DAY 2 – Changing the story of housing in Europe, one district at a time

DAY 2 – 4 December 2026
Committee of the Regions (room JDE52)

Moderated by Sorcha Edwards, Housing Europe

Session #3: Tired Cities. Shortening distances for more compact, accessible and affordable living

Time has become a valuable yet scarce resource of modern urban life. Accelerating urbanisation, digitalisation and globalisation have fastened the pace of cities, but time is not experienced equally. While some people enjoy greater flexibility over how they organise their day, others spend increasing amounts of time commuting, juggling multiple jobs or caring responsibilities, and travelling long distances to access affordable housing, employment and essential services. Rising housing costs and limited housing supply are making time poverty an increasingly unequal burden, particularly for lower-income households and essential workers.

The European Affordable Housing Act provides an opportunity to strengthen proximity, accessibility and housing affordability. Recognising high-pressure housing zones as areas where housing shortages restrict access to jobs, services and opportunities paves the way for a more integrated approach to urban development, linking housing policy with Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans to support compact, well-connected and transport-oriented neighbourhoods. Increasing the supply of public, cooperative and social housing in these central areas is essential not only to improve affordability, but also to reduce unnecessary travel, strengthen labour markets and enable people to reclaim one of their most valuable resources: time.

How people travel also matters. Active commuters tend to report greater satisfaction with their journeys, making walking and cycling an important part of healthier, more liveable cities. Carlos Moreno’s concept of the 15-minute city proposes a way forward, where everyday needs can be reached within a short walk or cycle. Delivering this vision requires affordable housing to be located close to jobs and services.

As David Madden, Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, argues, urban exhaustion has become a defining feature of contemporary cities, where housing insecurity, long commutes and the erosion of collective infrastructures leave many residents with less time for work, family and community life. This growing time poverty is unevenly distributed, disproportionately affecting lower-income households and essential workers, whose access to affordable housing often comes at the cost of longer journeys and reduced opportunities to participate fully in urban life.

At the same time, growing housing demand is pushing urban development beyond inner-city areas, where jobs, services, investment and opportunities tend to be concentrated. Housing is only truly affordable when access to the city is reliable at reasonable cost. Homes further from employment and essential services may imply longer commutes, higher transport costs and, where public transport and safe walking and cycling routes are lacking, dependence on a private car. Public transport infrastructure and assets can also help unlock additional housing supply, for example through transit-oriented development, the transformation of land around stations and other transport assets, and land-value capture or joint-development mechanisms.

Addressing mobility and guaranteeing accessibility are therefore fundamental dimensions of spatial justice, housing affordability and quality of life. 

Through the Interreg North Sea Region project SHARE-North Squared, cities including Bremen, Helsingborg, Stavanger, Utrecht, Aarhus and Mechelen are already demonstrating how integrating shared mobility into public, cooperative and social housing developments can reduce car dependency, optimise land use and support more compact neighbourhoods.

The session will bring together European institutions, cities, housing providers, transport authorities, urban planners and researchers to explore how housing, mobility and spatial planning can jointly deliver more affordable, accessible and liveable cities. With negotiations on the next EU funding period (2028–2034) expected to conclude by mid-December, the event will offer a timely opportunity to take stock of the state of play and explore emerging funding opportunities to promote well-connected public, cooperative and social housing.

This event is organised by Housing Europe, the European Cyclists‘ Federation (ECF), and the International Union for Public Transport (UITP).

REGISTER FOR THE EVENT     DAY 1 AGENDA

08:30 | Welcome Coffee

09:00 | Keynote: David Madden (London School of Economics)

09:15 | Developing well-connected public and social housing in Europe: best practices

Cornelia Cordes, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen – The Ministry for Building, Mobility and Urban Development

Christophe Vitu, Deputy Director General of Paris Habitat

09:45 | Panel discussion: EU actions promoting proximity and accessibility for public and social housing tenants

10:45 | Coffee break

Session #4: Plugging In: Electrification in Affordable Housing

For public, cooperative and social housing providers, electrification is an important part of decarbonising Europe’s homes while keeping them affordable. From heat pumps and locally produced renewable electricity to electrified district heating, housing providers are exploring different solutions to reduce emissions and energy costs. Yet their effectiveness depends not only on the technologies themselves, but also on building characteristics, local energy infrastructure, electricity prices, regulatory frameworks and investment capacity.  

The European Commission’s Electrification Action Plan aims to accelerate the uptake of clean electricity, including in buildings, through measures addressing electricity costs, financing, procurement and the deployment of clean heating technologies. For social and affordable housing providers, translating these ambitions into practice requires action at several levels: optimising technologies and their operation, identifying viable financing and business models, and overcoming infrastructure and regulatory barriers that can limit deployment.  

Drawing on practical experiences from across Europe, this session will explore different pathways to electrification in social and affordable housing. It will examine the role of heat pumps and other clean heating solutions, alongside opportunities for local renewable energy production, collective self-consumption and energy sharing. Experiences from the ground will illustrate how housing providers can engage in local energy initiatives and how these can benefit residents. The discussion will also consider how national electrification strategies, grid capacity, regulatory frameworks and financial conditions influence the choices available to housing providers. 

Bringing together policymakers and housing sector practitioners, the session will examine how the EU’s electrification agenda, including the forthcoming Heating and Cooling Action Plan, can better support the organisations responsible for delivering affordable decarbonisation on the ground. The discussion will identify the practical and policy conditions needed to move from individual solutions to deployment at scale, while ensuring that the benefits reach residents. 

11:00 | Keynote: “The Electrification Plan and Heating/Cooling Strategy”

Robert Nuij, Head of Unit of Building and Products (DG ENER)

11:15 | Presentation of the LIFE install.res Fast Track Scheme: A framework for simpler, more affordable heat pump installation and operation

Margherita Marinelli, Housing Europe

11:25 | Electrification in Social Housing: panel discussion

Heleen Schockaert, Senior Expert Energy Poverty (REScoop.eu)  

Michel Böhm, Scientific Assistant (GdW – Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies)

Paul Stegers, Strategic Advisor (WoonCompagnie, social housing provider in the Netherlands)

Robert Nuij, Head of Unit of Building and Products (DG ENER)

Moderated by Fernando Sigchos (European Builders Confederation)

12:30 | End of conference

REGISTER FOR THE EVENT     DAY 1 AGENDA