Busted Architecture and the NAMA-rama

My first Blog title, so excuse the pun!

What are we left with post boom?

Sprawling suburbia with low quality estate housing.
Exacerbated by dubious zoning and related infrastructure and planning. Actively encouraged by a banking system onto an eager public.
Ensuing societal problems including energy consumption, quality of life issues, commuting times, etc. etc.

We are told that this is what people want, but by and large it is the only thing they have been given.

So what can we do? If we are to propose better solutions I think we need to look at the 'Architecture' of the system which facilitated this mess ie. think big!
The private banking system which having loaned to developers, who in turn built as cheaply and quickly as possible, thereby pushed mortgages at the highest possible price on people keen to play the game. It's worth noting that Architects were generally absent from a large portion of the developments now scarring the countryside.

How can Architects attain more influence on the kinds of development which occur, and is there a way of creating an environment where financing can happen without the myopic motivation of developers and purchasers alike?If Ireland is to progress it has to move from it's boom and bust instability, there is an opportunity at present to take advantage of a political will for more sustainable and long-term models of development. It is definitely a time when real changes can occur.

The imperative to own one's own home and accompanying slice of land is inherent in the Irish cultural psyche for obvious historical reasons. It is however quite common in other developed European countries to never actually own a home, with renting for life a real option. Outside the cultural there are a number of factors which allow this to happen:

- in more stable economies (eg. Austria, Switzerland, Scandanavia etc.) the potential for profit from increased house prices is not high and nothing on the levels that were seen here or in Britain.

- Tenancy rights are much better in these countries which gives security for long term renting.

- Single landlordism is not as high and regulated professional property management company's often oversee the running of houses and entire aptartment blocks etc.

Step in the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) which the government announced in the interim budget. The government is taking on €80 - €90 billion of property related loans to be 'managed' by this new agency. It's unclear how exactly this will work but it seems much of this property will for all intents and purposes be owned by the state. It's pure conjecture at this point but I think possible to assume that there will be opportunities with regard this move.

If the Irish development disaster was fuelled by profit driven banks, developers and home-buyers perhaps future more sustainable development can arise from the current mess. The government already effectively owns Anglo-Irish Bank. It could be argued that they have now become one huge land owning developer with their own semi-nationalised bank. This is where an economist is required but there must be a way for the two entities ie. state bank and state property management company (NAMA) could fund and manage necessary projects.

I feel it is worth researching how this could be taken advantage of with regard to housing proposals such as the co-operative building scheme's Ciara mentioned, with more long-term management and rental ideas to cover the initial construction costs or the dire need for Educational facilities in the types of areas where hap-hazard development has ocurred (and presumably where some of the NAMA property 'assets' might lie).

There would seem to be a potential here as the profit orientated bank and developer can be taken out of the equation, with state financed and state owned property surely a longer term view can be taken.....................

Future blog's will also be shorter!