Airborne_Again wrote:
I’m not entirely sure what “communal heating” is, but after googling, I believe it means that all flats in a house have a single source of heating. I would say that it is almost without exception how multi-flat house are heated in Sweden. I don’t see what the communist bloc has to do with it.
Big cities in the USSR used district heating (fjärrvärme) a lot, which obviously exists all over the world as well. However, as buildings in cities were all state-owned, the introduction of district heating was a matter of administrative decision rather than a free market choice.
Peter wrote:
Also not sure how many blocks in Europe have communal heating, like was standard in the communist bloc.
I’m not entirely sure what “communal heating” is, but after googling, I believe it means that all flats in a house have a single source of heating. I would say that it is almost without exception how multi-flat house are heated in Sweden. I don’t see what the communist bloc has to do with it.
In Norway the trend for the last 20 years at least have been “condensing” in search for a better word. What it basically means is people living in their own houses, purchase a smaller, but brand new and modern flat in the city centers a little while after all the kids have left the nest.
Nice places, some of the flats s rather large, but not my cup of tea 
and they typically have parking below ground where you can plug in the EV and charge it.
The problem in places like Paris in the case of the more classic architectural buildings is to find a way to insulate without spoiling the aesthetics. Many new technologies are being tested in this area.
The other thing, as you say, Mayor Hildago has been a supported of what are like mini cities. I can’t remember the term. These are small areas in Paris which are arranged so that everything is to hand, shops, doctors, dentists, schools, offices etc..The idea being that the residents can walk or cycle to get everything they want. When it first came in there was a lot of opposition, but now most people like it.
It’s not a new idea. Large companies and industries were doing it last century. Cadbury for instance had Bourneville (sorry if I spelled it wrong). This is just an adaptation and updating of that.
Peter wrote:
The classification is a bit meaningless because millions of people, mostly in the “poor” category, live in long terrace houses like this
Peter, comparing to 4- or 5-story buildings, there is a difference! You are heating the top and bottom floors more, the rest are in better place. Plus the apartment building would have a normal insulated basement and attic (both improve energy efficiency), not just floor on the ground…
In the UK of course the energy efficiency of buildings is quite low, comparing to other countries. I was really surprised that for many buildings the residents cannot replace the windows for the more energy-efficient ones – “listed building”, and somehow local idiots from the planning commitee find that every other build have to be listed or preserved for one reason or the other. Been to France many times, for example Paris, Lyon, etc – different story! Yes, there are preservation activities, but it is more reasonable.
And if you live in an apartment building, usually many more things are in a walking distance – it now makes more economic sense to place those more frequently due to higher population density.
The classification is a bit meaningless because millions of people, mostly in the “poor” category, live in long terrace houses like this
Not much difference to apartment blocks, other than the ease of antisocial behaviour. Also not sure how many blocks in Europe have communal heating, like was standard in the communist bloc.
gallois wrote:
Are they differentiating between purpose built flats and large houses converted into flats?
I don’t think they do… And the %% growth for the apartments might be due to houses being split into flats. :)
Are they differentiating between purpose built flats and large houses converted into flats?
When I lived in a flat in London it had been a large house. However, the house had been converted in such.a way that you would have thought they had always been flats, with a lift passing through each floor.
I have also lived in flats which were obviously just rooms split off and called flats. It does make a difference in terms of energy wastage.
I was thinking that the flats are mostly for colder places, but it is not!
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20170412-1
“In 2015, 42% of the EU population lived in flats and 57% in houses. The share of persons living in flats was highest in Spain (66%), Latvia (65%) and Estonia (63%), and the share of people living in houses peaked in Ireland (93%), the United Kingdom (84%), Croatia (81%) and Belgium (77%); Norway also reported a high share of their population living in houses (81%).”
