Current Housing Policy Research Articles

Housing-Resources Spatial Mismatch Investigation of Affordable Housing and Policy Implementation: A Case Study from Hangzhou, China

Intensive spatial transformation and restructuring in China these years has brought the separation of residence-job, so as to residence-public services, which adversely affects people’s access and enjoyment of job and public service resources, especially for the disadvantaged populations with limited choice of residence location and insufficient access to those resources. The residents of affordable housing are among the typical disadvantaged populations under the existing affordable housing policy in China. Residence-job separation of affordable housing residents has been paid much attention in literature, but no specific study has been conducted on the residence-public services separation and the behavioral responses of the residents. Spatial mismatch theory was originally put forward to reveal the adverse labor market outcome brought about by residence-job separation, and nowadays some scholars have tried to extend the residence-job spatial mismatch to residence-other resource spatial mismatch. This research responds to both the dilemma facing by the disadvantaged affordable housing residents and the extension trend of spatial mismatch theory. By applying the spatial mismatch theory and taking several affordable housing communities of Hangzhou as examples, the study explore the problems existing in affordable housing in commuting, employment, public service and residents' behavior response. The results found that the current affordable housing policy has led to an increase in commuting costs, a decrease in employment accessibility and welfare, a decrease in accessibility and satisfaction of public services, and disruptive behavior in the affordable housing market. These problems are mainly caused by remote layout and single supply, unreasonable allocation methods, difficulty in exchanging housing units and inadequate supervision of undesirable behaviors. To alleviate the spatial mismatch between housing and resources in Hangzhou, policy suggestions could be considered from four aspects: housing layout and supply, allocation methods, housing exchange and supervision.

Assessment of Households’ Perceptions of Health Co-Benefits in Relation to the Willingness to Undertake Energy Retrofits in Barcelona

Energy retrofits have, so far, been studied from the perspective of economic benefits that undertaking energy retrofit brings. They have also been of interest in the pursuit of reducing carbon emissions. However, few have studied the perception of health co-benefits of energy retrofits. Therefore, this paper seeks to shed light on how the residents’ perception of their health affects their decision to undertake an energetic retrofit. The focus of this article is to determine how residents perceive their health and their willingness to undertake energy retrofits to improve their health in the municipality of Barcelona. The methods used were in-depth interviews with experts and face-to-face and surveys conducted online. The results were analysed using descriptive, segmental, and unconditional logistic regression. We also analysed if awareness of the health co-benefits of retrofits corresponded with the respondent’s housing conditions, socio-demographics, and willingness to energy retrofit their homes. A total of 127 participants were included, of which 6.3% listed health co-benefit improvements as an influencing factor in undertaking an energy retrofit. The survey findings show that the less educated households are less aware of the health co-benefits of energy retrofits. These findings reveal the need to re-evaluate the current energy and housing policies.

지속가능한 국가형성을 위한 주거복지 패러다임의 전환

A necessary element for the formation of a nation is its people, who have been elevated from a “means-value” to a “humanistic value,” and as human beings, citizens must be protected by the state in terms of essential rights and values. They must also be free from state interference and obstruction in realizing these rights and values. Food, clothing, and shelter are essential for human survival. Currently, housing has become a means of accumulating wealth and a symbol of economic status and position. However, the physical space of housing is not only a place of residence but also an emotional home and the foundation of humanity. Housing cannot be left to be a means of profit-seeking or wealth accumulation. Housing policy should be a policy for all citizens, and it should be aimed at developing and maintaining a middle class of at least 80% of the population in order to ensure the sustainable and healthy development of the country. Universal housing stability should be implemented for the entire population, except for the top 10% of asset holders based on labor income. Simply enacting the “Basic Housing Act” as a law under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport would not fully address the issue of housing welfare. Housing welfare in Korea must consider housing, education, transportation, and the environment comprehensively based on a paradigm shift in housing. In the current Korean situation, education and housing policies must be connected and directed towards the right direction. In terms of climate crisis response, housing policy must establish a new direction for improving the housing environment, including transportation and reconstruction. If climate crisis is discussed but not included in housing policy, the sincerity and effectiveness of climate response policy will be undermined. Housing, workplace, and education should be based on a certain area, and mobility should be possible within the jurisdiction of the basic local government. The beginning of housing welfare is when an average wage earner can secure a residence in a place where educational conditions and social infrastructure are in place while minimizing physical and temporal distance from their workplace, which is a socially universal phenomenon. A society where ordinary workers can save a certain amount of money from their usual household expenses and use financial tools such as public loans to secure stable housing is a normal and sustainable society. Housing must not be left to become a means of accumulating wealth and a starting point for inequality. To secure stable housing, the paradigm of housing policy should shift towards policies where profit-seeking is prohibited in living spaces through the public role and participation of non-profit organizations.

