Housing adaptability: New research, emerging practices and challenges

HIGHLIGHTS The underlying issues of why housing adaptability is important today are introduced, together with the drivers and barriers to uptake. This editorial explains the different kinds of adaptability (environmental, spatial, social and multi-use(r)) and how they can be achieved. The themes and individual papers in this special issue are discussed, together with their individual, community and societal importance. The global pandemic highlighted the realities of achieving incremental spatial adaptations, but also the attitudinal changes enabling temporary 'choreographing' of different social uses of spaces. New methods for investigating housing adaptability are also highlighted to better understand occupants' needs and to demonstrate how adaptability adds value to occupants. Residents have an active role in undertaking temporal adaptations. However, this depends on provisions made by clients, developers, designers and managers involving the layout, design and multifunctional uses of space. This includes making outdoor spaces more adaptable and developing scenarios that allow dwellings to accommodate changes over time (daily, seasonally and over life-course cycles). Adaptable approaches rely on careful planning and design of room layouts (and the services that support them) to enable connection between rooms and different uses of rooms without restriction of use by residents. Housing adaptability should be based on inclusivity and equity.