Metropolitan Research Institute

Metropolitan Research Institute, Budapest

Programme and proceedings

27 SEPTEMBER, FRIDAY

14.00 – 14.30 Opening by Managing directors & MRI founders Iván Tosics and József Hegedüs (Video of the opening talks)

14.30 – 16.00 Plenary 1: Urban development: renewal of the urban fabric – for whom? (Video of the full session)

The first plenary discussion will concentrate on an important aspect of urban restructuring of European cities: regeneration, rebuilding, densification of the urban fabric. The emphasis will be on the analysis and mitigation of the potential negative social consequences of regeneration: renoviction and ’enerviction’ (the introduction of too high energy standards) are just two ways which could radically change the local social structure, replacing the original population with better-off families, who pay higher taxes and better match the expectations of investors and city leaders.

Impulse statements:

After the presentations, comments will be given by the discussion panel: Eszter Somogyi (MRI), Simon Güntner (TU Wien); Herman Kok (Meyer Bergman, London); Sampo Ruoppila (University of Turku)

Moderators: Iván Tosics and Éva Gerőházi (MRI)

16.00 – 16.15 Coffee break

16.15 – 17.45 Plenary 2: Housing and welfare regimes: varieties of responses to the crisis (Video of the full session)

Evolving housing regimes: after the Global Financial Crisis, do the new trends in housing policies indicate a paradigm shift?  The session will overview different approaches to housing regimes, and attempt to identify the directions in which European housing regimes have been evolving.

Specific questions to the panelist:

  1. What is the main aim/function of the regime approach?
  2. What is the geographic unit we can use the housing regime approach? (global, national, regional, urban)
  3. How does the political and economic situation affect the housing regimes?
  4. Are housing regimes changing according to economic development?
  5. How do the housing regimes deal with the social inequalities?

Introduction: Mark Stephens (Heriot-Watt University)

Panelists: Michael Ball (University of Reading), Walter Matznetter (Universität Wien), Joris Hoekstra (TU Delft), Zsuzsi Pósfai (Periféria Policy and Research Centre)

Moderator: József Hegedüs (MRI)

20.00 – Conference Dinner, and World’s First Advisors’ Fuck-up Night (Video of the event)

This will be a unique evening, with a formal conference dinner – complete with self-critical stories from researchers and advisors about brilliant ideas which, however, went wrong for whatever reasons. What can we learn from our own mistakes?

Venue: A38 Ship on the Danube – Petőfi Bridge, Buda side

28 SEPTEMBER, SATURDAY

09.00 – 13.00 PARALLEL SESSIONS IN URBAN (1A), HOUSING (1B), AND HERITAGE RE-USE (1C) TOPICS

09.00 – 10.45 Session 1A.1 Urban development trends and planning responses in the large capitals of Central and Eastern Europe (Video of the full session)

The large capital cities are the winners of the transition – their good economic performance can be proved clearly by comparative data. In this session, however, the development of these cities will be discussed from other angles.

We will ask keynote speakers to concentrate in their presentations on the following key questions.

  • What are the consequences of the market lead economic development in the context of the sustainability and inclusivity of these cities? Are there any critical local debates about the environment and the poor? Who are the winners and who are the losers among the residents in the quick, market dominated development of these cities?
  • How and by whom are decisions taken about the development of capital cities? How are city budgets determined, which political forces influence the most the planning and decision-making processes? What are the largest investments in the city, how are these decided and financed?
  • How are unfavorable tendencies discussed? Are there any open debates about the development strategy of the city within the city hall? Are there any new critical actors outside the official politics and what is their real influence?
  • To what extent can the capital city (the larger cities) influence national policies? Can the capitals act in a powerful way against illiberal/antidemocratic national policies?

The schedule of the session is as follows.

Introduction to the session:

Impulse statements (10 minutes each), concentrating on the four key questions, will be given by the following keynote speakers:

After the presentations we will get comments from the members of the discussion panel: Mina Petrović (University of Belgrade), Catalin Berescu (the Romanian Academy, Bucharest), Sasha Puzanov (Institute of Urban Economics, Moscow); Vera Iváncsics (Szent István University, Veszprém)

Moderators: Iván Tosics and Nóra Teller (MRI)

09.00 – 10.45 Session 1B.1 Regulating housing markets (Video of the full session)

A low-regulation, market-centered approach dominated housing and housing finance policy from the early 1990s, until the Global Financial Crisis exposed its limitations. Now, a decade later, rising housing prices and rents are creating pressure for looser lending terms combined with stricter rental market regulations. The detailed program depends on the interest of the potential participants. The session will focus on two areas: mortgage market regulation and its effects, and rent regulation of dynamic urban rental markets.

