Improving the quality of suburban building stock : an inventory of building legislation and financial incentives in the EU. A multi-faceted, state of the art overview

Abstract

This paper takes a close look at the salient aspects considered when building or refurbishing suburban housing. Although very often there is no fine-cutting line between the urban and suburban context, the architectural design, its scale, height and form of each development often indicate the suburb or its boundaries where such a project has taken place. This paper reviews standing legislation and financial incentives provided by EU member states, represented in this COST action. The countries represented include Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Turkey. The paper highlights different approaches and strategies taken by different European governments and municipalities towards improving the overall quality of the built environment, particularly in the suburban building stock, namely private and public social housing.