IN-PERSON London Heritages. Section A

Abstract

Housing and heritage are independently key metrics of human well-being. The UN estimates that 3 million people will have no access to adequate housing by 2030. At the same time, there is growing recognition in theory in Critical Heritage Studies that adaptive, people-centred approaches to dealing with heritage in urban development can contribute to cultural and social sustainability. Grounded in a position in Critical Heritage Studies, the paper reviews the theoretical approaches to heritage in the architectural and urban design of housing projects. The methodology involves screening the literature available on various databases, snowballing from their relevant citations, and scouring domain-specific sources. Based on preliminary results, three focus areas in the literature are discussed. The first focus area covers the conversion and change of function of existing buildings into housing through adaptive reuse. The second focus area covers new housing design through urban regeneration or renewal. This is at an urban scale and may involve partial demolition and/or adaptive reuse or conservation of individual buildings. The third focus area covers ad-hoc, user-led transformations of existing housing, for example, by adding balconies or building new storeys. While this housing is not necessarily on the cusp of planned transformation, the unofficial changes offer clues for designing future housing that considers the aspirations of inhabitants. Bringing together housing and heritage, the review aims to inform architects, urban designers, and policymakers on the potential of heritage-sensitive design to foster cultural continuity while meeting housing needs.