Transnational city networks and the human right to housing. Local responses to Europe’s housing crisis

Abstract

Europe’s escalating housing crisis, largely driven by unaffordability and financialization, has challenged the fulfillment of the human right to adequate housing. Transnational city networks (TCNs) have become influential in addressing global challenges such as migration and climate change through their engagement with human rights, yet their role in housing policy has not yet been examined. This thesis addresses this gap investigating how TCNs’ aims and engagement with the right to housing shape cities’ responses to housing financialization, specifically looking into human rights-based housing policies. Through the analysis of various TCNs’ documents and interviews with city officials, the thesis examines TCNs’ strategies used when confronting housing challenges, how they understand and frame the right to housing and how it influences local housing policies. The research highlights TCNs jurisgenerative capacities framing the right to housing through dignity, inclusion and the Sustainable Development Goals, influencing cities’ participatory, affordable and social housing policies to counter financialization. Instead of distancing themselves from states, TCNs consistently call for support and collaboration from national and international institutions to address housing challenges. Their cooperative emphasis reflects cities’ need for funding and their dependency on states’ resources and capacity. Without consistent national and international support, cities alone are limited in their ability to address financialization structures and fulfill the right to housing. Key words: Transnational city networks, Right to housing, Cities, Financialization, Housing crisis.