Process Roadmap for District-Scale Transformation
This Replication Roadmap builds on the experience of a European initiative that explored how social housing districts can be renewed through digitally enabled tools, strong local governance and community participation. Tested in the Santa Ana neighbourhood in Ermua (Spain), and enriched through collaboration with peer cities in Italy and Estonia, the approach focuses not only on technical upgrades, but on the processes that make renovation possible.
Renovating a neighbourhood is rarely just about construction. Before insulation is added or renewable systems installed, municipalities and housing providers must navigate engagement, coordination, sequencing and trust-building. This guide translates that experience into a structured yet adaptable framework, offering practical guidance on how to organise neighbourhood diagnosis, bring residents and local actors around the same table, prioritise actions, and move from ideas to implementation in a way that builds long-term ownership.
Rather than prescribing a fixed model, the Roadmap is modular and flexible. Public, cooperative and social housing providers can apply the full approach or draw on specific components according to their needs and regulatory context. Available in English, Spanish, Basque and Estonian, it is designed as a working tool for those who want renovation to strengthen not only buildings, but communities.
The Replication Roadmap was developed within the Horizon Europe project drOp – Digitally enabled social district renovation processes for age-friendly environments driving social innovation and local economic development, which ran from 2022 to 2025.