Professor John Pendlebury delivers keynote lecture at international conference in Vienna

Professor John Pendlebury delivered his keynote lecture titled "The Potential of the Heritage of English Welfare State Housing for progressive urban politics" on the morning of Friday 29 November as part of the conference. 

20th Century Housing Heritage in Europe: Conserving, Participating, and Adapting

The conference focusses on housing concepts and built settlements of the 20^th century, which often explicitly addressed hygienical, ecological, communal, and social issues and necessities. We ask how these heritage values can be conserved for the sake of sustainable futures. Forms of use, social interaction, and participation might contribute to the care and careful adaptation of such sites, but also create conflicts. Various actors—from business, politics, conservation, and civil society—define, appropriate, and manage this housing heritage and need to be involved. The conference also examines housing and climate policies, development pressure, and vacancy as powerful contexts.

We aim for an exchange of theories, reflections, and approaches in practice within the European context of conservation and planning; and specifically address those settlements that have gained listed status due to their artistic and architectural values, their planning ideas and urban design, and their social concepts. How do different actors value and manage these settlements today?