The People’s Meeting: Housing policy for the benefit of all

Housing policy for the benefit of all – how do we ensure more equal opportunities?

In line with the increasingly tight housing market, the availability of affordable housing has become a key focus in the housing policies of the Nordic countries. In public policy, it is stipulated that new housing should be provided in different price and rent categories with the aim of reaching a wider part of the population, as well as promoting socially mixed neighbourhoods. But at the same time, the position of middle- and low-income groups in the housing market seems to be getting worse, both in Iceland and in our Nordic neighbors. There is even talk of the “narrowed middle” in the housing market, where the middle class more often than not can neither afford housing investments nor have the right to public support.

How are the government and local authorities meeting their own goals for affordable housing? What resources are available and how effective are they? Does the system need to be rethought so that equality can be guaranteed?

Here we will hear a talk about the results of the research project “Strategic housing,” which examines housing policies in the Nordic countries with the aim of encouraging cities to develop more comprehensive and integrated housing policies. Anna Granath Hansson, an expert at Nordregio, will deliver the talk, and after that a panel made up of experts, representatives from civil society and representatives of the public sector will put the results into an Icelandic context. In the discussions, we will not only consider equality in terms of availability, but also in terms of the quality of the housing available.

The event is part of the program of the People’s Meeting.
Moderator: Anna María Bogadóttir, architect, owner of Úrbanistan and docent at the Iceland Academy of Arts.