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Housing between policies and design

This is a Special Issue published in the journal City, Territory and Architecture.

Qualitatively and quantitatively sufficient housing supply to respond to the housing emergency are central to effective welfare policies. Increasingly more expensive housing, the recent economic recession and the COVID 19-pandemic have aggravated the housing crises. The climate crises is further challenging the way we consume housing.

Forced confinements due to lockdown policies, have demonstrated the inadequacy of the existing stock to needs as well as new forms of "agile" work and leisure. The issue of habitable space has extended beyond the space of the dwelling involving the areas appurtenant to buildings and those adjacent to residences and settlements.

The unavailability of public and private spaces has further marked the disparities map by recognizing residential neighborhoods as the main issue of inequality.

In the absence of an updated public debate on the "housing issue," outside of a housing market capable of responding to the needs of more diverse segments of the population, and within the cogency of an ecological transition that puts cities and public but also private residential assets at the center, the definition of new housing policies and design models is necessary.

In this context, the Special Issue "Housing between Policies and Design" aims to explore innovative and resilient models, policies, and designs. We invite theoretical and critical perspectives, as well as theoretically informed case studies that focus on solving the problems of housing in the contemporary city.

Full paper submission. Deadline: September 2023

Estimated deadline for publication: December 2023

Guest Editors:

Nicola Martinelli, Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy

Johanna Lilius, Aalto University, Finland


Submission Guidelines:

Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system. During the submission process, under the section additional information, you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Housing between Policies and Design" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.

For editorial enquiries please contact editorial@cityterritoryarchitecture.com.


  1. Instances of crisis have always marked pivotal moments in housing design, acting as catalysts for re-evaluating models and practices and bringing forth systemic changes already latent in the discipline. Such r...

    Authors: Sergio Martín Blas, Guiomar Martín Domínguez and Mariacristina D’Oria
    Citation: City, Territory and Architecture 2024 11:6
  2. Urban regeneration is aimed at improving settlement contexts, and indirectly at solving the housing issue. In Italy there is no national regulation on urban regeneration, but many policies from 2000 up to now ...

    Authors: Mariella Annese, Laura Ariola, Ilaria Lucia Mezzapesa and Natalia Roberto
    Citation: City, Territory and Architecture 2024 11:5
  3. After the long-lasting divestment in the Italian public housing system and the privatization of over 20% of the stock, many public dwellings are vacant or in substantial need of maintenance. The article aims a...

    Authors: Marco Peverini, Massimo Bricocoli and Anna Tagliaferri
    Citation: City, Territory and Architecture 2023 10:30