Research subject

Thesis title: Publicly-sponsored mixed tenure as a means of achieving social mix: a case study of housing regeneration in the UK, Netherlands and France

Primary supervisor: Claire Colomb
Secondary supervisor: Sonia Arbaci
Sponsor: Frederick Bonnart-Braunthal Trust
Starting date: 28 Sept 2011
Projected completion date: 15 September 2014

My research aims to analyse the regeneration of post-World War II housing estates in three different European countries that have different systems in place for the allocation of social housing: Netherlands (universalist), France (targeted, generalist) and the UK (targeted, residual). It will focus on each government’s strategies to encourage tenure diversification and produce socially-mixed neighbourhoods. My objective is to identify patterns of social activity, and determine the extent to which mixed tenure has translated into new social networks and has facilitated the interaction between people on different tenures, racial, religious and cultural backgrounds.

My research will attempt to understand the context and nature of contacts people on different tenures establish. Emphasis will be given to studies on the existing systems for social housing provision, on the role of governments on formulating strategies for social and ethnical mixing and on the ideas that underpin regeneration. Coming from a more general perspective, the research will then focus on case studies that have similar physical and social characteristics and that have adopted demolition and redevelopment as main solution.

I intend to address the gap in the literature concerning patterns of interaction between different tenures in neighbourhoods, taking into consideration class, cultural, religious and racial differences. Finally, the research aims to understand the impacts of large-scale housing regeneration in the lives of those affected by it and the consequences of unnaturally creating new neighbourhoods. It is expected that its outcomes will be an important resource for further debate on aspects of tenure diversification and regeneration aimed at social housing estates.

Biography

Tatiana graduated in Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2005. As an undergraduate student, Tatiana received funding from FAPESP (Sao Paulo Research Foundation) to carry out a one-year research project in environmental design (supervisor: Denise Helena Silva Duarte), which culminated in the publication of papers at the VII ENCAC (Encontro Nacional sobre Conforto no Ambiente Construído)– III COTED (Conferência Latino-Americana sobre Conforto e Desempenho Energético e Edificações) in 2003, and at PLEA 2004 (Passive and Low Energy Architecture). Following her interests in sustainability and urban planning, Tatiana’s final project as an undergraduate student focused on the social, environmental and economic regeneration of a deprived area in the centre of Sao Paulo, which was awarded maximum grade.

Before moving to the UK in 2005, Tatiana worked as an intern in architecture and, once in London, she worked in an architectural office and gained experience in educational and residential projects, as well as masterplanning and feasibility studies, which later motived her to study urban regeneration.

In 2009, after being awarded the Abbey Masters Scholarship (now, Santander), Tatiana started a MSc in Urban Regeneration at UCL. Her final dissertation (supervisor: Dr. Ben Clifford) focused on the critical analysis of government strategies for the redevelopment of social housing estates in the UK; a topic which motivated her to continue her studies.

Tatiana started her research for a PhD at UCL in September 2011, thanks to the sponsorship from the Frederick Bonnart-Braunthal Trust, and she expects that her final thesis will contribute to the discussion of social mix and interventions in areas predominantly composed of social housing..