New Temporary Public Housing Typology in the Basque Country: A Legislative and Design Response to the New Requirements of the 21st Century Society

Abstract

The Administration of the Basque Country has been responsible for public housing since 1981. Since then, more than 104,000 protected housing units have been built for 2,200,000 inhabitants, 34,000 of which have been directly promoted by the Basque Government. To better adapt its policies to the requirements of a new contemporary society, the Housing Department of the Basque Government has developed a new Habitability Decree in 2022. This Decree aims to update housing to the new ways of living in Basque society and to incorporate new social requirements regarding housing, such as universal accessibility, gender perspective, productive housing, and remote work, while trying to open new ways to improve flexibility of the housing stock. This article analyses some of the key aspects of the new Decree and one of the newly regulated typologies for temporary housing aimed at young and older populations. In addition to the critical selection of the most relevant aspects of the Decree, this article aims at contextualising its requirements in the European context and the broader reference framework of the housing crisis in the Basque Country. To that end, the most notable novelties of the Decree are presented alongside the analysis of 13 temporary housing projects developed by the Housing Department before the approval of the Decree, placing special emphasis on the issue of over-occupation. The analysis makes it possible to typologically characterise the temporary accommodation built to date and to compare the new minimum living space requirements per person with other international regulations. As a conclusion, a discussion is offered about the usefulness of the Decree for adapting new housing in the Basque country to the 21st century, and for preventing the issue of overcrowding.

The Systematic Integrative Narrative Review on Community Support Practices and Outcomes in Social and Community Housing

“…Another one found emerging higher cognitive risks in women only during an early detection housing program and debated the precaution perspective with the potential negative impact on persons along with the stigma associated with the deteriorating condition (Wiese et al, 2021). A recent study in Spain, by Romeo-Gurruchaga, et al (2023) also calls attention for gender perspective in housing. Other interesting results relate to the choice of living in social housing for seniors being specifically chosen for the social network and safety, which is a positive emerging outcome of public housing setting.…”

The Spatial Analysis and Enhancement of Social Housing in Seoul

“…European countries, which have implemented social housing policies earlier than South Korea, have gone through trial and error to enhance the spatial functions and utilization of social housing to improve citizens' quality of life. For example, in Spain, there are standards in square meters depending on the number of types of rooms [15]. This underscores the importance of spatial analysis, given that the spatial functions and utilization of social housing directly impact residents' quality of life.…”