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Housing and environmental crisis addressed through compact and adaptable dwellings in buildings reuse scenarios

  • Sara Ravasio
  • Marta Viganò
  • Joana Mourão

Low-income households and shrinking family units face rent increases outpacing wages resulting in social imbalances and changes in the affordability of urban living in several European cities, including Lisbon, strained from foreign investors and short-term tourism rentals. In response, a spatial proposal is developed for one of its vacant buildings: the adaptive reuse strategy follows criteria of unconventionality and spatial optimization to provide affordable solutions for contemporary needs. To optimize the outcome, the methodology, combining an initial diagnostic survey with a design phase aligned with impact assessment, enables resource recovery and the conscious preservation of the built heritage, enhancing its unique features.

  • Keywords:
  • Adaptive reuse,
  • Vacant buildings,
  • Affordability,
  • Minimal intervention,
  • Environmental impact,
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Sara Ravasio

Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Marta Viganò

Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Joana Mourão

University of Lisbon, Portugal - ORCID: 0000-0002-4151-1603

  1. CEN (European Committee for Standardization). 2011. EN 15978:2011: Sustainability of Construction Works — Assessment of Environmental Performance of Buildings — Calculation Method. Brussels: CEN.
  2. Council of the European Union. 2025. One roof, many realities: Europe’s complex housing crisis. General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.
  3. De Aragão Lorga, Miguel Maria. 2022. Comparative analysis of affordability in housing: The case of Lisbon. Master’s thesis, Lisbon: Instituto Superior Técnico
  4. European Commission. 2025. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: The European Affordable Housing Plan. COM (2025) 1025 final, December 16, 2025.
  5. Freeman, Michael. 2004. Space: Japanese design solutions for compact living. New York: Universe.
  6. ISO (International Organization for Standardization). 2006. ISO 14040:2006: Environmental Management — Life Cycle Assessment — Principles and Framework. Geneva: ISO.
  7. ISO (International Organization for Standardization). 2006. ISO 14042:2006: Environmental Management — Life Cycle Assessment — Requirements and Guidelines. Geneva: ISO.
  8. Ledent, Gerald. 2015. “Beyond contingency. Sustainable design versus obsolescence”. Obsolescence and Renovation – 20 th century housing in the new millennium. Seville: Architecture_MPS.
  9. Ledent, Gerald. 2022. “Alternative housing for a diverse and inclusive society”. In Future Urban Habitation: Transdisciplinary Perspective, Conceptions and Designs, edited by Oliver Heckmann, 241-259. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.
  10. Mourão, Joana. 2023. “IMPACTE_REHURB Método de Avaliação Multicritério de Impactes da Reabilitação de Edifícios Habitacionais Urbanos Instruções de preenchimento das fichas de diagnóstico e avaliação”. Lisbon: IST press.
  11. Mourão, Joana; Campos, Vitor. 2018. “Balancing cultural and environmental values in building refurbishment. Assessing integrity and energy”. In Energy efficiency in historical buildings; 539-546.
  12. Mourão, Joana. 2026. “Surplus buildings, scarce housing. Converting vacant buildings into affordable housing: European benchmarks and challenges”. In CITIES.
  13. Numbeo. 2025. “Southern Europe: Property prices Index by city 2025”. <https://www.numbeo.com/property-investment/region_rankings.jsp?title=2025&region=039&displayColumn=-1> (2026-04-28)
  14. OECD. 2026. “OECD Affordable Housing Database”. <https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-affordable-housing-database.html> (2026-06-28)
  15. The Guardian. 2025. “How Lisbon put itself on the map for real estate and tourism- and became Europe’s least affordable city”. <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/25/lisbon-europe-portugal-golden-visa-capital-investors-short-term-rentals> (2026-04-28)
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  • Anno di pubblicazione: 2026
  • Pagine: 1612-1641

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  • Anno di pubblicazione: 2026

Informazioni sul capitolo

Titolo del capitolo

Housing and environmental crisis addressed through compact and adaptable dwellings in buildings reuse scenarios

Autori

Sara Ravasio, Marta Viganò, Joana Mourão

Lingua

Inglese

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-1113-0.71

Opera sottoposta a peer review

Anno di pubblicazione

2026

Copyright

© 2026 Author(s)

Licenza d'uso

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Licenza dei metadati

CC0 1.0

Informazioni bibliografiche

Titolo del libro

ReUso 2026 - New heritage and future strategies. Perspectives on conservation and promotion

Sottotitolo del libro

14th International Congress Barcelona-Girona, 4-7 November

Curatori

Alessandro Scarnato, Marisa García Vergara, Ángeles Layuno Rosas

Opera sottoposta a peer review

Anno di pubblicazione

2026

Copyright

© 2026 Author(s)

Licenza d'uso

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Licenza dei metadati

CC0 1.0

Editore

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-1113-0

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-1113-0

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-1112-3

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