Central questions:

  1. What seem to be the relevant lessons of past mistakes?
  2. Are there appropriate regulations and other barriers in place to deal with the political and financial incentives to repeat those mistakes?
  3. Are there regulations in place significantly exacerbating the rise in housing costs, both rental and owner?
  4. How do these issues vary across countries?

Introduction: Júlia Király (IBS Budapest) and Stefan Kofner (HSZG)

Panelists: Achim Dubel (Finpolconsult), Jacek Laszek (National Bank of Poland), Thomas Knorr Siedow (Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus – Senftenberg)

Moderator: Douglas B. Diamond (Independent Housing Finance expert)

09.00 – 10.45 Session 1C.1 Participation and identity in heritage re-use in urban contexts

Under-used heritage sites in need of new functions, and areas in need of new development in urban areas make adaptive re-use a fine and often employed development tool. The possible uses are manifold, ranging from cultural places to housing, offering the chance of producing new values and strengthening local identity, supporting bottom-up movements/initiatives. How these processes can deal with diverse local identity, how the question of participatory governance, minority heritage and identity can be approached will be in the focus of the discussion in the panel.

Speakers:

Moderators: Dóra Mérai (Central European University), Hanna Szemző, and Andrea Tönkő (MRI)

10.45 – 11.15 Coffee break

11.15 – 13.00 Session 1A.2 Post-socialist cities 30 years later – debates about models and futures. What comes after post-socialism? (Video of the full session)

With the passing of time since 1990, it is increasingly difficult to find publications which focus specifically on post-socialist cities – although the debate about this group of cities is far from being finished. Significantly different views coexist. Some analysts argue that the ‘post-socialist’ category has lost its relevance, and the present development direction of post-socialist cities coincides with the mainstream of capitalist cities. Others argue that post-socialist cities have undergone multiple waves of transformations, and some of these have not been completed yet. Finally, there are analysts who predict the survival of the category of the ’post-socialist city’, either due to the emergence of a new divide within the EU, or to recent political developments.

Impulse statements:

  • Sonja Hirt (University of Georgia, USA): Post-socialism is Dead: Long Live… Something or Another (video)
  • Ludek Sykora (Charles University, Prague): Half-Life Cities: Capitalist Pasts and Socialist Futures (video)
  • Sasha Tsenkova (University of Calgary, Canada): Post-Socialist Urbanism and Its Discontents (video)
  • Kiril Stanilov (University college London): Ideology and post-socialist cities

After the presentations we will get comments from the members of the discussion panel: Iván Szelényi (Professor emeritus, Yale), Zoltán Kovács (University of Szeged, Hungary), Judit Bodnár (Central European University), Tuna Tasan-Kok (University of Amsterdam).

Moderators: Iván Tosics and Nóra Teller (MRI)

11.15 – 13.00 Session 1B.2 International housing models, and their transferability to the post-transition context (Video of the full session)

This session invites good practices from the international arena which yield promising results in their current environment, and might hold potential to be transferred and adapted to post-transition environments. Some conceived by international agencies (Habitat for Humanity, Council of Europe Development Bank etc.), municipalities, housing cooperatives, policy professionals, or initiated by grassroots movements, in the framework of programs and cooperations (like the European Housing Partnership), experimental approaches have been deployed across Europe and the globe to foster secure and affordable housing in a sustainable manner against an international pressure on housing prices and costs. Besides presenting promising solutions, the session will also address their transferability and adaptability in different circumstances.

Central questions:

  1. What models would be the most efficient for modernizing the housing systems in New Member States (or post socialist countries)
  2. What are the bottlenecks for introducing new models?
  3. What can we learn from “good practices”?
  4. What are the possibilities of upscaling?

Introduction: József Hegedüs (MRI)

Panelists: Jennfer Duyne Barenstein (ETH Centre for Research on Architecture, Society and the Built Environment), Knut Höller (IWO), Éva Gerőházi, Hanna Szemző (MRI), Peter Austin (City of Oslo); Blerim Lutolli (Bauhaus University Weimar)

Moderator: György Sümeghy (Habitat for Humanity EMEA)

13.00 – 14.00 Lunch break

14.00 – 17.30 PARALLEL SESSIONS IN URBAN (2A, 3A) AND HOUSING (2B, 3B) TOPICS
In the afternoon session, good practices will be presented and discussed, focusing on innovative and promising attempts which could be refined to serve as the basis of more sustainable and more equitable development paths in European cities. In parallel, the housing dilemmas of European cities will continue to be discussed.

