Changes In Housing Policy Research Articles

‘Black dealers kill people and come from the projects; Whites dealers kill people and come from nice families’: contextualized racialized perceptions of related criminal behaviors within an attribution theory framework

ABSTRACT Some believe certain racial groups are associated with specific behaviors, like homicide, drug dealing, and drug use. It is unclear if these perceptions are connected or if culpability as offender or victim for these behaviors is also racialized. The present study examines perceptions of people’s involvement in these related criminal behaviors. Using semi-structured interviews, data were gathered from men and women (n=32) living in 15 contiguous neighborhoods in a mid-sized city in the northeastern US. All study area neighborhoods experienced the effects of the opioid epidemic and repercussions of subsidized public housing policy changes, and some had high levels of violent and drug crimes. Interview data were analyzed using thematic content analysis applying iterative, open coding techniques to identify themes and recurrent concepts across participants. Findings show that respondents viewed Black persons engaged in homicides and drug dealers as offenders and white persons engaged in drug use as victims. Crimes attributed to Black people were also contextualized as a problem among gang members and people receiving subsidized public housing. Applying the racial threat hypothesis, study findings and implications for research on racialized perceptions of related criminal behaviors and culpability as offenders or victims are discussed within an attribution theory framework.

Learning from the Past, Looking to Resilience: Housing in Serbia in the Post-Pandemic Era

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly reshaped life across the globe, significantly influencing the future of housing. The enactment and densification of diverse activities within one place have resulted in varying degrees of conflict between the built and social environment. This conflict is directly related to the degree of housing adaptability to new life, work, and leisure conditions. Movement restrictions and distance learning have significantly impacted the young population, which is susceptible to ‘enforced togetherness’ conditions. However, studies on post-pandemic housing in Serbia are rare. This paper investigates the relationship between the built and social environment, focusing on current trends in multi-family housing from the perspective of the progressive change of life standards in the post-pandemic era. It also includes a survey of the living conditions of architecture students in Serbia during lockdown and distance learning, offering insights into the impact of the physical environment on virus transmission and social dynamics. The main objective of this study is to formulate guidelines for developing a resilient housing model in Serbia that will address both current and future crises. From the findings, it can be concluded that radical changes in housing policy are necessary to enable less interdependence among layers within the system striving to be resilient.

Handbook, Standard, Room: The Prescription of Residential Room Types in Sweden Between 1942 and 2023

Norms and handbooks have played a key role in the design of residential rooms in Sweden since the 1940s. Ever since, changes in housing policies have led to varying definitions and regulations of residential rooms, allowing their existence, defining their configuration, and framing their performance. And yet, none of these rooms has been built; they are prescribed room types that belong in the pages of handbooks that validate the framework in which housing design can operate. What are these prescribed room types? What do they look like? Who and what do they include? Have they changed over time? In response to these questions, this article follows the evolution of a set of residential room types in the design handbooks that have accompanied housing policy bills in Sweden from 1942 to 2023. These manuals are not the law itself but operate as an interface for professionals and designers by reflecting the practical consequences of the norm. Diagrams, dimensions, texts, and references to housing literature vary from handbook to handbook to define the specific traits of each type of room. By studying these traits in relation to key moments of Swedish housing politics, the article reveals the role that norms and standards have played in the establishment of the regulatory regime in which housing design in Sweden operates today.

Housing tenure and disability in the UK: trends and projections 2004-2030.

