Housing as a right, not a privilege: Book presentation on Italy’s housing crisis
On Monday, 13 April, Bocconi University hosted the presentation of Right or privilege? Housing needs and local housing policies a book, published by Egea, that examines the housing crisis in Italy as one of the most urgent and complex social issues facing the country today.
The event brought together authors, discussants and editors to reflect on the transformations reshaping housing demand and on the policy tools needed to respond to growing forms of vulnerability and inequality. Coordinated by Professor Edoardo Croci, SUR Lab Director at Bocconi University, the discussion was organised in collaboration with IFEL and INAPP.
The conversation with chapter authors Luigi Corvo (Università Milano Bicocca), Francesca Gelli (IUAV Venezia e Comitato Scientifico SINAPPSI) and Sara Nanetti (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) made clear that housing must be understood not simply as a physical asset, but as a social infrastructure that affects dignity, security, relationships, well-being, and access to opportunities. Across the different contributions discussed during the event, a common message emerged: in Italy, the housing question has become a mirror of broader social change, reflecting widening inequalities, demographic shifts, new intergenerational needs, and mounting pressure in major urban markets.
Several key themes were debated during the event. Speakers addressed the growing mismatch between housing needs and available responses, the financialization of housing, the shrinking accessibility of decent and affordable homes, and the limits of fragmented or emergency-based interventions. The discussion also underlined that the crisis affects not only the most vulnerable groups, but also students, young adults, older people, workers in mobility, and households that fall into the so-called “grey area” between social housing eligibility and market affordability.
The discussants — Sandro Balducci (Fondazione Housing Sociale), Silvia Cafora (Politecnico di Torino-Future Urban Legacy Lab) and Emanuele Padovani (Università di Bologna) — helped broaden the debate by bringing into focus the governance, social and territorial implications of the housing crisis. What emerged from the exchange was the need to move beyond a narrow vision of housing policy centred only on construction or market supply, and instead adopt a wider welfare perspective. Housing was framed as a cross-cutting policy field, linked to social cohesion, family life, education, urban regeneration, local public services and environmental transition.
Another central point of the discussion concerned the role of local institutions and experimental practices already emerging in different parts of Italy. The book highlights that municipalities, local welfare actors, social innovators and civic networks are often at the forefront of the response, testing new forms of collaboration, social housing, co-housing and integrated urban strategies. At the same time, participants stressed that many promising local experiences still struggle to become systemic and long-term policy frameworks.
A further point that emerged clearly is that the right to housing should not be subordinated to market logic alone. The volume argues for more stable, multi-year and publicly steered housing policies, capable of correcting market distortions, expanding social rental stock and reconnecting housing policy with broader goals of justice, inclusion and sustainability. In this sense, the presentation offered not only an analysis of the current crisis, but also a framework for imagining future scenarios in which housing is treated as a cornerstone of welfare rather than a privilege reserved for the few.