General media thread for architecture, urban planning and design

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The CBC 2023 Massey Lectures are titled "The Age of Insecurity" by Astra Taylor.

In the second of her lectures, Taylor argues we need the right to various things, not just protection from threats.

Our constitution tells us what we’re protected against, but it doesn’t tell us a lot about what we’re entitled to. And it’s not enough to be granted the negative right against abuse without also having the positive right to receive assistance, or to possess civil and political rights without social and economic rights as well.

The wealthy barons of the past and present have defined what security means — for themselves — but the rest of us have fought for something else instead.

In that lecture I learned about the Charter of the Forest, (Carta de Foresta), the younger sibling to the Magna Carta that lasted until 1971.  Per Wikipedia, "The charter was a vehicle for asserting the values of the commons and the right of commoners against the state and the forces of commodification."

Among other points raised in the second lecture, Astra Taylor commented on other countries where government owned housing is a lot more prominent and as a result, more of the population is housed and can afford to be housed.  Among others, she mentioned Vienna, Austria where 25 per cent of the housing stock (220,000 units) is owned by the City government after nearly 100 years of investment.  There are a further 200,000 units that are indirectly managed by the City.