European Middle Class Mass Housing

COST ACTION CA18137 – MCMH-EU
https://mcmh.eu/

European Middle Class Mass Housing 

 

MCMH has been generally underestimated in urban and architectural studies and there is still a lack of comparative analysis and global perspectives. By crossing different approaches focus on Architecture, Urbanism, Planning, Public Policies, History, Sociology, our network allows a wider understanding of MCMH sprawl, deepening on-going researches and focusing on the existing case studies. The main challenge of MCMH-EU is to create a transnational network that gathers European researchers carrying studies on Middle-Class Mass Housing (MCMH) built in Europe since the 1950s and to develop new scientific approaches by discussing, testing and assessing diverse case studies and their different methodologies and perspectives. 

Considering the present political, economicand social context in Europe concerning housing – particularly regarding Middle-Class –, this is a crucial moment to combine the academic fields of Architecture, Urbanism, Planning, Public Policies, History, Sociology, as well as other social sciences, with the action of policymakers, institutional actors, local communities and stakeholders. The knowledge and the conclusions achieved within the academic circles will be expected to be put forward, therefore contributing tothe awareness on the MCMH issue as well as providing new outputs that can drive and deepen the current scientific research. 

Although MCMH is already a research topic in several European countries, there has been little detailed scientific exchange and debate.

1. Lack of debate on the historical, theoretical, sociological and architectural conservation premises of the different studies;
2. The existence of only exploratory approaches of cross-studies between sociology and architecture, despite being a seminal relationship;
3. The same applies to MCMH within the metropolitan areas;
4. Different levels of development in different national states-of-the-art;
5. The studies remain at local and national levels, therefore there is little work developed in a systematic and transnational manner;
6. Lack of interaction between scientific researchers and other agents such as policymakers, private investors and local communities.

The Action will address these lacunae by putting in contact, in a systematic way, researchers with different scientific backgrounds, different geographical locations, and different institutional affiliations. Therefore, MCMH-EU allows strengthening the existing national research teams, by creating new working dynamics through the interaction between different groups and the development of an international network that increases dialectic perspectives on MCMH. 

The Action intends to develop the knowledge of the interaction between spatial forms, behaviours and satisfaction and to combine methodologies of architectural and social analyses with the studies that privilege field surveys. This confrontation will allow an unprecedented scientific debate and analysis on:

 
i. Different promotion standards (public or private) and its consequences in terms of the inhabitants’ resilience;
ii. Different conceptions, both qualitative and quantitative, of the Middle-Class in different countries and ethnicities;
iii. Different occupations (considering aspects such as inhabitant profile and events such as migrations, social changes, tourism, ageing and gentrification). Special attention will be given to the historical/social process, benefiting from the already existing research.

CORE GROUP
 
Chair
Prof Ana Cristina Fernandes VAZ MILHEIRO / ISCTE-IUL
 
Vice Chair
Prof Gaia CARAMELLINO / POLITECNICO DI MILANO
 
Grant Holder Scientific Representative
Dr Monica PACHECO / ISCTE-IUL
 
WG1 (Documenting the MCMH) Leader
Dr Ines Lima RODRIGUES / ISCTE-IUL
 
WG1 Co-leader 
Prof Kostas TSIAMBAOS / National Technical University of Athens
 
WG1 Co-leader
Dr Dalit SHACH-PINSLY / TECHNION – ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
 
WG2 (Development of a specific set of (new) concepts for MCMH analyses) Leader
Prof Els DE VOS / UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERPEN

WG2 Co-leader
Prof Yankel FIJALKOW / CNRS
 
WG3 (Leverage contemporary architecture interventions and Public Policies) Leader
Prof Uta POTTGIESSER / TU Delft

WG3 Co-leader
Prof Muge AKKAR ERCAN / Middle East Technical University

Science Communication Manager
Prof Yael ALLWEIL / TECHNION – ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
   
Science Communication Co-manager
Mr Ahmed El-Amine BENBERNOU / ENSA Paris-Val-de-Seine

STSM Coordinator
Prof Els DE VOS / UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERPEN
   
STSM Co-coordinator
Dr Juliana MARTINS / University College London Bartlett School of Planning UCL
 
ITC Conference Grant Manager
Dr Marija MILINKOVIC / University of Belgrade – Faculty of Architecture