지속가능한 국가형성을 위한 주거복지 패러다임의 전환

A necessary element for the formation of a nation is its people, who have been elevated from a “means-value” to a “humanistic value,” and as human beings, citizens must be protected by the state in terms of essential rights and values. They must also be free from state interference and obstruction in realizing these rights and values. Food, clothing, and shelter are essential for human survival. Currently, housing has become a means of accumulating wealth and a symbol of economic status and position. However, the physical space of housing is not only a place of residence but also an emotional home and the foundation of humanity. Housing cannot be left to be a means of profit-seeking or wealth accumulation. Housing policy should be a policy for all citizens, and it should be aimed at developing and maintaining a middle class of at least 80% of the population in order to ensure the sustainable and healthy development of the country. Universal housing stability should be implemented for the entire population, except for the top 10% of asset holders based on labor income. Simply enacting the “Basic Housing Act” as a law under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport would not fully address the issue of housing welfare. Housing welfare in Korea must consider housing, education, transportation, and the environment comprehensively based on a paradigm shift in housing. In the current Korean situation, education and housing policies must be connected and directed towards the right direction. In terms of climate crisis response, housing policy must establish a new direction for improving the housing environment, including transportation and reconstruction. If climate crisis is discussed but not included in housing policy, the sincerity and effectiveness of climate response policy will be undermined. Housing, workplace, and education should be based on a certain area, and mobility should be possible within the jurisdiction of the basic local government. The beginning of housing welfare is when an average wage earner can secure a residence in a place where educational conditions and social infrastructure are in place while minimizing physical and temporal distance from their workplace, which is a socially universal phenomenon. A society where ordinary workers can save a certain amount of money from their usual household expenses and use financial tools such as public loans to secure stable housing is a normal and sustainable society. Housing must not be left to become a means of accumulating wealth and a starting point for inequality. To secure stable housing, the paradigm of housing policy should shift towards policies where profit-seeking is prohibited in living spaces through the public role and participation of non-profit organizations.

Housing policies by young people, not for young people. Experiences from a co-creation project in Amsterdam

For young adults on the Amsterdam housing market the accessibility of housing has been decreasing for years, due to soaring house prices and rents, the shrinkage and residualization of the social rental sector, and the precarization of the labor market. Consequently, many young people struggle to secure an affordable and adequate dwelling and are stuck in insecure and chaotic housing pathways. Current housing policies in Amsterdam are struggling to effectively respond to these challenges. In an effort to better understand and address the specific housing problems of young people, the Municipality of Amsterdam, housing association Lieven de Key, resident organization !Woon, Delft University of Technology and a group of local young people have started a co-creation process within the framework of the H2020 UPLIFT project. The goal of this co-creation process is to unravel the real-life experiences of young people and to co-create new or improved policy initiatives with them. This paper examines the results of said policy co-creation process in order to evaluate its methodology as well as its impact on the participating actors - young people in particular - and on the policymaking approach. We analyze the benefits and limits of this type of participatory practice in addressing housing issues and try to draw conclusions on its applicability in a larger context.

İNSAN-MEKÂN İLİŞKİLERİ VE KONUT POLİTİKALARI: KAVRAMSAL BİR ARAŞTIRMA

The perception of space has important reflections on modern architecture, and modern architecture, unlike traditional architecture, is designed based on shelter rather than life. Traditional space, as a difference from modern space perception, refers to a place where people are calm and find peace. Contrary to the shelters produced by current housing policies, traditional spaces are places where tranquility is experienced deeply, and people grasp their reality with all its dimensions. The main purpose of this study is to question the relationship of human existence with space in terms of welfare state housing policies. Another aim of the research is to draw attention to the contrast between traditional space, where life continues with all its serenity, and modern space, which is only a shelter today, and to the different conceptions of life that continue in these places. For this purpose, the research has tried to determine the divergence points of the traditional space perception and the understanding of space of the welfare state housing policies. In this study, which was designed as conceptual analysis, the subject tried to be grounded by comparing the traditional space concept and the concept of space in the modern welfare state perception.