14.00 – 15.30 Session 2A Participatory and deliberative democracy – arenas of discussions and debates (Video of the full session)

New participatory models, innovations to foster citizen inclusion will be discussed in this session, including recent efforts towards social innovation, such as urban gardening and co-housing.

After the keynote presentations we will get comments from the members of a discussion panel: Patrick Flynn (Glasgow Municipality), Márton Matkó (Norway Grants – TBC) and Sylvia Pintarits (urban researcher, Munich).

Moderators: Iván Tosics – Andrea Tönkő

14.00 – 15.30 Session 2B New developments in the post-socialist housing regimes (Video of the full session)

After the Global Financial Crisis, post-socialist housing systems appear to diverge. The crisis and the subsequent recession affected different countries in different ways in the region, suggesting a long-standing future divergence of Central and Eastern European housing systems. The session focus on new innovative or less innovative interventions in post-socialist countries.

Central questions:

  1. What have we learned from the failures and successes of recent housing programs?
  2. What are the new provision forms with potential to expand affordable housing programs?
  3. Which stakeholders support social and affordable programs?
  4. What are the main constrains to upscaling good practices?

Introduction: Martin Lux (Czech Academy of Science )

Panelist: Alexander Puzanov (Institute for Urban Economics), Richard Sendi (Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia), Gojko Bezovan & Josip Panzic (University of Zagrab), Mina Petrovic (University of Belgrad), József Hegedüs and Eszter Somogyi (MRI)

Moderator:  József Hegedüs (MRI)

15.30 – 16.00 Coffee break

16.00 – 17.30 Session 3A Social movements and the municipalist networking of progressive local municipalities (Video of the full session)

This session addresses the topics of innovative bottom-up approaches in population movements and in the cooperation and networking between cities progressing towards more equitable urban development.

Impulse statements:

After the keynote presentations we will get comments from the members of a discussion panel: Bálint Misetics (Social policy expert), Peter Austin (Oslo Municipality), Tom Becker (University of Luxembourg) and Marija Maruna (University of Belgrade).

Moderators: Iván Tosics and Eszter Somogyi (MRI)

16.00 – 17.30 Session 3B Households under pressure (Video of the full session)
The affordability of housing has become the most important housing policy issue in the last decade, affecting not only the lowest income groups but also the middle classes. The reaction of households to financial pressure depends both on the macro conditions of the social and the economic system, and on micro pressures from housing sector.

Central questions:

  1. What are the typical coping strategies of households in hardship?
  2. How are the poor housed?
  3. What is the consequence of the interplay between micro level housing strategies and policy interventions?
  4. What is the role of housing in household strategies?
  5. How do macro level policies interact with micro level strategies?

Introduction: Marja Elsinga (TU Delft) and Judit Durst (UCL Dpt. of Anthropology and Centre for Social Sciences, Budapest)

Panelist: Stepan Ripka (Charles University in Prague), Krzysztof Olszewski (National Bank of Poland), Lorand András, Zsolt Pünkösti (Romanian Maltese Relief Service), Anna Bajomi (Politechnic University of Milan)

Moderator: Nóra Teller (MRI)

17.30 – 18.00 CLOSING REMARKS
Session organizers report back about the most interesting debates from the parallel sessions

20.00 EVENING: MRI’30 PARTY

Let’s celebrate together MRI with everyone who was part of the last 30 years’ story or will be part of the next!

Venue: MRI’s office – 34 Lónyay Str., District 9, Budapest (on the corner of Lónyay & Kinizsi Str.) – 3rd floor, apt. 21. – Intercom: 31

29 SEPTEMBER, SUNDAY
9.30 – 16.30
Field trip in Budapest and surroundings, discovering the most interesting signs of post-socialist transformation and the emerging conflicts of post-transitional development.

In Budapest the tour will visit the much debated Városliget development, the Chinese quarter, the Corvin Promenade development replacing earlier poor areas, and “Budapart”, a recent private development site with a much contested skyscraper, which may jeopardize the Budapest’s UNESCO World Heritage status.

Outside of Budapest we will visit a village which recently received an abundance of development funding, including a disproportionately massive football stadium; and an adjacent village without such privileges.

Meeting point in front of the EYC!

Participants will have the opportunity to quit the tour sooner if they have to catch a flight – please inform the organisers in advance, so we can help arrange your trip to the airport!
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