Maribor, SI > historical housing / building stock vacancy:
problems associated with housing heritage in Western Europe are emerging in Slovenia, especially when connected to high turnover in the former Yugoslavia. After the national independence of Slovenia, a process of privatisation of public housing stock was introduced. Current housing needs are particularly evident in cities such Maribor where the old mediaeval centre just partially compensate for thep. 4 / 27 sprawl condition of urban peripheries. Today there are 175.000 dwellings in Slovenia (equal to 37.3%) offered for sale/rental or without specific assignment. In Maribor there are 12,500 vacant dwellings to be reassigned or transformed. Against this, Gosposka street, the main pedestrian street in Maribor suffers from scattered vacancy both in the upper housing structure as well as in the ground shop level, due to relocations of stores in peripheral shopping malls. Creative reinvention, recycling and innovation through arts could represent an immediate response to raise social awareness on these trends and promote policy supply for temporary reuse strategy and micro-design actions.