A home for all within planetary boundaries: Pathways for meeting England's housing needs without transgressing national climate and biodiversity goals

Secure housing is core to the Sustainable Development Goals and a fundamental human right. However, potential conflicts between housing and sustainability objectives remain under-researched. We explore the impact of current English government housing policy, and alternative housing strategies, on national carbon and biodiversity goals. Using material flow and land use change/biodiversity models, we estimate from 2022 to 2050 under current policy housing alone would consume 104% of England's cumulative carbon budget (2.6/2.5Gt [50% chance of < 1.5 °C]); 12% from the construction and operation of newbuilds and 92% from the existing stock. Housing expansion also potentially conflicts with England's biodiversity targets. However, meeting greater housing need without rapid housing expansion is theoretically possible. We review solutions including improving affordability by reducing demand for homes as financial assets, macroprudential policy, expanding social housing, and reducing underutilisation of floor-space. Transitioning to housing strategies which slow housing expansion and accelerate low-carbon retrofits would achieve lower emissions, but we show that they face an unfavourable political economy and structural economic barriers.

Government policy and social housing. Dangers and opportunities in the Bill

The debate about current housing policy tends, like so much else in British politics, to be dominated by arguments from two opposing forces: free market individualism on the right, and state socialism on the left. The co-operative voice is caught in the middle, and for the most part is continually drowned out. This is not because it is the voice of ‘centre party politics’ (though the centre parties have been sympathetic to it); when taken seriously, the co-operative philosophy is simply too radical to be contained in any conventional continuum between right and left. It has been drowned out partly because the left in Britain, unlike that of many other countries, has been incorrigibly statist and unsympathetic to co-operative socialism, and partly because the right, sensing this weakness in the philosophy of the left, continually tries to assimilate the co‑operative belief in mutual aid to the rhetoric of market-based ‘self-help’. This paper reviews the implications on the Housing Bill 1988.

A pathway for parking in line with the Paris Agreement

Current European parking policies do not seem to steer towards a future where urban transport meets the climate goals. Prominent in current housing and parking policies are the so-called minimum parking standards. Recent research has shown that they contribute to increased car use and consequently to higher CO2 emissions. This is because they contribute to urban sprawl, extensive land use, increased housing and infrastructure construction costs, and that they restrict the number of flats per urban land unit. Other recent research shows that the construction of underground garages causes considerable CO2 emissions. This paper is based on previous research on the development of the transport sector to be in line with climate targets (i.e., the Paris Agreement). It intends to fill a research gap regarding how parking management can be designed to be consistent with these targets. Through a future study approach with Stockholm as a case example, this paper illustrates a policy shift in parking policies considered to be in line with national climate targets. The article presents concrete indicators to quantify the scope of change needed (e.g., removing 60,000 residential parking spaces and providing vehicle sharing with 7,500 cars and at least 7,500 bikes). The focus shift goes from providing physical parking spaces to providing satisfactory mobility and accessibility. We outline a pathway towards a future scenario of parking and mobility in Stockholm, with a combination of mobility services, parking restrictions (e.g., cap on parking spaces, removal of minimum parking standards), and citizen participation. The pathway is also analysed regarding equity, feasibility, and acceptance.

A Review on Housing Policy and Practices in Malaysia in Providing Access to Housing: Are they adequate?

Drawing on Malaysia as the case study, the objective of this paper is to examine whether the current housing policy and practices in Malaysia are adequate in providing housing opportunities among young people. Utilising the Participatory Action Research (PAR) and the Delphi Technique, this study involved observation and in-depth interviews with key informants in Greater Kuala Lumpur. Two key themes emerged that contributed to the deficiency of housing policy and practices in Malaysia and suggest the development of comprehensive housing policies to address the issue of housing as one of the principles of human rights and improve the quality of life. Keywords: Housing policy; housing practice; young people; housing opportunities eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i19.3216

Exploring housing policies in five Swedish municipalities: alternatives and priorities

