The suburban building stock and quality standards

Abstract

The chapter refers to the definition of quality standards for the existing suburban building stock and suburban areas. The main tasks of Working Group 2 of COST Action TU0701 included Task 2 and Task 4. In particular Task 2 addressed the definition of criteria and parameters to assess the quality of suburban housing estates considering user needs and social factors influencing the quality of life. Task 4 addressed the definition of quality standards for assessing the level of acceptable quality and the non-technical factors to be considered when estimating the actual value of a suburban housing estate and in developing a refurbishment programme. The methodology was based on case studies and quality standards from 14 dif- ferent European countries. The Indicators Matrix was developed as a tool to assess the quality of the suburban building stock, within the framework of Quality Assessment. The Indicators Matrix was structured with respect to the scale; the Area, the Building and the Dwelling, and it has been tested and updated to be functional to use and apply to practical Case Studies. This report includes a review of the methodology adopted throughout this process, and a critical assessment of the methodology.