On the occasion of the presentation of the results of the project “Abitare fluido” (Fluid Living) and the publication “Collaborare e abitare. The right to housing in cities for the new generations” (Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, 2024), Urban Lab will host this meeting with Silvia Cafora of FULL as curator of the publication. This is the second presentation event related to the project, following the one held in Milan on 23 May.
This research imagines a city without barriers that focuses on socialising and a sense of community, exploring the critical issues related to housing insecurity caused by weak and poorly redistributive housing policies, proposing strategies and trends of multi-locality, cohabitation and cooperation for more inclusive, stable and sustainable living for young people in Italian cities.
The extended living imagined by the Abitare Fluido model provides for the possibility of living flexibly in a system composed of several dwellings, with a main dwelling in a peri-urban or non-urban area connected to a shared dwelling located in the context of a hub for temporary living and working in the city. This model responds to the needs of an increasingly complex and diverse society, governed by housing tensions linked to re-urbanisation and the financialisation of the property market, which fuel territorial inequalities.
The data collected from the research conducted in workshops and surveys administered in major Italian cities highlighted the change in young people’s housing needs from a predominance of permanent residents to a growing presence of temporary residents. For many young people, the ideal home is no longer a static entity, but a flexible project that adapts to different stages and needs in life. In Italy, youth mobility has increased, with a majority of young people preferring to rent rather than own a home, partly due to economic and job insecurity. This leads many young people to live in temporary or shared housing solutions, especially in suburban areas where costs are lower but services are less accessible.
The research therefore aims to highlight the need to enhance the potential of young people as natural agents of urban transformation by promoting cooperative and supportive participation in shaping residential life.
