial planning require holistic planning. As in the case of Nantes Mtropole and Rennes Mtropole, sustainable communities are built over time, through robust inter-sector and institutional arrangements. And, as stressed above, the success of these arrangements rely on sustained political and financial commitment over time. At the same time, this holistic, integrated approach requires a move towards a different planning culture that avoids a fragmented vision of all these elements.

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cial sustainability (e.g. contained, pilot-style projects) might seem easier, while at a larger scale this seems to be to costly and not effective enough. However, a fourth and last meeting of the network focused on achieving a synthesis of these three groups of lessons. The aim was to realize the main objective of the project, i.e. to work on how to integrate the three pillars of housing sustainability. The outcome of the discussions held during that meetings could be summarized in the following general points:

1. Sustainable housing: complementarity and synergies

Partners recognized that in practice it is very difficult to fully integrate all three pillars of sustainability in one and the same project. In most cases there is a bias towards one or two of the aspects. For instance, the environmental aspect is often privileged, perhaps because issues such as energy-efficiency are relatively easier to implement and to measure compared to social aspects, for example. In addition, short-term, output-oriented considerations such as those of elected politicians lead projects to dismiss aspects that require a more long-term vision to bear results, notably those related to social sustainability. As pointed out above, only smaller-scale social projects are put in place, which not always amount to longer-term social inclusion processes. Instead, concrete or tangible outputs such as physical infrastructure or very targeted physical improvement measures that can be put to use fairly quickly tend to be favoured.

There is a strong case, however, to attempt the simultaneous implementation of the three (or at least two) pillars of sustainability. As partners highlighted, different aspects of sustainability tend to reinforce each other. For example, improving energy performance (environmental aspect) in residential buildings contributes to improving the economic and social situation of residents. Another example is the improvement of social integration of residents in a neighbourhood, which is likely to result in lower levels of anti-social behaviour and better care of the common areas, thereby enhancing the environmental quality of the neighbourhood/city. On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that partners also highlighted that to achieve these synergies and complementarity it is not necessary to aim for a 100% implementation of every aspect of sustainability. Insofar the three aspects are taken into account simultaneously in the same project, progress is made.

In the spirit of longer-term sustainability, evidence from the SUITE project shows that the value of prevention (of housing loss, of downgrading neighbourhoods, of high running costs and of early refurbishment needs) needs to be embedded in housing programmes on the local level. This requires a shift in budget planning, as illustrated by the example of Newcastle partner and their Pathways to independence assistance for young people under 18 project (a detailed description of this project was published in the URBACT website).

3. The value of evidence-based policy making

Another lesson highlighted by partner cities was the strong role of knowledge and evidence in policy decisions in the cities visited. This was seen particularly in Nantes Mtropole and Rennes Mtropole, where technical teams are in a constant working relationship with elected politicians, feeding into every decision. Colleagues were impressed of the sound evidence base for policy making that this collaboration provides to each project. Another good example came from the British partner cities, Newcastle and Medway, where there is a consequent linkage of programs and projects with monitoring and evaluation, in addition to a strict time scale for feeding back and adjustments. On the other hand, Tallinn, despite being heavily hit by the global economic crisis (including the housing field) made an impression on the other partner cities by its early, pro-active recovery plan based on a sound data basis.

5. Working with enablers and obstacles

The projects synthesis survey showed that it is crucial to identify, understand and work with obstacles and enablers to achieve sustainable housing. For example, we found that there are so-called cocktails of enablers, i.e. not one single formula. Each city finds its own way to sustainability. Amongst the key factors mentioned by partners in this process are: working with human resources (i.e. staff skills can be the greatest asset or a big obstacle); collaboration between professionals and politicians; early resident involvement/support for sustainable housing projects; continuity of funding/political support/ robust institutional arrangements, etc.

2. Need to balance short-term pressures with a long-term view

While it is true that there are strong political pressures to achieve short-term, tangible results when it comes to investing public money, it is also true that the very concept of sustainability implies a longterm vision that requires continuous commitment to the original goal. In fact, representative of SUITEs partner cities highlighted continuity repeatedly as a key success factor in sustainable housing projects. The importance of this element was demonstrated by the best practice examples visited and discussed

6. The West/East divide: a challenge to transferability

As with other URBACT (or in general, European) projects, the question arose as to what extent are lessons/experiences (i.e. Policies, programmes) transferable? While the partners from New Member States valued having access to experiences and ex-

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amples from old member states cities, they recognized being still far away in terms of resources, institutional capacity, etc. In addition, these cities are facing challenges on a higher scale, such as acute housing needs; a much stronger impact of the global economic crisis; policies strongly favouring homeownership and transferring the older stock to the sitting tenants. On the other hand, often actors and stakeholders in these countries seem to be more engaged and interested, more open for innovative, unconventional solutions, and quicker in decision making as compared to their old member states counterparts. In these conclusions we would just like to mention this divide, but it is clearly an issue that goes beyond the scope of one specific project or network. Indeed, this seems like a wider challenge for URBACT and for any transnational exchange in the EU.

ing-related projects into your Operational Programmes (ERDF) and other EU-funded programmes (ESF and more), and secure national co-funding Actively promote the integration of housingrelated funding at national level and within the future Cohesion Policy. Start a national exchange forum on how to proceed on a national to local level. Encourage progress from pilot projects to mainstreaming.

