Inclusive Spaces: Housing Inequality and Heritage
25 January 2023, 1:00 pm–2:00 pm

In this interactive online discussion, we will explore the role that community engagement can play in addressing housing inequalities, and ask how communities can be better included in shaping and creating their own housing culture and heritage.
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
Cities and their buildings are an integral part of human experience. In London, as elsewhere, our built environments frame our society and reflect our underlying ideologies and power structures.
Minority ethnic groups make up more than 50% of the population across many cities in England and Wales, but the cultural history and significance of housing environments is often at odds with their own cultural identities.
In this Inclusive Spaces event we’ll explore the role that architecture, planning and public engagement can play in addressing racial inequalities and differences in housing and living arrangements across ethnic communities. Drawing on the latest UK Government Census, as well as the lived experiences of young people and ethnic minorities, we’ll discuss themes of social housing architecture and history, attitudes to home ownership, access to finance and multigenerational living.
We’ll present the work of community theatre group SPID (‘Social, Progressive, Interconnected, Diverse’) who provide training to young people from North Kensington in London, using cultural and artistic activities in order to empower them to interpret and better understand their own urban environments. We’ll also hear from BAME in Property, an organisation that advocates for the diversification of the built environment sector by considering diversity in design needs, layouts, language translation through engagement with community and ethnic minority leaders.
Led by The Bartlett Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) group, the Inclusive Spaces monthly series presents the latest ideas and research from The Bartlett’s leading thinkers in the built environment field. We explore disability, race, gender, LGBTQ+ and many other dimensions of diversity and discover how they intersect with built environments around the world.
Housekeeping
The Inclusive Spaces lecture series are streamed live through Zoom. Please ensure you have downloaded Zoom, created an account, and are logged in before joining the event.
This session will be recorded and auto captioned. The recording along with the transcript will be shared with registered attendees after the event has ended.
If you have any accessibility requirements or additional queries, please contact Alma Daskalaki at a.daskalaki@ucl.ac.uk. Please note we require two working days' notice for requests.
About the Speakers
Eva Branscome
Associate Professor Architectural History and Theory at The Bartlett School of Architecture
Eva Branscome works at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London from which she also received her PhD. Originally trained as an interior architect, Eva’s research and teaching have two main strands: the first engages with links between built heritage and cultural practices in contemporary Western cities, whether expressed through cultural institutions or counterculture and street art; the second is in the 19th- and 20th-century architectural history of Central Europe, focusing upon Austria and other regions in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Eva has published extensively – including Hans Hollein and Postmodernism (Routledge, 2018), the first major monograph on that architect-artist.
More about Eva BranscomeNaomi Israel
Co-Chair at SPID Theatre
Naomi Israel is a North Kensington resident who lives in local social housing and is SPID Theatre's Co Chair. Naomi grew up attending SPID’s free youth program before becoming a Youth Ambassador and Spokesperson for the charity. Naomi lost several friends to Grenfell and campaigns for housing safety. She is an activist and actor who assistant produced SPID's play The Burning Tower and performed in their follow up The Story of Fires and Floods.
More about Naomi IsraelPriya Aggarwal Shah
Founder and Director at BAME in Property
Priya Aggarwal Shah is the Founder and Director of BAME in Property, an organisation that aims to bring more ethnic diversity to the built environment sector. Priya is also a community engagement consultant and has used her experience in Equality Diversity and Inclusion to ensure diverse community engagement strategies.
More about Priya Aggarwal Shah