Living on common ground

Abstract

This article addresses the local options for sustainable urban housing policy in the context of the land issue. For a better understanding of the complex framework, the article discusses conditions, causes, contexts, interactions, positions and instruments in order to ultimately deduce that a housing and land policy oriented towards the common good is possible at the local level. This is also demonstrated by the Community Land Trust in Brussels, which – as a cooperative effort between state, market and above all civil society actors – shows how a consistent, strategic, and public welfare-oriented approach to urban land can make a lasting contribution to affordable housing in the city.