The appropriation of common spaces is a topic that is being discussed more and more and something that most inhabitants of multi-apartment buildings have to face. The consequences of an individualised and atomised society are reflected in the decision-making process on housing matters since individuals choose their way and mode of life in an apartment based on their own decisions. This master’s thesis explains how social changes affected the housing field after the adoption of a new social order. In the post-war period, housing was an entirely social category and the constitution assured the right to obtain it. Nowadays, the new legislation sets conditions for the acquisition of an appropriate apartment, which is why everybody tries to solve their housing situation. The consequences of the shift from common to individual interests influence the change in societal behaviour and relationship patterns in which the modification of norms and values affect the blurred line between the private and the public space. Common spaces in multi-apartment buildings are losing their initial purpose with inconsistent use of the space and the placement of “obstacles” in the areas intended to be used by everybody. Based on a discursive analysis of the research, we discovered that house rules and the contract on interpersonal relationships, also mentioned in the Housing Act for a quality co-habitation, do not protect apartment owners from the problems of common space appropriation. While working on this thesis, several questions arose about the building managers' services for which the legal basis is set out by the Housing Act, the Law of Property Code and the Rules on standards for the maintenance of apartment buildings and apartments.
|