Housing is a major influence on health. Housing tenure is associated with housing conditions, affordability, and security and is an important dimension of housing. In the UK there have been profound changes in both housing conditions and the distribution of households by tenure over the past century, that is during the lifetimes of the current population. We firstly reviewed and summarise changes in housing conditions, housing policy and tenure distribution as they provide a context to possible explanations for health variations by housing tenure, including health related selection into different tenure types. We then use 2015-2021 data from a large nationally representative UK survey to analyse associations between housing tenure and self-reported disability among those aged 40-69 controlling for other socio-demographic factors also associated with health. We additionally examine changes in the association between housing tenure and self-reported disability in the population aged 25 and over in the first two decades of the 21st century and project trends forward to 2030. Results show that associations between housing tenure and disability by tenure were stronger than for any other indicator of socio-economic position considered with owner-occupiers having the best, and social renters the worst, health. Differences were particularly marked in reported mental health conditions and in economic activity, with 28% of social renters being economically inactive due to health problems, compared with 4% of owner-occupiers. Rates of disability have increased over time, and become increasingly polarised by tenure. By 2020 the age standardised disability rate among tenants of social housing was over twice as high as that for owner occupiers, with projections indicating further increases in both levels, and differentials in, disability by 2030. These results have substantial implications for housing providers, local authorities and for public health.

Housing Experimentation and Design Guides: Affordable Housing in Guangzhou since 2006

This paper examines the recent growth of government-led affordable housing in Guangzhou, addressing a paucity of global housing studies that explore experimental and contextual policy approaches in China. It also addresses the lack of Chinese housing studies recognizing the impact of housing design governance, including regulatory controls and design standards, on housing preferences, supply and lifestyles. Since 1995, the supply of affordable housing has surged, now surpassing that of market housing for the first time. This response to failures in the private housing market and a lack of equitable access to housing signifies a significant shift, acknowledging the need to re-establish a state-led and long-term public housing supply after decades of housing marketization. Employing an architectural design research perspective, this paper investigates the interplay between affordable housing supply and the emergence of housing standards, examining resulting housing design outcomes. It poses the question: What changes in housing policy and interventions in housing markets are necessary to increase public rental housing supply, and how do these changes affect housing outcomes? The paper explores these questions through a discussion of the key moments in affordable housing policy and housing estate development in Guangzhou that facilitated the creation of widely accessible public housing and long-term housing assets. This provides new insights into China’s unique approach to translating central government social welfare and housing policy through contextual design experimentation and pilot housing projects, departing from the conventional top-down policy implementation found in most other countries.

Are housing circumstances associated with faster epigenetic ageing?

BackgroundNumerous aspects of housing are associated with health. However, the pathways between housing and health, particularly the psychosocial elements of housing, are less well understood. Epigenetic information alongside social survey...

Trusted residents and housing assistance to decrease violence exposure in New Haven (TRUE HAVEN): a strengths-based and community-driven stepped-wedge intervention to reduce gun violence

BackgroundWe describe the rationale and study design for “TRUsted rEsidents and Housing Assistance to decrease Violence Exposure in New Haven (TRUE HAVEN),” a prospective type 1 hybrid effectiveness/implementation study of a multi-level intervention using a stepped wedge design. TRUE HAVEN aims to lower rates of community gun violence by fostering the stability, wealth, and well-being of individuals and families directly impacted by incarceration through the provision of stable housing and by breaking the cycle of trauma.DesignTRUE HAVEN is an ongoing, multi-level intervention with three primary components: financial education paired with housing support (individual level), trauma-informed counseling (neighborhood level), and policy changes to address structural racism (city/state level). Six neighborhoods with among the highest rates of gun violence in New Haven, Connecticut, will receive the individual and neighborhood level intervention components sequentially beginning at staggered 6-month steps. Residents of these neighborhoods will be eligible to participate in the housing stability and financial education component if they were recently incarcerated or are family members of currently incarcerated people; participants will receive intense financial education and follow-up for six months and be eligible for special down payment and rental assistance programs. In addition, trusted community members and organization leaders within each target neighborhood will participate in trauma-informed care training sessions to then be able to recognize when their peers are suffering from trauma symptoms, to support these affected peers, and to destigmatize accessing professional mental health services and connect them to these services when needed. Finally, a multi-stakeholder coalition will be convened to address policies that act as barriers to housing stability or accessing mental healthcare. Interventions will be delivered through existing partnerships with community-based organizations and networks. The primary outcome is neighborhood rate of incident gun violence. To inform future implementation and optimize the intervention package as the study progresses, we will use the Learn As You Go approach to optimize and assess the effectiveness of the intervention package on the primary study outcome.DiscussionResults from this protocol will yield novel evidence for whether and how addressing structural racism citywide leads to a reduction in gun violence.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05723614. Registration date: February 01, 2023. Please refer to https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05723614 for public and scientific inquiries.

