Petty commodity housing or dweller control? A critique of John Turner's views on housing policy

Abstract

The paper reviews four major aspects of John Turner's work on low-income housing: his conception of the nature of housing; the relationship he identifies between the popular, government and private sectors; his concept of the role of the State and the planner; and, his policy recommendations. These are all subjected to a critical examination, and a Marxist framework is suggested as a more effective means of analysing the problems and policies under discussion. The debate between ‘state-assisted self-help’ and ‘official housing’ policies is situated in the context of the conflicting interests of the different fractions of capital tied to the housing process. Turner's policies, it is argued, could only be implemented alongside rather than instead of, existing State policies, and never on the scale and in the manner considered critical to their success.