We took part in the research service for the development of perspectives on local housing polices in the framework of the Ri.CA – Rigenerare Comunità e Abitare verso Human Technopole (Regenerating Community and Housing towards Human Technopole) in partnership with Datsu – Politecnico of Milan. The commissioned research project focused on the areas of Rho and Bollate and was supported by Comuni Insieme and Sercop, and their social housing offices, C.A.S.A. and AdA. The research is part of a wider investigation developed by the commissioning bodies on housing policy and the role private property can play within it.

Our work had a double aim: first, to experiment with a number of methodologies to trace the housing assets in the interested areas, with a specific focus on large and medium sized real estate, vacant properties and available social housing; secondly, render a complex picture of the territory, able to facilitate institutions and housing offices to orientate their local housing policies.

Thanks to the contribution of MAUD-LAB to the research, we mobilized public databases, available to all public authorities but scarcely used, such as the real estate registry, and the databases of housing taxes, IMU and TARI. This allowed for an overall evaluation of the structure of privately-owned real estate in the areas. Thanks to this work, we have drafted guidelines for the good management of public databases, in order to facilitate similar research endeavors in the future.

Furthermore, through qualitative interviews with organisations working in the area, for the first time we pieced together in a precise and effective manner the amount of available social housing in the areas. Which, in time, will be increasingly integrated within public real estate and local housing policies.

As a conclusion to our work, we developed workshops for relevant workers in the areas and a graphic report, with maps and graphs as support tools for the commissioning bodies, researchers and citizens to further these investigations and debates. The graphic report is accompanied by a detailed report on demographic dynamics connected to housing policies and real estate dynamics.

Photo ☉☉ Bekky Bekks on Unsplash