Talk:Housing

From Organic Design wiki
Revision as of 04:50, 2 May 2008 by Milan (talk | contribs) (Stewardship instead of profit)

Issues we need to address

Picking up where "The End of Suburbia" ended, we need to address the following issues in this article:

The commons

One of the key issue seems to be the reestablishment of a commons, managed through a non-profit organisation tasked with the long-term benefit of the land and people living on it. Currently there are fewer and fewer commons on a local level (roads?) and they are steadily being eroded by the oligarchs of finance.

Stewardship instead of profit

The roles of land-owner, bank, property developer and property manager would be taken on by the stewardship organisation, eliminating the criminal, excessive profits made by some of these roles currently and redistributing the gains between lower housing costs for the residents and long term investments improving the quality of life and environment in the stewardship area of the organisation.

Profit

It remains to be seen whether there is room for the profit model in sustainable land development and management. The whole problem with the erosion of the commons has been the enclosure of shared assets to derive private profits from them. On the other hand local businesses may be able to lease facilities from the stewardship organisation and make a profit. In any case, it seems difficult to justify trying to make a profit from the commons given the injustice inflicted by this practice.

Diagrams

Current state

Diagram of what happens to a piece of land, similar to the opening sequence of weeds, showing profits and costs for various parties, such as land owner, property developer, home owner and banks. Include initial, virgin state and final, built-up state

Sustainable model

Comparison diagram to show an alternative process, alternative parties and costs involved. Include initial, virgin state and final, built-up state

Yurt Links