공공임대주택 선발 국가들의 정책 경험과 우리나라의 정책 방향

Since the end of the World War II, many advanced countries have developed public rental housing not only as a residential safety net but also as an active welfare policy. However, after 30-40 years of expansion, most of the advanced countries have reduced or retreated from public rental housing policies due to the development of the private housing market and financial constraints. On the other hand, Korea started its public rental housing policy late compared to the advanced countries and is still expanding it. Korea's public rental housing policy differs from the advanced countries in that housing market instability and the mass supply of housing to resolve it are the most important policy drivers. This paper tried to consider Korea's position, characteristics, and policy tasks in light of the changes in public rental housing policy in the advanced countries. Considering the experiences of the advanced countries, it is reasonable to assume that the quantitative target of our public rental housing policy is 10% of all households, and it is necessary to maintain the Korean characteristic of diversifying the number of tenants. The relationship between housing benefits and public rental housing needs to be established urgently. In addition, pointing out that hasty expectations are reflected in the current public rental housing statistics in Korea, this paper proposed to classify Jeonse public rental as one of the rental subsidy systems.

The financialization of housing in Indonesia: Actors and their roles in the transformation of housing production

There has not been a lot of focus on housing financialization literature in Indonesia, except for Lee (1996). This article focuses on the financialization of housing in Indonesia in the past thirty years, including the actors and their roles in transforming housing production. The fall of the New Order regime in 1998 spurred the process of democratization and marked the transformation of Indonesia from an authoritarian rule into a more democratic government. We offer an analytical framework that centers on the transformation of housing production due to the government system changes. We interviewed public and private developers, financial actors, and government officials in Jakarta and Surabaya. The data sources for this article also include federal and local housing regulations, unpublished and published housing reports, and local and national newspapers in Indonesia. This article contributes to the discussion of how housing policy and practice changes result in the transformation of housing production. The Housing and Settlement Law 1/2011 provides new provisions that the government needs to assist low-income residents through tax incentives, insurance permits, the provision of land and public utilities, and land title registrations. We explain how these new provisions shape actors and their roles in housing production, arguing that homeownership is central to the financialization of housing in Indonesia.

State of post-pandemic development of the housing market of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The development of the housing market of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2020 was predeterminedby important factors – the unfavorable economic situation caused by COVID-19 and the spread of thisvirus. The main purpose of this article is to analyze and assess the dynamic development of the housingmarket of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the context of COVID-19 when compared with the crisis yearof 2014 and analyze the potential consequences. Thanks to the collection and analysis of statistical dataand continuous monitoring of the housing market, conclusions were drawn about serious changes, bothin market directions and in systemic changes in the state housing policy. In the article, using methodsof comparative analysis, trends in the development of the housing market are identified, key factors influencingthe annual dynamics of real estate prices are identified; their quantitative impact was assessedusing correlation analysis and econometric models of the impact of these factors on the average housingprice by the population were evaluated and the permissible consequences of restrictions and measuresintroduced in connection with the pandemic were determined. Recommendations are proposed to supportthe housing market of the Republic of Kazakhstan, stimulating the development and coverage of allmarket entities. The results obtained will be useful to researchers, organizers of investment projects andrepresentatives of government bodies.Key words: Housing market, COVID-19, housing prices, government regulation, mortgages.

