Many recent articles in this age of COVID-19 are touting new building. It’s often considered one of the most, if not the most, important engine of an urban economy.
Reflecting the uncertainty, of consumer purchasing power after the layoffs and unemployment of COVID-19, the building industry is showing an uncharacteristic interest in social housing. If individuals and corporations are reluctant to invest in new housing, perhaps governments will take this opportunity to build significant rather than symbolic quantities of social housing — a lack which has been felt for decades in many nations.
Let us hope, however, that the rush back to profit that will undoubtedly influence private developers will not result in the squandering government money on “down and dirty” social housing projects slap-dashed into existence with a decade or two lifespan like pseudo-luxury McMansions1.
There needs to be a commitment to the urban environment2. Even refurbishment projects help to fire up the construction industry. For a recent example of just such a project read more in TheMayor.eu: Longest green roof on a residential building in the Netherlands completed
