The Case for Spatial Human Rights
Reimagining and repositioning the power of space to transform people and planetary life.
Lara Kinneir, Associate Professor, The London Interdisciplinary School
The right to space as a fundamental human right encompasses the right to adequate housing, public spaces, and a healthy environment. And yet London needs £4.9 billion a year between 2023-24 and 2027-28 to deliver the affordable homes it requires, one in 50 people were homeless in London in 2023, more than one in five households in London have no access to private or shared green space, just 20% of London is made up of publicly accessible parks even though 47% of the city’s land overall is classed as green space, and there are 9,400 premature deaths in the city a year from air pollution.
Our systems of delivering spaces that serve our human needs are falling short. Can we urgently address these figures and reimagine spaces which truly transform life through a new approach to creating, funding and governing their making and maintenance?
Through a series of projects and interdisciplinary diagrams that explore the interconnectedness of architectural, urban and human conditions, Lara Kinneir’s talk investigates a future form of spatial understanding, education and practice. The project and provocations she’ll share will include a range of spatial outcomes across multiple scales and stakeholders, from the analysis of London regeneration projects and award winning architectural buildings, to UN policy documents and position papers, community campaigns, and education models.
Her presentation will demonstrate the inherent interdisciplinary nature and need for mechanisms to create spaces that hold the power to transform people and planetary life, provoking ideas on how future education and practice can unlock this latent power, through the framework of Spatial Human Rights, the structures of life-long learning and the methods of interdisciplinary practice.