Episode #32 of “Becoming a post-growth planner: obstacles and challenges to changing roles and practices” with Dr Anna Pagani (King’s College London, United Kingdom). In conversation with Dr Christian Lamker (University of Groningen, the Netherlands).
“We cannot think of any future if we do not think about housing!” Working with systems thinking and degrowth through housing markets in the United Kingdom. Pondering on housing as a basic need and experiences with housing associations and discussing a moratorium on new housebuilding. Challenging narratives around the housing crisis and the idea that building new means building better. Identifying leverage points for change and intervention in the housing system. Explaining perceptions of power (discursive, instrumental, structural) and organising packages of solutions by knowing about co-benefits and unintended consequences. Explaining the development, tensions, and intended uses of the ‘Manifesto for housing in a post-growth world’ for spatial planners today and tomorrow. Calling to action because “post-growth planning is a collective activity of mutual learning, and this mutual learning must be informed by a systems approach”.
You might want to read or listen into the following works that are related to this episode:
Impact-oriented publications and podcasts:
- Housing (for) a Post-Growth World: A Manifesto (Substack): https://substack.com/home/post/p-179264237 See all the posts, radio interviews, and youtube launch here: https://substack.com/@housingdegrowth
- Graham, P., Pagani, A., Drewniok, M. (2025, January 14). On the compatibility of sustainable housing development with environmental objectives. Call for Evidence. Environmental Audit Committee. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/133145/html/
Scientific publications:
- Pagani, A., Macmillan, A., Savini, F., Davies, M., & Zimmermann, N. (2025). What If There Were a Moratorium on New Housebuilding? An Exploratory Study with London-Based Housing Associations. Built Environment, 51(1), 73–94. https://doi.org/10.2148/benv.51.1.73 Open access version: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10205555/1/UCL_Moratorium_Pagani-etal_published.pdf
- Pagani, A., Walker, A., Macmillan, A., Nita, A., Davies, M., & Zimmermann, N. (2026). Identifying leverage points in the social housing system: Housing associations on the path towards degrowth? Ecological Economics, 241, 108841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108841
- Pagani, A., Zimmermann, N., Macmillan, A., Zhou, K., & Davies, M. (2026). Systemic issues in the English social housing sector: mapping interconnected challenges faced by London-based housing associations. Housing Studies, 41(2), 418–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2025.2467093
- Pagani, A., & Binder, C. R. (2023). A systems perspective for residential preferences and dwellings: housing functions and their role in Swiss residential mobility. Housing Studies, 38(4), 682–706. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2021.1900793
This episode is also available on YouTube (channel: @postgrowthplan).