Building Groups as Living Labs – Visions for an Urban Future beyond Profit-Driven Development

Collaborative and self-organized building projects are in high demand these days, as they provide timely answers to some of the housing questions posed by the 21st century. Many offer long-term affordable rents, communal forms of living, and high ecological standards. As such, they have the potential to offset social inequality in the housing sector, overturn the negative consequences of individualization, redefine spatial connections between housing, recreation, and work, and enable people to take charge of their own housing conditions.