There is no denying the fundamental role of housing as a guarantor of human development. Yet, we are nowhere near guaranteeing humanity’s fundamental housing need. While in the Global North housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable, commodified and financialised to such an extent where in cities like London it is all too common for annual house price increases to surpass annual wages1, in the cities of the Global South, accounting for 90% of the planet’s urban growth, one out of every three people live in slums “unfit for human habitation”2. Neither the financialisation of housing nor the growth of slums seem to be reversing, on the contrary their pace continues unabated, compounding the interconnected socio-environmental challenges we face.
How can we reclaim housing as the fundamental act of dwelling in a fairer and greener world? An act of fair redistribution and regeneration of humanity’s and our planet’s resources.
The journal is calling for submissions that critically review housing models, policies, projects and processes, and radically reimagine how we dwell in our cities.
We publish work in a variety of formats and media, exploring the interaction of people, policies, and spaces, in cities across the world, bringing together research, design and policy proposals, activist and community voices, visual arts and creative writing, in a critical and analytical discourse on the city created by a diversity of perspectives from the Global North and the Global South.
Work may be proposed for publication in the following sections of the journal:
• Articles
• Design and Policy Proposals
• Activism and Community Initiatives
• Reportage
• Drawing, Photography, and Creative Media
• Letters From the City
• Book Reviews
Deadline for submissions: 30 June 2022, 23:59 London time
Guidelines for submissions:
https://journal.urbantranscripts.org/submissions/
Notes
1. Collinson, P., 2015. Welcome to London, where homes earn more than their owners. The Guardian, [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/17/welcome-to-london-where-homes-earn-more-than-their-owners> [Accessed 14 April 2022].
2. Cities Alliance, 2021. An international review of slum upgrading practices – Lessons learned and remaining challenges of projects and programs. Global Informality Papers. [online] Brussels: Cities Alliance. Available at: <https://www.citiesalliance.org/resources/publications/publications/international-review-slum-upgrading-practices> [Accessed 14 April 2022].
+
Cover image: Sleek new buildings in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh city rise up in the distance behind the wooden shanties which line the Saigon river bank. Photo credits: Stephane Bidouze / pifcfair.com
