Urban Pamphleteer #6: Open-source Housing Crisis launched on new series website

The new issue of the Urban Pamphleteer series is now available to read online using the publication's new website: urbanpamphleteer.org.

Open-source Housing Crisis responds to the urgent need to invent new ways of approaching London's rapidly escalating housing crisis and engages critically with its underlying logics.

Urban Pamphleteer is a series of publications that confront key contemporary urban questions from diverse perspectives. Written in a direct and accessible tone, with design embedded from the beginning of the editorial process, these pamphlets draw on the history of radical pamphleteering as a tool for instigating change. Edited by Ben Campkin and Rebecca Ross, and designed by Guglielmo Rossi, previous issues have dealt with smart cities, regeneration in London, security design, heritage in Doha, and global urban higher education.

About Urban Pamphleteer #6

London has entered a period of deep reconfiguration following Brexit, the scope and implications of which are yet unclear. Add to this the compounded effect of those already dis-enfranchised following years of austerity. With regards to housing in particular, predictions range from a property value crash, to a stall of all new building, to London real estate attracting even more foreign investment given the weak pound.

What is clear is that there are as yet unknown challenges ahead and perhaps also some new possibilities. However, in the context of a dizzying plethora of new communication channels and technologies, there are many questions that complicate this comparison that are explored throughout this issue: how can we ensure more accessible, wider scope, higher quality, and more impactful public conversations about housing amongst Londoners? Why are so many dis-advantageous conventions of the developer - real estate - government 'industrial complex' left unquestioned? If, whether we agree with it or not, the role of the consumer and the role of the citizen are convergent, how can Londoners come together to more effectively leverage this hybridity?

Launched with an event at Central Saint Martins on 17 November 2016, the latest issue coincides with the launch of the new wesbite, ensuring the future sustainability of the Urban Pamphleteer series. Scans of the print version are available to read online, whilst users are asked to contribbute a small donation for the PDF version. Print editions can also be ordered via email@urbanpamphleteer.org.

Further links:

• Read Urban Pamphleteer #6
• Follow @UrbanPamphlet on Twitter