Rural Housing: Questions of Resilience

Abstract

This paper attempts a synthesis between housing and rural development research through the lens of resilience thinking. Drawing on Ireland as a case study characterised by a pro-development and laissez-faire ethos in housing policy, we argue that resilience thinking opens up new perspectives and provides the potential to ‘re-frame’ rural housing practices. Ireland provides an insightful case study to discuss resilience given its shifts from economic boom to crisis and austerity, inextricably linked with the housing sector. Firstly, the paper provides a conceptual understanding of rural resilience, before applying this framework to Irish rural housing issues, particularly relating to settlement form, family and tenure, cultural predispositions regarding housing construction and with reference to specific rural housing policy examples. Two key contributions of resilience are identified: firstly, resilience offers alternative analytical methods and insights for rural housing, particularly ideas of path dependencies and path creation, and identification of the role of housing supply in enhancing or undermining rural resilience. Secondly, resilience provides an alternative policy narrative for rural housing in the context of transitioning towards low carbon rural futures, ecologically sensitive rural economies and lifestyles, and a just countryside. The paper concludes by identifying future research directions for rural housing through a resilience framework.