Speaker
Description
This paper analyzes the transformations of housing policy governance in Europe, with a focus on the redefinition of housing responsibilities and the role of the actors involved. The focus is on the comparison between Italy and France, two countries that, albeit at different times and in different ways, detect processes of decentralization and (re)structuring of housing governance.
From a political point of view, administrative decentralization has been a defining trend in the evolution of Western European welfare states since the 1970s (Kazepov, 2010). In Italy, constitutional reforms transferred housing policy from the central government to regional authorities, granting decision-making autonomy but also leading to reduced public housing investment and greater challenges for vulnerable populations (Bricocoli & Cucca, 2014; Storto, 2018). France, despite some recent delays due to political instability in the government, is likely to follow a similar trajectory as part of its broader “administrative simplification” policy agenda, in which housing decentralization is included. The French case is particularly interesting: although it is characterized by a highly centralized political architecture, it has experienced two waves of administrative decentralization since the 1980s, which were nevertheless considered “incomplete” and “partial” (Quilichini, 2001; Driant, 2015; Gimat, 2017); So far, these reforms have never directly affected housing policies, which has remained a state competence. The new prospect of decentralization reform could thus represent a historic crossroads for French housing policies, traditionally robust but considered “ineffective” by the government (Daoulas, 2023) due to the complex multiscalarity of governance and a housing crisis that counts 4 million “mal-logés” (Fondation Abbé-Pierre, 2024).
Through a literature review the initiation of a series of interviews with housing stakeholders in Italy and France, the paper aims to explore housing governance through two aspects. On the one hand, it provides a systematic reading of housing governance in Italy and France, clarifying the legal concept of “administrative decentralization,” and analyzing both its political promotion and its effects on housing policy management.
On the other, it explores an alternative model emerging in the French academic and professional debate: the “territorialization” of housing policy. This approach, more flexible than traditional administrative decentralization, would imply a constant dialogue between the state and local actors, introducing a constraint of “obligation to results” rather than a mere “possibility of results” (Quilichini, 2006) as in the case of administrative decentralization. Examination of this planning policy could open up scenarios on the applicability of this housing policy governance tool in other European contexts.
References:
Bricocoli, M. & Cucca, R. (2014), Social mix and housing policy: Local effects of a misleading rhetoric. The case of Milan, in "Urban Studies". Urban Studies.
Daoulas, J-B. (2023) ‘Réforme de la Constitution : Emmanuel Macron loin du grand soir’, Libération, 4 October 2023. Available at: https://www.liberation.fr/politique/reforme-de-la-constitution-emmanuel-macron-loin-du-grand-soir-20231004_J2JFPHU6ARFXXGL3L2NGAALQQU/ (Accessed: 31 Jan 2025).
Driant, J-C. (2015), Les politiques du logement en France. La Documentation française.
Fondation Abbé-Pierre (2024), 29e rapport sur l'état du mal-logement en France 2024. [Online] available at https://www.fondation-abbe-pierre.fr/actualites/29e-rapport-sur-letat-du-mal-logement-en-france-2024.
Gimat, M. (2017), Thèse : Matthieu Gimat. Produire le logement social. Hausse de la construction, changements institutionnels et mutations de l'intervention publique en faveur des HLM (2004-2014). Géographie. Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne ; UMR Géographie-Cités, 2017.
Kazepov, Y. (ed.) (2010) Rescaling Social Policies, Farnham: Ashgate. La Repubblica (2010a) Manovra, via libera del Consiglio dei Ministri, newspaper article, 25 May.
Quilichini, P. (2001), Logement social et décentralisation, LGDJ, Bibliothèque de droit public. Paris.
Quilichini, P. (2006), La territorialisation de la politique de l'habitat. RDSS. Revue de droit sanitaire et social, 2006, 03, pp.419.
Storto, Giancarlo. La casa abbandonata: Il racconto delle politiche abitative dal piano decennale ai programmi per le periferie. Rome: Officina Edizioni, 2018.
References
References already entered under “content” for the abstract submission.
| Keywords | Housing governance; decentralization; territorialization; governance. |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
