Abstract
The nature of housing management has often been contested between two main orientations, business-like (i.e. economic efficiency) and social welfare (i.e. social support), reflecting the dual identity of social housing providers, as both private enterprises and welfare promoters. Research shows that housing management is particularly susceptible to transformations in the broader social housing sector. Considering the last two decades, the demand for social housing has increased across Western Europe, involving different social categories, e.g. low-middle income and, more recently, asylum seekers. On the supply side, housing providers have become keener to involve residents in delivering and managing housing-related services. This paper explores how innovative management strategies are emerging in the context of broader changes in social rented sectors and welfare policies in countries characterised by different typologies of housing systems, Italy and the Netherlands. By means of case studies and semi-structured interviews, this paper scrutinizes specific management approaches, i.e. Integrated Social Management and self-management, in two recent social housing projects in Milan and Amsterdam, which target socially mixed tenants, i.e. status-holders, low-income and young locals. Despite several differences, management approaches in both cases aim to increase tenants’ responsibilisation but with different focus: towards the community, i.e. social integration of vulnerable tenants in the housing project (Dutch case), and towards individual dwellings, i.e. boosting individuals’ self-agency in relation to the maintenance of properties (Italian case). This paper discusses how distinct, and sometimes normative, premises underlying tenants participation in housing management shape specific relationships between residents and housing providers.
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Acknowledgements
This paper is the result of the visiting research programme of Igor Costarelli at OTB Department, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) from February to September 2017, which has been co-funded by the grant Erasmus+ for Traineeship for the academic year 2016/2017. The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers who provided constructive comments and suggestions to improve earlier version of this manuscript. Our thanks go also to all professionals and tenants who were willing to be interviewed.
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Costarelli, I., Kleinhans, R. & Mugnano, S. ‘Thou shalt be a (more) responsible tenant’: exploring innovative management strategies in changing social housing contexts. J Hous and the Built Environ 35, 287–307 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-019-09680-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-019-09680-0