IntroductionHousing shortage due to population growth within metropolitan areas, combined with an ageing population, has put pressure on current housing provision in Sweden. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop sustainable housing policies to accommodate the growing number of seniors in accessible home environments. This study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of how municipalities currently address housing accessibility issues and to explore what types of policy solutions they consider for the future.Material and methodsFive Swedish municipalities were selected to represent a diversity of the population, housing provision approaches, and geographical areas. To understand current housing policies, two key actors (e.g. public officials, housing adaptation grant managers, city architects, etc.) from each municipality participated in semi-structured interviews (N = 10). Subsequently, those key actors, two senior citizens, and three researchers participated in a research circle to explore future policy solutions. Data were analyzed using content analysis.ResultsThe interviews revealed common approaches to deal with housing accessibility issues such as regular renovations and maintenance, individual adaptations based on specific needs, and seeking collaboration with private housing actors on housing provision matters. Possible measures suggested for the future included increasing the national coordination of housing accessibility policies, amending legislation to only allow the construction of housing according to strengthened accessibility standards, and introducing economic incentives for seniors to move from housing with poor accessibility to more accessible accommodations.ConclusionsMunicipalities struggle with the lack of accessible and affordable housing for their ageing population, despite a large variety of policies from economic incentives to research and development policies. The results suggest that collaboration needs to be improved between all actors involved in housing policies. Preventive measures within the current laws may be needed to strengthen the construction of more accessible and affordable housing for populations ageing in place.

청년주거위기 극복을 위한 주거소비지표 도출 및 AHP(Analytic Hierarchy Analysis) 분석을 통한 기존세대와의 비교 연구

Housing polity is being strengthened for housing stability of the middle class and low-income classes, and various alternatives are being proposed to secure an general housing safety policy. In housing policy, policy efforts to improve the housing welfare of older generation households are steadily being made. However, youth generation with serious housing problems must solve their housing problems on their own. In addition, they do not receive sufficient support from the current housing policies and remain as a housing-vulnerable class. In this study, the housing consumption indicator is derived to overcome the youth housing crisis, and the residential characteristics demanded by the youth are identified through comparison with the older generation. For this, the study derives relevant indicators that can identify the housing characteristics of youth generation, and compares the difference and importance with the older generation. While the older generation gives priority to ｢Housing Environment｣, the youth generation recognizes ｢Economic Environment｣ as a priority. It is judged that the improvement of the housing environment and specific support in economic terms is necessary for the stable housing consumption of youth generation.

Reasoning About Life Transitions in Relation to Perceived Housing: In-Depth Data From Sweden

The accessibility and suitability of housing to improve health and well-being for the growing share of older adults in the population has important policy implications. Yet, current housing policies tend to neglect the heterogeneity of older adults housing needs which vary across age, health, and personal preferences. Little is known about how life transitions in combination with perceived housing relates to good aging. This qualitative study aims to explore the relationship between perceived housing, life transitions, well-being, health, and participation in older age. Participants were community-dwelling and aged 65-75 years. All participants reported multiple transitions considered as important for the way they viewed their housing situation and social relationships as well as for the choices they made around their housing. The findings from this project may be used to develop health promotion programs that proactively support housing decisions along the process of ageing and enable full participation in society.

Post-neoliberal housing policy? Disentangling recent reforms in New York, Berlin and Vienna

In cities worldwide, the housing question has returned. As demands and proposals by housing movements have grown bolder, city governments are implementing new policies, ranging from small tweaks to major overhauls. This paper takes a close look at New York City, Berlin and Vienna, assessing their current housing policy landscapes. We evaluate to what extent those cities’ recent housing reforms depart from the dominant, neoliberal policy landscape of recent decades and can be categorized as ‘post-neoliberal’. We do so through the criteria of affordability, decommodification and democratization. The three selected cities display varying histories of housing systems and neoliberalization, enabling us to search for post-neoliberal policies in three distinct institutional contexts. We find a common pattern across cases: recent reforms have improved affordability and dampened hyper-commodification, but little has been done to address the democratization of housing and planning systems. By way of conclusion, we discuss some of the structural factors that impede attempts at developing a genuinely post-neoliberal transformation of local housing policies.

Housing and Homelessness in Indigenous Communities of Canada’s North

ABSTRACT A disproportionate number of Indigenous people are homeless in Canada—a situation that is particularly grave in Canada’s North. This study assesses the extent of the current housing and homelessness problem and identifies contributing factors in the Tłıchǫ region of the Northwest Territories (NWT). It concludes that the housing and homelessness issue is severe, with one of the four communities in the region—Behchokǫ̀—being the site with the most persistent and longstanding concerns. It asserts that the territorial government’s housing approach in the Tłıchǫ region fails to align with the best practice model employed for Indigenous housing in remote geographies. The study elaborates on how multiple, interrelated factors, such as ongoing impacts of Canada’s colonial past and welfare system, sociocultural shifts within the Indigenous community, the constraints of a remote geography, and past and current housing policies, contribute to housing insecurity and homelessness. The study also offers some potential solutions and recommendations to deal with this crucial housing issue.

