This article focuses on a specific term associated with the scientific, theoretical, and academic discourse on housing architecture in Portugal. Over the last 100 years, the term “affordable” has frequently been used in the vocabulary of urban housing in Portugal, being linked to other words commonly used in housing construction, such as económica (economical), barata (cheap/inexpensive/low-cost), pobre (poor), cooperativa (cooperative), or even custos controlados (controlled costs). Therefore, we propose to explore the multiple appropriations and contemporary shifts in its original meaning, seeking in this way to: (a) further stimulate the contemporary discussion on types of buildings, public housing programmes (i.e., following a historical perspective), contemporary housing policies (e.g. Basic Housing Law and New Generation of Housing Policies), refurbishment policies, new regulations, and new models for the middle classes (in Portugal); (b) share perspectives about the updating of this concept and the materialisation of its respective types and models in contemporary architectural practice; and (c) build bridges between the past and the present (public and private models and solutions, and shifts in the target audience). Although a wide range of different words was used to describe “affordable housing” in Portugal from the early 20th century to the first decade of the 21st century, it is essential to stress the importance of several newly emerging concepts. In recently implemented laws, concepts such as economicamente acessível (economically accessible) and custos controlados (controlled costs/low-cost) encompass the shifts in the meaning of the term “affordable” and broaden the contemporary discussion of the housing problem in relation to the type of property and target audience.

This paper proposes a critical analysis of the intervention, over time, in the housing estates built under the Improvement Plan for the city of Porto. This plan enabled the construction of a significant number of dwellings within a limited period of time, promoting a broad and impactful urban and social restructuring of the city in the mid-twentieth century. Several post-construction interventions over the last decades were important opportunities to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants and to enhance the energy performance of the buildings. However, these buildings are still subject to architectural and construction challenges in terms of ‘energy poverty’ and the adaptation of the domestic comfort parameters. Thus, this research analyses the intervention strategies used in these buildings and the constraints resulting from current legislation and funding conditions that significantly impact design decisions. The study points to significant changes in the implementation of measures to improve the state of buildings, becoming progressively more concerned with energy consumption and thermal comfort. The discussion also highlights the impact of current measures on the comfort of interior spaces, current problems, and alternative means of balancing energy and comfort. The relevance of this research lies in the joint analysis of the interventions and frequent efficiency and comfort problems as a motto to improve the implementation of future strategies in developing a more energetically balanced housing stock. The paper also aims to deconstruct the preconceptions often associated with interventions geared towards thermal comfort, especially in social housing.

Stable access to affordable quality housing is a core feature of public health principles and practices. In this report, we provide an update on the research project “Mapping Public Housing: A Critical Review of the State-subsidised Residential Architecture in Portugal (1910–1974)” (MdH), developed between 2016 and 2019 at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP) in Portugal. This funded research project (PTDC/CPC-HAT/1688/2014) brought together an international and multidisciplinary team composed of architects, sociologists, historians, an economist, an anthropologist, information scientists and archivists, from different academic levels (senior researchers, postdoctoral, PhD and Master’s degree students), adopting a variety of approaches and operating in a range of different contexts. The aim of the research undertaken was to investigate the reality of social and state-subsidised housing in terms of its architecture, while, at the same time, seeking to broaden our understanding of this phenomenon and of the transition to a democratic regime. Furthermore, this research project was designed to contribute towards the development of common ground for supporting decisions in the environmental, social and economic fields relating to housing management, as well as architectural heritage management and protection. This review is based on the submitted application (2015) and final report (2020).