According to Mentor Stuart Smith, ‘by 2030, UN-Habitat estimates that 3 billion people, about 40 percent of the world’s population, will need access to adequate housing. The importance of decent housing to health, education, access to basic services, economic opportunity, safety and business is well understood. However, a shortage of decent, affordable housing remains a global problem that impacts upon both developed and developing economies’.

The first edition of the Norman Foster Foundation’s Public Debates on Cities: Affordable Housing, taking place Wednesday 16 November 2022 with the support of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, will tackle the challenges and potential solutions to provide affordable housing in cities of different contexts globally.

With a five-minute keynote and debate between the following experts:

• Peter van Assche, Founding Principal, bureau SLA, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Chairman, Committee for Architectural Review and Monuments, Utrecht, the Netherlands
• Tatiana Bilbao, Principal, Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
• Jonathan Ledgard, Founder, Rossums Studio, Lausanne, Switzerland; Director, Afrotech Future Africa Initiative (Afrotech-EPFL), Ècole Polytchnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPLF), Lausanne, Switzerland
• Stuart Smith, Director, Arup Germany, Berlin, Germany
• Maria Vassilakou, Former Vice Mayor, Vienna, Austria

And with a never-seen-before conversation between the two Pritzker-recipients:

• Alejandro Aravena, Executive Director, ELEMENTAL, Santiago, Chile; ELEMENTAL Copec Chair, Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
• Norman Foster, President, Norman Foster Foundation

Join the conversation: #NormanFosterFoundation @NormanFosterFdn @HolcimFdn

The Public Debates are free and open to the public, with a limited capacity, after registering via Eventbrite. Access is granted on a first-come basis. Please note that registration does not guarantee entry once full capacity has been reached. The public debate will be held in English without translation.

Supported by the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction.