Notjustsocialhousing

19. Cambridge Business English Dictionary (no date) Cession entry. Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge. org/dictionary/english/cession (Accessed: 18 January 2023).

La Borda actually, was the first cooperative housing project in Spain in the recent history. The cooperativas con cesión de uso, in English “cession19 of cooperative use” is a non-profit and non-speculative cooperative model that aims to maintain ownership of homes throughout the time. They are not just social housing, which in that case affordable housing is offered by the state to a group of people with limited income and source: world habitat awards (n.d.) La Borda, image, World Habitat Awards, Available at: https://world-habitat.org/ world-habitat-awards/winnersand-finalists/la-borda/#outline are inscribed in a waiting list. The cooperative members of cooperativas con cesión de uso can access public land thanks to an accessible right of use and, in addition, they can enjoy such use indefinitely. As a result, the citizens of La Bordeta, rather waiting for the state to provide them with affordable housing, they took the initiative to create their own! This way of accessing housing, which is gradually making its way in Spain, is inspired by German, Danish, or even Latin American models. For example, in Denmark, a third of the population has access to housing thanks to this model. In the same way those construction cooperatives – the ones in which a group of individuals are responsible for the construction of a new housing development- the cooperative housing projects (in abbreviation CHP) can build and promote a group of housing units. Unlike the former, although, the CHP is not dissolved once the construction of these houses is completed. In fact, the reason is that the cooperative members should be associated in the persistence over time after the completion of the construction of the houses that will be destined them. By doing so, the property is protected from speculation through collective ownership.

Some of the members of the housing cooperative of La Borda are trying to put in the site of their future housing project a panel demonstrating their first success -and therefore the success of the broader victory of the demands of Can Batlló’s community- after the cession of the public land by the state of Barcelona to the citizens with the right of using the land.

(Accessed: 26 January 2023).

Specifically, in the case of La Borda, the members come from the area of Sants. An open call was made for whoever wanted to join, even though there was a certain capacity. The final result is a cooperative of 50 people of all ages. The members own a part of the wholesome of the housing project and not their actual units. It is a type of residential housing option, where is actually a corporation. Specifically, the owners are shareholders in the corporation based on the relative size of the unit that they live in. They have only use values, Marc explains, who participated from the beginning of the project of La Borda and who now is member in another CHP called Empriu. He continues by adding that main inspiration was a collective in Uruguay, called Fucvam.20 Actually, Lacol acknowledged the complexity of such projects. A multi-dimension entity beyond the architectural and technical aspects in close collaboration with social forces and policymakers –a group of people who will form the working cooperative La Dinamo in a later stage. They took advantage of the expertise and knowledge of social movements to innovate and materialize the new model of CHP. Both sides understood that through common practices, such as sharing knowledge as a common value, it is vital for the elaboration of such projects, laying down the “foundation” of La Borda.

DesignthroughMutualParticipation

It is now clearer, that the construction of La Borda had stared far before is conceptualization, by building strong roots to the neighborhood of La Bordeta and its surroundings to be able to defense itself as a common space for the local community by being socially resilient. “We carry out housing projects, especially cooperative, accompanying the promotion and management process in all phases of design, construction and monitoring of the life cycle. […] We promote projects beyond the limits of the building and with territorial impact, which can respond to current and

20. Federación Uruguaya de Cooperativas por Ayuda Mutua (no date) Historia. Available at: https://www.fucvam.org. uy/quienes-somos/historia (Accessed: 17 January at 2023).