Within the European city, the historic housing stock often comprises a compact, densely built-up area close to city centres. Due to its urbanistic and architectural qualities as well as the key socio-economic function it plays in the urban housing market, this stock has a considerable and important role in the identity of the European city. Although often formally recognised as such in planning policy, historic housing nevertheless constitutes a tangible and intangible heritage, and for many communities it is central to urban living. However, market pressure and climate adaptation and mitigation strategies proposed by city and national governments threaten this cultural heritage. Long-term under-investment and disrepair of this housing has meant that making this stock more carbon neutral is costly and technically challenging. Where such action has been taken - usually based in individual buildings - commodification, gentrification, and displacement pressures might result. Consequently, the demolition of this cultural heritage is a real risk faced by European cities.
The main intention of this project is to identify and evaluate how historic housing, viewed as a valued element of cultural heritage, can contribute to urban climate action, identifying opportunities and good practices as well as social, economic and policy barriers. Our focus is on using existing formal and informal knowledge of this cultural heritage, including everyday practices of residents, as well as strategies for climate adaptation and mitigation. Using a transnational comparative approach, transdisciplinary expertise, and local stakeholder insights, the project provides an analysis of the role of different actor constellations, regulations, and ownership structures of the housing stock in cities within four different urban contexts – Marseille, Vienna, Prague, and Glasgow – to create a toolkit (methodology) that comprises pan-European strategies and practices that assist in scaling up local strategies and practices of climate-change mitigation for the historic housing stock.