Housing In and Beyond Switzerland

«Housing in and beyond Switzerland»

Background & research interest: Housing is a basic human need and at the same time has become a valuable financial asset in many urbanizing areas around the world. In cities and extended urban regions in and beyond Switzerland, the lack of affordable housing for lower- and middle-income segments, the growing number of ‘renovictions’, and ongoing gentrification of urban cores have led to what is sometimes termed a “housing crisis.” While public and political debates often revolve around calling for building more and regulating less to let the markets sort the mismatch, we are interested in advancing systematic scientific analyses of the processes that make housing in different spatial contexts increasingly unaffordable and unsustainable for growing population segments.

Who are we? We are a diverse group of researchers at different career stages from disciplines such as human geography, spatial planning, and sociology, investigating aspects of inequality, exclusion, and power in housing production, as well as the role of housing for social reproduction. As social scientists, we do so through a socio-political conceptual lens using a multitude of qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches. These range from ethnographic observation, public policy analysis, as well as GIS, statistical, and urban design analyses. We conceive housing as embedded and situated within a continuum of socio-political and socio-economic processes and practices, policies and politics, as well as legal regulations (e.g., spatial planning rules), economic activities, and the dynamics of capital striving for fixation in the built environment.

What are our objectives and aims? Switzerland is a country of increasing regional spatial disparities as well as intensive cross-border networks and flows; we are aiming to stimulate comparative discussions and a more nuanced understanding of local variegations in housing research. Our aim is to connect scholars in and beyond Switzerland interested in similar topics and approaches to housing through sessions at conferences, excursions, joint publications, and research projects. Moreover, we aim to contribute to the public discourse on housing by formulating policy recommendations and making interventions in public debates to have a broader outreach via social media, magazine articles, LinkedIn posts, and online blogs. We, thereby, seek to make housing research in and beyond Switzerland more visible and accessible to a broader public, while also contributing to contemporary political and academic discourses through systematic, theory-grounded, and mixed-method scientific analyses.

Our accomplished projects and ongoing activities:

2026/2027
ASG Special Session Format in Fribourg 2026 (organized by Dr. Jessica Verheij, Dr. Deniz Ay, Dr. Hannah Widmer, Dr. Luisa Gehriger)
GeoAgenda Special Issue on the “Housing In and Beyond Switzerland” thematic group (co-edited by Dr. Johannes Herburger and Dr. Jessica Verheij)
Geographica Helvetica Special Issue (co-edited by Dr. Deniz Ay, Prof. Josje Bouwmeester, Dr. Luisa Gehriger, Dr. Hannah Widmer) – expected to be published by the end of 2026/beginning of 2027

2025
Strategic steering & core group meeting on 5.12.2025 at the University of Bern
ASG Special Session in Bern 2025: Panel “Housing Dynamics across Diverse Territorial Contests in Switzerland and Beyond” (organized by Dr. Hannah Widmer, Dr. Deniz Ay, Dr. Johannes Herburger)

2024
ASG Special Session and Roundtable discussion in Basel 2024 “Housing in and beyond Switzerland” (organized by Dr. Jessica Verheij and Dr. Josje Bouwmeester)
Foundation of our thematic group after our first core-group meeting on 20.02.2024 at the University of Bern

2023
ASG Special Session in Mendrisio 2023: Panel “Housing in and beyond Swiss cities at the interplay between planning and private property” (organized by Dr. Jessica Verheij, Dr. Deniz Ay, and Dr. Josje Bouwmeester