By Marco Allegra
On February 18th, 2025, DASH member Marco Allegra (ICS, University of Lisbon) participated in the inaugural session of the City and Regional Sustainability Transitions Webinar Series (CReST) of the Regional Studies Association (RSA).
The Regional Studies Association is a learned society concerned with the analysis of regions and regional issues, whose network includes academics, students, practitioners, policymakers. The webinar series City and Regional Sustainability Transitions is jointly organised by CReST and Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association; in 2025, the series has focused on three main areas: social housing, energy justice, and health equity.
Marco delivered a talk on affordable social housing based on the work of the DASH project, titled “Perspectives on Social Housing from Different European Countries”. The discussant for the session was Hélène Roth (University of Clermont Auvergne).
Over the past decade, housing policy has become a critical area for public intervention, with a growing housing crisis affecting many European countries. As Marco explained in his talk, the importance of social housing has been underscored by these crises, which have assumed different local forms and often stemmed from years of underinvestment in the social housing sector.
Drawing on the experience of the DASH project, Marco noted that different countries have distinct systems, goals, and affordability measures, shaped by unique historical, political, and economic factors. He pointed out that while there are common challenges across these countries—such as mismatched housing stocks, rising housing costs, and the need for sustainable solutions—the strategies to address these issues vary widely.
Marco also emphasized the growing role of the European Union in housing policy. He discussed recent EU initiatives, such as the Next Generation EU program and the appointment of a Housing Commissioner, which aim to address the mounting affordability crisis. Projects like DASH thus provide a valuable platform for fostering inter-sectoral peer learning and encouraging positive contributions to policymaking at local, national, and European levels.
You can find the recording of the seminar here.