Residential mobility in Hong Kong 1991–2016: Demographics, policies and housing market dynamics

AbstractHong Kong has experienced rounds of property bubble inflation and burst, underscoring heightened market volatility amidst the financialization of the world economy. Irrespective of its fame as an exemplar of laissez faire capitalism, the city's massive public housing programme consisting of public rental housing (PRH) and the Homeownership Scheme (HOS) places the Hong Kong government among the world's biggest landlords and developers. It is within such varying and heavily manipulated choice sets that residential decisions in Hong Kong are exercised. Employing the past five population censuses (by‐censuses), this paper studies the city's changing scenes of residential mobility over the period 1991–2016, juxtaposing against changes in housing and land policies and the broader socioeconomic environment. The results reveal relatively frequent moves in the 1990s, but drastic and consistent declines in the mobility rates thereafter, especially for HOS and PRH residents. Private renters, however, stayed mobile throughout the 25‐year period. Such variations in trend point towards the recent dismantling of the housing ladder with PRH and HOS being major steps in the transition from private renting to owner‐occupation. Particularly affected are the younger generations. Expectedly, recent immigrants from mainland China fare less well in the housing realm. Nevertheless, with the attainment of the permanent resident status in Hong Kong, mainlanders and local born increasingly exhibit similar patterns of residential movements.

Internal control in the real estate industry and its financial risk management

In recent years, with the rapid development of China's economy and the dynamic changes in housing policies, China's real estate enterprises are facing severe challenges while flourishing. In order to ensure the future sound development of real estate enterprises, enterprises need to deepen their own internal control system and do a good job in financial risk management. From the perspective of internal control and financial risk management, this paper aims to analyze the shortcomings of real estate enterprises in internal control and financial risk management at the present stage and put forward corresponding countermeasures and suggestions in order to help enterprises improve their management level and achieve long-term development.

“We have to be uncomfortable and creative”: Reflections on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on overdose prevention, harm reduction & homelessness advocacy in Philadelphia

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing service delivery interruptions had serious impacts on people who use drugs (PWUD) and people experiencing homelessness, including instability in the drug supply, decreased access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and harm reduction supplies, increased substance use and relapse due to stress and isolation, inability to properly isolate and quarantine without stable housing, and risk of COVID-19 spread in congregate living spaces. At the same time, many have noted a potential opportunity for rapid change in health, housing, and drug policy despite previous stagnation—referred to as a “punctuated equilibrium” by Baumgartner and Jones—in response to the pandemic. The pandemic forced some important policy interventions in the United States at both national and local levels, including eviction moratoriums and loosening of drug policy related to substance use treatment. However, to what extent some of these changes will be sustained past the current COVID-19 crisis is still unclear, as is how drug and housing related policy shifts have impacted the work of frontline overdose prevention, substance use treatment, and homelessness advocacy workers. In this qualitative study, we used semi-structured interviews to assess how Philadelphia’s harm reduction advocates, community organizers, and SUD treatment clinicians have responded to the overdose and homelessness crises during COVID-19, and how they predict the pandemic and ensuing policy changes will impact the future of overdose prevention, harm reduction efforts, and homelessness advocacy. We interviewed 30 eligible participants during July and August 2020. The analysis of these data yielded three themes: 1/“None of it should be new to anybody”: COVID-era issues impacting PWUD and people experiencing homelessness are extensions of existing problems; 2/“An opportunity to actually benefit in some way from this crisis”: Possibility for innovation and improved care for PWUD and people experiencing homelessness; and 3/“Nothing we’ve tried has worked, so we have to be uncomfortable and creative”: The uncertain path forward. Despite the many barriers that participants faced to promoting the health and well-being of marginalized communities during the pandemic, they also believed that the pandemic presented an important opportunity for positive policy change that has the potential to promote drug user health into the future, including a continuation of loosened federal restrictions on substance use disorder treatment, legalization of safe consumption spaces, safe supply of substances, and progressive, creative housing solutions.

