03.04.2026
Invisible Buildings: Consortium Meeting in Chemnitz – How to Transform Vacant Buildings into Accessible and Sustainable Housing
In early March, the first consortium meeting of the new EUKI project Invisible Buildings took place in Chemnitz (Germany), with the participation of IRI UL. Over the course of two days, city representatives, researchers, and organisations from across Europe engaged in discussions on one of the key challenges facing contemporary cities: how to activate vacant buildings and dwellings and integrate them into solutions addressing the housing crisis.
The meeting provided insights into a range of European approaches. According to FEANTSA (2021), there are as many as 47.5 million vacant dwellings across the EU, while many cities continue to face a significant gap between housing supply and affordability. The Invisible Buildings project therefore focuses on developing methodologies for the identification, activation, and renovation of these underutilised spaces.
Particular emphasis was placed on:
- the development of a methodology for mapping vacant buildings, combining multiple data sources (cadastre, energy consumption data, and field surveys),
- understanding legal and institutional barriers that hinder the activation of vacant properties,
- financial models such as revolving funds and “renovate-to-rent” schemes,
- the engagement of local stakeholders, which is essential for achieving systemic change,
- and the climate benefits of renovation, where life cycle assessment (LCA) demonstrates that the renovation of existing buildings is often significantly more sustainable than new construction.
Representatives from the City of Chemnitz also presented their experience in reducing vacancy rates following population decline after 1990. Through a combination of strategic demolition, activation of vacant buildings, and support for cooperative housing models, they have succeeded in stabilising the housing market and improving living conditions.
Project partners from the other two pilot cities, Athens and Zagreb, highlighted diverse challenges—from a high share of vacant spaces and degraded areas in urban centres to fragmented institutional responsibilities and a lack of reliable data.
For the Slovenian pilot, led by IRI UL in collaboration with the City of Ljubljana, the key next steps include:
- the selection of a pilot area,
- the establishment of a methodology for identifying vacant dwellings,
- the engagement of key stakeholders,
- and the development of concrete policy proposals for their activation.
The meeting in Chemnitz thus made an important contribution to a shared understanding of the issue and to shaping concrete solutions, which will also be tested in Slovenia in the coming months.
If you are interested in participating in further discussions on this topic, you are invited to express your interest via email at: ana.tisov@iri.uni-lj.si. The first stakeholder meeting will take place in June 2026 in Ljubljana.
