Marius Pieterse

I was honoured to be the plenary speaker at a seminar on Urban Sustainability, Inclusion and Resilience organised by the EVICT Project at the University of Groningen, on Wednesday 18 January. I presented my work in progress on socio-economic rights as adaptive law, with a focus on South African housing rights jurisprudence. My talk was followed by fascinating presentations by Marlies Hesselman (‘Inclusive access to basic services: a “bundle of rights” through the rights to the city, housing and energy in Indian case law’), Sander van Lanen (‘From a house to a home: home-making and unmaking in Ireland in times of austerity’) and Andrei Quintia Pastrana (‘Building a right to the city: sustainable development and housing rights in Spain in light of the CJEU’s jurisprudence’). I am grateful to prof Michel Vols and other organisers of this stimulating event, which also gave me the opportunity to visit the vibrant city of Groningen for the first time.