Trends of out-mobility from large housing estates in Stockholm: influences of the housing policy and neighbourhood context

Since 1990s Stockholm housing market has seen deregulations in accordance with liberalization trends in other European welfare states. The new governance principles together with increasing immigration and public rental housing conversions into cooperative housing in attractive inner city areas have put pressure on still rental-dominated estates because fewer rental dwellings must now cater to expanding numbers of people who have little choice on the housing market. In recent decades, many estates have displayed increasing signs of stigmatization, social exclusion, and outflow of relatively affluent people. This paper improves our knowledge of how the housing policy and economic changes have affected out-mobility from the housing estates in case of three cohorts of young people and how the childhood neighbourhood conditions affect this. Individual annual Swedish registry data (1990–2014) are employed to longitudinally study the out-mobility patterns of three cohorts that grew up in the estates against the backdrop of marketization, growing inequality and deteriorating conditions. This study supplements the existing literature on housing estates by clarifying how income has become more and ethnicity less important over time in explaining sorting patterns from these estates. However, the combination of the two has determined sorting throughout the study period. Growing up in a higher socioeconomic status neighbourhood had modest impact on reducing socioeconomic differences in out-mobility from the estates, while leading to more sorting based on ethnic background.

El problema de la vivienda y la urbanización de la periferia norte de Santiago durante la administración de Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (Renca, 1927-1931)

This article addresses the development of Santiago’s urban periphery through the analysis of Renca’s case during Carlos Ibanez del Campo’s dictatorship (1927-1931). A place that was somewhere in between urban and rural. In this case, the housing and basic services problem was strongly manifested in the shanty towns or poblaciones which were characterized by a lack of hygiene, equipment, and infrastructure. Ibanez responded to this situation by implementing a legislation and a bureaucracy that sought to regularize the configuration of these growing shanty towns by reinforcing the municipality (local council) and the Intendencia’s role (provincial government). This action was linked to massive and active neighborhood organization. Furthermore, the analysis of different documentary sources will highlight the relevance of new urban actors such as the “mejoreros” and long-term site buyers, which promoted a change in housing policy and the way in which Santiago’s growth was addressed.

Living together in the UK : when housing becomes an obstacle

This paper finds its origin in a number of discussions with officials in the UK about what I call the UK housing conundrum. By this I mean the worsening housing conditions experienced by many households, the incapacity of a growing section of the population to house themselves at a reasonable price and the seeming powerlessness of national and local authorities to match supply and demand. This is despite the planning system having been tasked with creating socially balanced communities since its inception in 1947, a commitment upheld by most post-war governments. Although living together has long been an official objective of planning and housing policies in the UK, this objective is increasingly difficult to achieve because of recent policy choices as I shall explain.In this paper I would first like to look briefly at the housing context of and background to recent housing policies. Second, the links between the planning system and socially balanced communities will be examined from a historical perspective. Third, I shall look at some recent changes in housing policy that make it harder for British people to live together; finally, I shall explore the recent consequences of those policy choices. The article only looks at social balance from an income perspective and not from an ethnic one for lack of space, and it focuses mostly on England.

Cities and COVID-19: navigating the new normal

Non-technical summary Urban density is erroneously regarded as the main factor in the spread of COVID-19 in cities. A review of extant literature and findings from our case study of Karachi, Pakistan indicate that inequalities in income, healthcare, and living conditions play a key role in the spread of contagions along with government responsiveness to the pandemic. Moving forward, urban policies need to address these inequalities through changes in housing policies and decentralized governance systems. Cities must adapt to sustainable modes of travel, reduce digital inequalities, and encourage people friendly urban planning to become resilient in the face of pandemics. Technical summary COVID-19 has changed how urban residents relate to their cities. Urban centers have become epicenters of disease, which has raised questions about the long-term sustainability of high-density settlements and public transport usage. However, the spread of COVID-19 in cities is incorrectly attributed to urban density. Using the case study of Karachi, Pakistan, we find that inequality of income, healthcare, and living conditions is a major contributing factor to the spread of COVID-19. Data on positive COVID-19 cases, density, and socioeconomic status were obtained at the Union Council level from administrative districts of Karachi, Pakistan between March 2020, and July 2020. Despite low population densities, low-to-middle income neighborhoods in Karachi had a higher proportion of positive cases. Further, the experience of dense cities such as Hanoi in Vietnam and New York in the US differs regarding the spread of COVID-19. Hence, the government's response to the pandemic is also a major factor in containing the outbreak. Our findings suggest that a crisis in a city is exacerbated by its inability to take advantage of its density, inequality in the distribution of resources, lack of inclusiveness, and centralized governance mechanisms that make it difficult to respond quickly to situations. Thus, urban planning scholarship and practice should take an interdisciplinary approach to make cities equitable, inclusive, and adaptive. Social media summary Cities in the developing world have an opportunity for more resilient renewal in the post-COVID world.

