Development Process and Land Strategies for Housing Affordability in Metropolitan Regions
Strasbourg Eurométropole
20-21 June 2024
This workshop aimed to ground the theoretical approaches used as analytical frameworks in the development process and, in particular, Anthony Giddens’ structure and agency methods.
The workshop included several organisations and civil servants from the Metropolitan Region of Strasbourg, using two topics as case studies: 1) the implementation of the Housing First approach and 2) the land management policies and strategies currently employed by Strasbourg. Before the workshop, participants received an online presentation as well as reading material on structure and agency and the models of the development process as understood by Patsy Healey.
Also, before the workshops, relevant participants were asked to submit material regarding housing and land policies that could inform the conversation, not only as pre-reading material for the organizing team but also for international guests. During the workshop itself, the delivery team organises the session following a series of activities, including the mapping of actors and institutions relevant to each case study (1 and 2) and designing a semi-structured questionnaire to guide conversations and encourage cross-organizational conversations as well as self-reflective thinking.
By bringing together both local and international experts on housing policy and land management strategies, the 2-day workshop in the Eurométropole of Strasbourg was intended as an executive training workshop using applied learning techniques that are based on current theories and exemplar practices specifically selected for the event. In addition, the grounding of structure and agency theories by empirically operationalizing it in a context familiar to participants, facilitated the learning process whilst providing a new tool to analyse local development processes, their institutions, and the agency of actors involved.
By engaging housing and land organisations involved in policy and management in Strasbourg, the workshops reinforced current integrated approaches and multi-actor exchange while offering the opportunity to raise questions and openly uncover opportunities and hurdles, as well as finding ways of building resilience to their impact on housing affordability at the metropolitan level.
June 2024