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European policies Maximise the benefits from broader European frameworks in connection to housing and urban issues (e.g. funding, exchange, support for citylevel initiatives, etc.) Support exchange and training activities on how to integrate housing related actions. Maximise funding opportunities through the Cohesion Policy and 2020 Lisbon Strategy. Improve cross-fertilization between West and East policy transfer across the European Union by identifying obstacles and enablers.

Policy recommendations for Sustainable Housing at different implementation levels

The general points developed above can be declined into specific policy recommendations to be implemented at different scales or territorial/administrative levels: Cities and regions Think integrated from the beginning, on two fronts: sustainability triangle (economic, social, environmental) and across territorial scales (local/urban/regional). Choose one of the three pillars as a focus, and link to it the other aspects of sustainability. Secure local political support and leadership from the onset. Build trust over the long-term. Dare high initial investment make a strong case to investors and decision-makers on the expected pay-off. Ensure robust institutional agreements as a foundation of the project. Integrate robust evidence and prospective analyses in policy-making. Consider maintenance of physical stock as greatly contributing to sustainability in some cases (e.g. Eastern Europe) Integrate soft measures (services, empowerment) in physically driven projects. View homelessness policies as an integrated part of housing policy. Promote EU housing-related activities and contribute to the discussion from the cities-point-of view.

Towards a synthesis of the three aspects of sustainability in housing

Housing plays a key role in progressing towards sustainable development in cities. As we have seen, the three dimensions of sustainability come together in housing to ensure better quality of life for urban residents: evidence has shown repeatedly that there is high potential for CO2 reduction, higher energy efficiency and quality of life in new and refurbished housing; affordable and secure housing is a factor of stability for households and society at large, in particular in the context of highly volatile markets and recurrent economic crisis. Housing can play a leading role in integrating and stabilising the most disadvantaged, boosting a more inclusive society, without isolating vulnerable households in difficult times. In addition, housing construction, refurbishment and services adds dynamism to the economy and creates jobs. However, these goals require broad cooperation of various fields. In an increasingly urbanised world, cities are on the forefront of the most pressing challenges of our societies and should therefore be encouraged and supported not only to meet these challenges but moreover to be frontrunners in creating solutions for integrated sustainability.

National housing policies Promote and support the integration of hous-

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Contacts:
Darinka Czischke Thematic Expert SUITE Department of Real Estate and Housing | Faculty of Architecture Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) d.k.czischke@tudelft.nl

Heidrun FEIGELFELD Lead Expert SUITE independent research plus SRZ urban+regional research Vienna (Austria) hf@srz-gmbh.com

CREDITS
Coordination of the publication:
Anita Leirvik and Beln Mendoza - SUITE coordinators

Photographs (pages):
Santiago de Compostela City Council:
- cover (field visit in Nantes Mtropole) - 7 (Mayor of Santiago de Compostela) - 9 & 49 (meetings of the ULSG in Santiago) - 10 (Santiago City Councillor in Urbanism & Housing) - 17 & 45 (view of Santiago de Compostela) - 56 (field visit in Iasi) - 56 & 57 (field visit in Nantes) - 57 (synthesis meeting in Santiago, press conference) - 58 (official reception by the Mayor in Rennes)

Newcastle Council:
- 17 (Greys Mon) - 39 & 40 (Newcastle City Council)

Municipality of Krakw:
- 17& 28 (View of the city of Krakw photographer Wieslaw Majka) - 30 (photographer Jacek Chrobak)

Text:
SUITE project partners (Santiago de Compostela City Council, The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Iasi City Council, Municipality of Krakw, Medway Council, Nantes Mtropole, Newcastle City Council, Rennes Mtropole, Tallinn City) and URBACT experts (Heidrun Feigelfeld and Darinka Czischke)

Greves Garten/Jens Marzian:

- 18 (building community project Greves Garten new house) - 19 building community project Greves Garten refurbished old building and solar panels on the roof of the new houses)

Translation Spanish-English and proof reading:

Ana lvarez Lpez

Heidrun Feigelfeld:
- 11 & 56 (field visit in Hamburg) - 15 & 58 (picture of Heidrun Feigelfeld) - 53 (field visit in Newcastle) - 56 (synthesis meeting in Santiago)

Layout:
Csar Candamo

Greves Garten/Stefan Rhr-Kramer:

- 19 (building community project Greves Garten isometric drawing)

Johann Daniel Lawaetz Foundation:

Edited & Published by Santiago de Compostela City Council & SUITE Project Finished and printed in March 2011 - 16 (view of Hamburg city)

Greves Garten/Jrn Bruns

- 21 (inhabitants of the building community project Greves Garten

Iasi City Council:

- 16 (view of Iasi city) - 23 (the Mayor and the first tenants) - 24 (special social housing for mother in needs owned by Iasi City Council) - 26 (social housing owned by Iasi Coty Council)

Clment Gillet Investeam:

- 42, 44 & 45 (pictures owned by Clment Gillet photographer Javier Callejas)

Nantes Mtropole:
- 16 (view of the city of Nantes) - 35, 36 & 37 (Nantes Mtropole)

Emuvissa:
- 47 & 48 (authors Diego Briega and Antonio Cervelo)

City Property Department of Tallinn:

- 16 (view of the city of Tallinn) - 50 & 52 (owned by City Property Department)

Darinka Czischke:
- 58 (picture of Darinka Czischke)

Ville de Rennes:
- 16 (Des Champs Libres)

Medway Council:
- 17 (view of Medway) - 32 (map of the Luton and Wayfield Ward (district) - 33 (views of the building in the district)