HIA on affordable housing policies and its effect on health and services of vulnerable populations

Abstract Issue Lack of affordable housing in Utah for vulnerable populations such as immigrants/refugees, low-income families, single parents and individuals with disabilities. A health impact assessment is necessary to identify the negative health impacts that arise and to determine how a policy to provide more funding for affordable housing can benefit the population. This issue is not specific to Utah and is comparable to other housing situations and policies throughout the U.S. Description The six steps of an HIA were completed in 4 months to analyze the potential health effects of affordable housing policy changes among low-income families in Utah. The HIA team completed an extensive literature review and communicated with several stakeholders, policy makers, and community leaders. Public state and national data was gathered and analyzed using a logic model and characterization of effects table. Results The bill to increase funding will increase affordable housing units throughout Utah. The negative health impacts for the population will decrease such as respiratory illnesses, hospital visits, crime, mental health disorders, and stress. The bill would also help to increase family housing stability, economic development, educational opportunities for children, and access to transportation. Lessons The recommendations include the use of funding for new development or the renovation of existing units, the location of developments should be near public transit to allow residents to take advantage of services that previously would not have been accessible. Developments should be an integrated approach that includes social support and case management services to narrow the gap in Utah and other areas in the U.S. Key messages Policies to increase affordable housing produce positive health impacts for vulnerable populations. Overall efforts for affordable housing will give these vulnerable populations better access to basic human needs.

Housing policies in Argentina under President Macri (2015–2019): a divided nation perpetuating path dependency

This paper focuses on housing policy changes introduced by the administration of President Macri (2015–2019) which claimed to have made a U-turn in Argentinean policies. The study questions whether the housing policy changes introduced constitute a conjuncture with enduring consequences, or if the overall trajectory of the country’s housing events has only been temporarily disrupted by Macri’s administration. The paper contributes to current debates on path dependency studies in housing policies and a recent call for a more political focus in housing studies. It does so by analysing the reactive changes introduced during the conjuncture and their potential to create a new path in a politically divided nation. The results show how a dramatic turn in politics – from the extreme left to the right – can be ineffective in making enduring changes in policy paths. As more and more countries around the globe are facing an increasing polarisation and atomisation of domestic politics, the example of Argentina demonstrates that path dependency easily perpetuates in the housing systems of politically divided nations.

Struggles for Recognition and Redistributive Policies

The policy area of housing is associated with a set of contradictory claims over its subject and scope. This includes tension between a market-based understanding of housing, a social-rights-based approach, and a traditionalist approach (as patrimony). Debates about housing intensified after the financial crisis of 2008, especially on Europe’s periphery. The present research focuses on Hungary and Spain, two countries with diverging housing paths after the crisis, in which crisis management and housing debates resulted in a number of housing policy changes. The paper is based on a critical frame analysis of interview data and policy documents about these two sets of policies. It combines Karl Polanyi’s double movement theory with Nancy Fraser’s perspectival dualism to trace recognition and redistribution frames in housing policy discourses in an investigation of the dynamics that led to policy changes. It argues that market expansion and social protection, the two movements in Polanyi’s theory, should not be understood as forces that always clash with each other, but as a set of recognition and redistribution claims that mutually enable or limit each other as they are mediated through policy-making.