The Rise of the Entrepreneurial Housing Association: The Case of Denmark

Beskrivelse

The liberalization of housing policies has led to changing roles for housing associations and other social housing providers in many European countries. From being essentially philanthropic and oftentimes non-profit organizations, housing associations are becoming hybrid organizations or ‘social enterprises’ that combine the traditional philanthropic agendas with a more business-like and professional organizational setup (Czischke et al., 2012). Housing associations have increasingly developed an entrepreneurial mindset and expanded their traditional areas of operation. In Denmark housing associations have increasingly become important urban actors in the transformation of disadvantaged housing areas, assuming the role of what we call ‘strategic urban developers’. As such the rise of the entrepreneurial housing association is an example of the significance of new actor constellations in urban planning processes.

From the 1990s, with the rise of neoliberal politics in Denmark, housing associations were increasingly conceived as relics of the welfare state and the Danish Government introduced policy measures to reduce their housing stock. However, more recently, the Danish Government has recognised the importance of housing associations as strategic actors in urban transformation projects of disadvantaged housing areas, and housing associations themselves have started to adopt the identity of strategic urban developers.

In this paper we analyse the rise of the entrepreneurial housing association in Denmark. Here, we understand housing associations’ entrepreneurial role in line with Harvey’s (1989) conceptualisation of urban entrepreneurialism and Gruis’ (2008) notion of housing associations’ prospector role. In this paper we analyse Himmerland Housing Association’s efforts in transforming the neighbourhood of Aalborg East from a stigmatized disadvantaged neighbourhood into an attractive neighbourhood for a broader spectrum of the population in Aalborg. First, we analyse the specific physical interventions in the neighbourhood introduced to achieve a more balanced social mix, transform the physical infrastructures, and introduce new urban functions. Second, we analyse how the organisational setup and the identity of the housing association developed during the transformation process, and how the housing association increasingly assumed responsibility and creditability in the process through their collaboration with the local municipality, private investors, and other actors.

In conclusion we argue that the efforts of Himmerland Housing Association in transforming Aalborg East, on the one hand, showcases the important role that housing associations can play in building sustainable communities. Himmerland Housing Association has for example won several European and Danish prizes for their efforts. On the other hand, the increasingly entrepreneurial roles of housing associations also lead to critical questions about to what extent housing associations themselves have been neoliberalised. We therefore argue that housing associations, as third sector entities situated between state and market, can play important roles as strategic urban developers in the future, both within and beyond existing social housing areas (Olesen & Howells, 2023). Their future relevance will, among other things, depend on whether they are able to strike the balance between innovating and adopting an entrepreneurial mindset without leaving their philanthropic ideology behind.


References

Czischke, D., Gruis, V., & Mullins, D. (2012). Conceptualising Social Enterprise in Housing Organisations. Housing Studies, 27(4), 418–437. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2012.677017

Gruis, V. (2008). Organisational Archetypes for Dutch Housing Associations. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 26(6), 1077–1092. https://doi.org/10.1068/c0763l

Harvey, D. (1989). From managerialism to entrepreneurialism: the transformation in urban governance in late capitalism. Geografiska Annaler: series B, human geography, 71(1), 3-17.

Olesen, K., & Howells, M. (2023). The Territorial Stigmatization of Non-profit Housing Areas in Denmark During COVID-19. In The ‘New Normal’in Planning, Governance and Participation: Transforming Urban Governance in a Post-pandemic World (pp. 257-269). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Periode	9 jul. 2024
Begivenhedstitel	AESOP Annual Congress 2024
Begivenhedstype	Konference
Placering	Paris, FrankrigVis på kort
Grad af anerkendelse	International