Imagining New European Bauhaus 2.0

Being also the CEO of BL - Danmarks Almene Boliger - the federation in charge of social and affordable housing in the Danish context - he looked at the bigger picture and insisted on the need to build homes for people (not for filling up already full pockets), taking into account the needs of youth and the ageing population. To him, technology and new approaches might sometimes be used or interpreted in unpredictable ways. Therefore, having tenant democracy as they do in Denmark and listening to the needs, struggles, aspirations of the people who live in the neighbourhood is more than important. “We have to use and reuse the resources we have,” without forgetting that green or biobased material has to be used with productivity and longevity in mind while we also must think of disassembly from the very beginning.

One of the true believers in the New European Bauhaus, MEP Marcos Ros Sempere who is a social democrat from Spain, pointed out that the next EU term could be the time to reflect on urban policies and insisted that a future urban policy framework must be very comprehensive, stressing the affordability aspect but also quality of homes and how do we tackle the energy poverty phenomenon.

Embracing new ways of knowledge, information sharing and co-creation can encourage sustainable and inclusive change were the major takeaways from the session our Secretary-General, Sorcha Edwards moderated at the Festival. Could more can-do attitude and good examples deliver neighbourhoods that are beautiful, sustainable, cohesive?