HOUSING STANDARDISATION
The Architecture of Regulations and Design Standards

This exhibition studies subsidised housing design, quality, regulation, and lived experiences in six countries and cities: England (London), Chile (Santiago), China (Shenzhen), the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Spain (Barcelona), and Switzerland (Zurich). These countries represent typical design controls used in regulatory, housing markets, and subsidised housing systems. In subsidised housing, which includes social, public, and affordable housing, safeguarding minimum standards is important, as economic pressures often make these standards the maximum target.

Each country has a distinct subsidised housing provision system defined by housing providers, tenures, target groups, and financing (subsidies). These systems reflect socio-political agendas, such as welfare, social mobility, economic growth, and urban development, and are shaped by historical contingencies, regulatory practices, and housing supply and costs.

CountryProviderFinancingForm of tenureTarget Group
England

Local authorities

Housing associations

Government subsidies,

Cross-subsisidies,

Planning obligations

Social-rentedSocially and economically disadvantaged
Affordable-rentedLow- to mid-income households
Shared ownershipMid-income households
ChilePrivate housebuildersGovernment subsidiesSubsidised homeownershipLow-income households
Mid-income households
ChinaRegional authorities' subsidiary companiesGovernment subsidiesPublic rental housing

Low-middle-income households

with urban household registration and housing difficulties.

Affordable rental housingQualified new citizens,
young people,
and some high-skilled workers.
Housing for talent workersHigh-skilled professionals
Shared homeownershipMiddle-income households
NetherlandsHousing corporations

Cross-subsidies,

land subsidies,

planning obligations

Social rented 
Intermediate rented 
SpainArms length municipal organisations

Cost-sale,

cross-subsidies

Protected housingMid-income households
SwitzerlandCooperatives

Cost-rent,

government-backed credits,

land subsidies

Cooperative housing 

Each country also has a different approach to design governance, which determines the type and quality of new housing. Design governance is shaped by a mix of mandatory and voluntary policies, regulations, standards, codes, and guidelines, as well as the regulatory cultures, regimes, and instruments adopted by the government and the housing sector.