GCHU Public Seminar: How can we solve the housing crisis without sacrificing the planet?

The Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation Public Seminar series brings together members of the public, researchers and practitioners interested and engaged in urban health issues. The principal aim of the series is to provoke debate and constructive action, linking current best practice in urban development with emerging areas of health research.

How do we solve the housing crisis? The government’s headline answer is that we need to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years – and that we need to build on areas of “green belt” land to do so. But in a world where the construction industry is responsible for a huge proportion of our carbon emissions, waste and biodiversity loss, it’s reasonable to ask how this ambition is compatible with addressing the multiple intersecting environmental emergencies we’re facing.

In this seminar, we’ll look again at the problems underlying the housing crisis, asking whether these problems can be addressed effectively without doing excessive damage to our environment. We’ll consider innovative solutions – ranging from policy, to planning, to community action – that may or may not involve building more and faster, but which recognise the complexity of the situation and the care needed to address it responsibly.

Speakers

Dr Abi O’Connor: Researcher, New Economics Foundation, and Research Fellow, University of Liverpool

Darryl Chen: Urban Design Lead, Hawkins Brown

Tim Crabtree: Director, Wessex Community Assets

Professor Rebecca Tunstall: Professor Emerita of Housing Policy, University of York

This event is being co-hosted and chaired by the Oxfordshire Community Land Trust.

Open to: Guests, Members of Kellogg College, Oxford University members, the public,