Urban housing is a bellwether for economic, social and political change. It lies between formal and informal systems and ranges widely in quality, typology and audience. Housing’s complexity and flexibility offers unique and exciting opportunities for designers - however, its source in private equity and public agencies can often challenge its ambitions. The discussions at PennDesign will focus on three pressure points effecting urban housing- Super-Hot economic markets, New Domesticities : the changing nature of living and domesticity, and Speculations: new tools and technologies of design and fabrication.