Architects, engineers, planners and other built environmentBuilt environment professionals often plan spaces with an assumption of permanence, commonly neglecting flexibility for adaptationAdaptation. Buildings are usually designed as if they will be standing forever in the same place fulfilling the same function, and subject to the same climatic conditions. This has significant implications for the people who inhabit the spaces—due to the lack of possibilities to make changes to suit their needs—and for the environment, leading to issues such as demolition waste due to an inability to adapt structures or reutilise materials. Throughout history, social housingSocial housing projects have demonstrated some of the most critical examples of these inflexible approaches in the built environment. By standardising ways of living, without any possibility of change, adaptation, or expansion, these rigid models of housing have led to various issues. Due to cost-effectiveness considerations, there are usually many limitations to the ways that buildings can be customised for residents to suit their preferences and needs, resulting in mass production and standardisation. The result is that buildings become obsolete almost instantly after being built and that residents end up taking a “do-it-yourself” approach to make alterations and additions. However, alternative approaches are emerging to make social housing more adaptable and flexible and to give residents more agency. Certain projects reverse this cycle by thinking of the possibilities of alterations and additions from the very beginning. This chapter looks at innovative ways of thinking of adaptation and creation of a sense of belongingSense of belonging from the very beginning of a project. Case studiesCase studies from South America, including incremental housingIncremental housing by Elemental in Chile and progressive housingProgressive housing propositions in Brazil, demonstrate these possibilities. These case studies challenge architects in their aim to “control” how buildings look like, allowing the creativityCreativity of residents to flourish and take centre stage in these neighbourhoods over time.