Housing Pathways of Young Adults in the Western Balkans: Insights for Socially Sustainable Cities
In the Western Balkans, young adults leave home at high ages not by choice, but due to a lack of housing options. This lecture highlights structural barriers and policy solutions, showing that housing for young people reflects a city's faith in its future.
Organizer: Žaklina Grgić, Doctoral Candidate, College of Environment and Design, University of Georgia, USA
May 21, 2026 | 09:00 - 09:30
(passed)
Summary
In the Western Balkans, the average age at which young adults leave the parental home is among the highest in Europe -not a reflection of cultural preference, but of structural exclusion from housing markets characterized by unaffordable private rental, negligible public provision, and wages that cannot support independent living. This lecture draws on original research conducted in the region to map the housing pathways of young adults, examining the intersection of affordability, tenure insecurity, limited credit access, and spatial mismatch between employment and housing. It identifies the policy levers -rental regulation, social housing expansion, youth housing finance, and planning reform -that could open viable routes to residential independence. The lecture argues that the housing situation of young adults is one of the most direct measures of whether a city is investing in its own social reproduction.