Equalities of wellbeing in philosophy and architecture

How do philosophy and architecture give us a distinctive way of understanding equality, and how can this have impacts on the wellbeing of individuals and communities? This is the primary question this project aims to address. We will look at an alternative history of the concept of equality found in both the 17th-century philosophy of Spinoza and in architectural thought. Here, equality is understood in terms of proportion, a way of thinking that can lead to new strategies for increasing equalities of wellbeing.

Standard notions of equality originate in the Enlightenment social contract tradition and depend on the assumption that every human being is an autonomous, rational subject. The resulting notion of the moral equality of reasoning subjects undergirds both 18th century political thought (e.g. Rousseau and Kant) and dominant theories of justice today (e.g. Rawls and Sen). The notion that all persons are moral equals is foundational in arguments for political equality and universal rights. However, while liberal democracies have increasingly committed to the political equality of citizens, their societies have become less and less economically equal over the past fifty years. Recent studies such as Wilkinson and Pickett's The Spirit Level have demonstrated the link between income equality and wellbeing. Wellbeing and "happiness" as indicators of national progress are now high on the public agenda. We are interested in finding out whether a concept of equality different from the standard moral-political sense, might provide a better foundation for arguments for income equality and greater wellbeing.

This alternative concept of equality is connected to an alternative concept of human subjectivity found in the 17th-century philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Spinoza sees people not as equal rational subjects, but as fundamentally unequal individuals whose capacity for reasoning and freedom constantly varies with their bodily constitution, political circumstances, and emotional and social situation. He suggests that we should abandon the assumption of absolute moral equality, and instead look to ideas of geometrical proportion and mathematical ratio in order to understand what defines individuals, distinguishes them from others, and allows them to bind together into communities. What emerges is a concept of proportional equality which, if put into practice (Spinoza believes) would result in a greater equality of wellbeing among all individuals. Our contention is that thinking about equality in this Spinozian way can provide a foundation for societies to pursue equalities of wellbeing amongst citizens.

In Architecture, there is a long tradition of connecting a proportional conception of equality with wellbeing. From Vitruvius's classical treatise On Architecture, through to Renaissance and Enlightenment aesthetic ideals, through to modernist utopian building and social housing projects, architects have upheld geometric criteria of proportion and harmony. In the 20th century these criteria were strongly linked to generating greater equalities of wellbeing through housing design. While this connection was recognized, and standards of living space protected, in the 1960s-70s, it has been ignored over the past 25 years due to the drive for large quantities of affordable housing. As architectural theory and practice remain focused on increasing wellbeing, there is a need to interpret and discuss the connection to proportional equality in a distinctive way.

In the project we will do philosophical analysis on Spinoza's concept of proportional equality and connect it to case studies to see how it can be realized in architectural theory and affordable housing design. We will consult with professional groups and charities aiming at greater wellbeing through income equality and housing standards. The final outcomes will be a series of papers and a documentary film that will be accessible to a wide audience.

We anticipate that the research will have three kinds of non-academic beneficiary:

1. Groups influencing government policy (UK)
Happiness and wellbeing are now central to statistical research and government policy. The Equality Trust, a charitable organization that aims to influence policy, campaigns to make governments focus on income equality as the key means to improving wellbeing. Action for Happiness draws on academic research to harness efforts to increase social wellbeing. Its parent charity, The Young Foundation, builds on research to develop social projects and influence policy. Its communities and housing team develops projects and tools aimed at improving wellbeing through the built environment. Think-tank The New Economics Foundation's Centre for Wellbeing works to improve wellbeing through various means including the built environment.

2. Professional architectural associations (UK)
Organizations for architects and built-environment professionals engage with how housing quality affects wellbeing. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), now part of the Design Council, aims to put architecture and design at the heart of social renewal, and works with a wide range of organizations to inform the design professsion. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) promotes better architecture at a policy level and in the profession; its Future Homes Commission investigates whether the size and quality of newly-built homes are fit for purpose. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is the national agency in England that invests in new affordable housing and in improving existing social housing.

3. Charitable groups concerned with housing and wellbeing (UK)
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation works in a range of fields relevant to our research: housing market reform, housing planning, and assessing housing trends. Shelter is the leading authority on homelessness and poor housing in Britain and its research and policy section has a direct impact on its campaigning and services.

We aim to engage with the research and policy sections of these groups to have an impact on their body of knowledge and thinking, to feed into their campaigns, services, and practical activities. Our research aims to provide a philosophical foundation for a concept of equality that has a demonstrable link to increased wellbeing, and to apply this concept to architecture and the built environment. The research will benefit these groups, first, by providing a philosophical foundation for the connection between equality and wellbeing, something that has not previously been done. This will deepen their knowledge-base and add to its academic credibility. Second, the research will provide models and case studies for how equalities of wellbeing can be improved through affordable housing design. This will enhance their research and feed into specific projects and practices that improve communities through housing. Third, the research has potential to ground and generate related future projects.

In the first year of the project members of these groups will be invited to attend the initial seminar and to join our project advisory panel. They will be consulted on the aims and methods of our research at the outset, and consulted regularly through the project on methods, findings, and potential applications of the research, so that we monitor and understand the research impacts. We aim to post links to our website and position papers on the websites of some of these groups, and to advertise through their Facebook and Twitter feeds, thus benefiting their members and followers more widely. See the 'Pathways to Impact' document for further detail of these activities.

We have contacted many of the named groups, and several of them have indicated their interest in being on the advisory panel, including the Design Council, the New Economics Foundation, and several professional architects.