Business model innovation and scalability in hybrid affordable housing organisations: empirical insights and conceptual reflections from Melbourne, Australia

Under pressure from fiscal austerity measures, rapidly rising housing prices and growing wealth disparities, cities are increasingly unable to meet the need for affordable and accessible housing for their citizens. Across many regions, including Australia, the UK, the US and much of mainland Europe, responsibility for the delivery of this housing is being devolved from the government to cross-sectoral partnerships between state, for-profit and not-for-profit actors. At the same time, access to affordable housing in many of these regions has drastically declined. New partnerships, models of delivery and governance structures are emerging in this context, often conceptualized through the lens of organizational hybridity. While literature has substantially unpacked the overarching trend towards organizational hybridity, it hasn’t examined the business models that make this possible. In this paper, we argue that understanding the governance arrangements and partnerships, target populations, prioritization of social and economic values and institutional frameworks within which housing is delivered can elucidate the capacity (or lack thereof) for housing projects and organizations to scale. Understanding these business models reveals the strategies that are currently privileged or constrained in current housing policy, the residents most likely to benefit from existing housing delivery and the pathways that may allow for the scaling of housing solutions.

Affordable Housing For the Middle-Income Group in Malaysia

One of the most fundamental human needs is a house. While urbanization occurs tremendously in the cities of Malaysia, the middle-income groups living in the urban areas are facing greater challenges in house ownership. The middle-income households continuously experience issues of affordability, access to finance and availability. This paper presents a study on the delivery system of affordable housing. In this study, an assessment of affordable housing delivery system was conducted by examining the urban middle-income group in relation to the process of affordable housing provision. The study therefore aims at examining the current affordable housing policies and delivery system, with the focus on the middle-income group, which concentrates on assessing house buyers’ experience and perception in relation to the practice of providing affordable housing for the middle-income. Using a mixed-method approach, the study employs a quantitative and a qualitative technique in conducting the study. A case study approach was exercised by means of investigating the PR1MA Corporation and SPNB as case studies. Results demonstrated that there are many constraints in the delivery system from the qualitative analysis and the respondents’ perspective. The experience by the house buyers can be useful for authorities and other providers in the future development.

Polityka mieszkaniowa w kontekście kształtowania ładu przestrzennego w Polsce. Poziom centralny, regionalny i lokalny

The aim of this paper is to analyse the current housing policy in Poland in terms of its influence on spatial order. The author discusses the relationship between housing policy and spatial order, as well as housing policy instruments that can contribute to shaping spatial order. The article presents the results of a quantitative study of documents and a qualitative study of selected housing complexes in Katowice, Warsaw and Wrocław treated as an outcome of the general state housing policy.

서울 대도시권의 1인 가구 주거이동 및 유입지역 특성 분석 : 직업과 주택 요인을 중심으로

As one-person households become the major type of households, the current housing policies try to introduce appropriate measures incorporating such changes in the demographic structure. One-person households can be characterized as having different motivations for migration and their migration characteristics vary by age group. Against this backdrop, this study aims to identify the spatial distribution characteristics of one-person households by age group, analyze migration patterns by two major migration motivations, jobs or housing, and identify influential factors for residential mobility at the Eup · Myeon · Dong level in the Seoul metropolitan area. Using 2018 migration data from the MicroData Integrated Service (MDIS), we conducted multiple regressions to identify major determinants of migration with the inflow of one-person households as a dependent variable and variables related to population, housing, employment, and infra accessibility as independent variables. The results confirm that a much higher share of one-person households migrate for jobs compared to multi-member households, many of which migrate for housing. Better economic environments with more job opportunities attract one-person households, especially young adults. Meanwhile, the current housing policy targeting one-person households appears to be effective, attracting those who migrate for housing.

Bringing the Harm Home: The Quest for Home Ownership and the Amplification of Social Harm

ABSTRACT The article contributes to the debate about the centrality of home ownership in conceptualising and understanding the contemporary political economy through the introduction of a social harm framework. It demonstrates how the focus on social harm offers a more holistic view of the harmful consequences of the privileging of home ownership within the context of political economy. It does so, firstly, by demonstrating the negative medium- and long-term social harms of current housing policies in the UK, namely financial/economic harm, cultural safety and physical, emotional and psychological harms. Secondly, it is possible to draw attention to these harms for individuals or groups that seemingly believe, or are commonly seen to have, benefited from the current structure of home ownership in the UK. And thirdly, it highlights the transformative potential of the social harm approach in terms of developing an alternative to the current variety of residential capitalism in the UK.