Recent Housing Policy Research Articles

Getting to effective housing policy for health: a thematic synthesis of policy development and implementation

ABSTRACT Impacts of housing on health are well-recognised. Despite this, housing standards have been neglected and there are gaps in healthy housing policies, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Given the recent publication of the WHO Housing and health guidelines, and the need to implement these into policy at all scales, we carried out a focused search and thematic synthesis of available literature on the barriers and enablers to recent housing and health policy. We aimed to generate lessons of what works to support healthy housing policy development and implementation elsewhere. Twenty-three studies representing four countries were eligible for inclusion and covered housing-related risks of air quality, lead, accessible design, and housing conditions. Findings demonstrated that policy development and implementation were facilitated through awareness of housing and health, evidence of existing housing conditions and health impacts, collaborations across sectors and between residents and decision-makers and effective enforcement systems that employed incentives, tools such as certificates for compliance, and housing inspections. Concerns about economic viability and tensions between housing rights and responsibilities limited healthy housing policy for the ‘common good’. Despite limitations in the diversity of available evidence, this thematic synthesis provides a starting point for healthy and equitable housing for all.

The Limits of Limited Equity Cooperatives: Opportunities and Obstacles to Increasing Black Homeownership and Decreasing the Racial Wealth Gap in Washington D.C.

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on recent governmental initiatives in Washington, D.C. to bolster the long-term physical and financial viability of its limited-equity cooperative housing stock. Drawing on in-depth interviews with members of the DC Limited Equity Cooperative Taskforce, it interrogates the relationship between recent municipal housing policy and the growing asset-based racial wealth gap. The findings indicate that limited-equity cooperatives provide myriad benefits to their residents, yet ultimately fail to curb systemic limitations on black wealth in the property market and rectify historical patterns of racial disparity in the distribution of governmental resources. This paper argues that policy makers must proactively assess how new models of shared equity homeownership affect or even perpetuate racial disparities in wealth and continuously interrogate the structural impacts of affordable housing policy on the (re)distribution of resources in urban centers.

Planned Socio-Spatial Fragmentation: The Normalisation of Gated Communities in Two Mexican Metropolises

Mexican metropolises, like many others in Latin America, are facing complex challenges connected to rapid urbanisation and population growth. Local governments struggle to provide the necessary infrastructure, housing, security, and basic services in a highly divided—socially and spatially—urban realm. Socio-spatial fragmentation in cities like Guadalajara and Puebla has existed since their foundations in the 16th century, as planning guidelines in the <em>Laws of the Indies</em> established differentiated rules for Spaniards and indigenous people. However, in recent decades, neoliberal planning and housing policy reforms, the consolidation of the real estate market, growing crime and violence, and socioeconomic disparities have contributed to more tangible forms of planned socio-spatial fragmentation, such as gated communities. This work discusses how policies and social practices have led to the normalisation of these fortified enclaves in the metropolises of Guadalajara and Puebla, whose capital cities are preparing to celebrate their 500th anniversaries in a context of conflict, loss of shared space, insecurity, and social inequalities. The work is based on a comprehensive review of national and local planning and housing policies, a historical and cartographic analysis of neighbourhood development, and qualitative research in Puebla over a decade, along with similar work in Guadalajara in the last couple of years. The relevance of this work lies in identifying the role of planning in the production of fragmented urban structures and visualising the possibilities for more inclusive solutions.

Shifting domesticities: recent social housing practices and policies in Spain

Instances of crisis have always marked pivotal moments in housing design, acting as catalysts for re-evaluating models and practices and bringing forth systemic changes already latent in the discipline. Such revelation of hidden latencies is a characteristic phenomenon of today's housing panorama, influenced by factors such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the imperative shift toward ecological sustainability, and a growing discourse prompting the reconsideration of the human body at both individual and social levels. This article delves into such a system of adjustments within the contextualised case of Spanish social housing. It does so by focusing on two complementary sources. Firstly, recent shifts in housing policies, encompassing new regulations, programs, legal frameworks, and urban strategies; and secondly, a selection of projects emerging from competitions and new developments that either anticipate or result from these policy changes, introducing innovative design devices working on the following fronts: (1) the presence of nature and open space, interpreted as a fundamental element for social comfort related with broader ecological concerns, (2) a heterogeneous and complex articulation of in-between collective spaces, responding to emerging trends around the concept of sharing, and (3) the reconceptualization of the traditional core of interior private space, namely the kitchen, which in turn raises important questions on gender equality and care. Analysing the ever-evolving interplay between policies and practices, theories and projects, will reveal that the multifaceted crises of recent decades have played a pivotal role in shaping a redefined understanding of domestic spaces. Most significantly, this reinterpretation goes beyond addressing environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, placing a great emphasis on social innovation within and beyond the home, inside and outside the building.

Acceptance and transformation of the housing “ladder” in slum resettlement projects in Colombo, Sri Lanka

AbstractThis study focuses on the Sustainable Township Development Programme, a slum resettlement project that represents a recent housing policy shift in Sri Lanka. Through the actual housing improvement activities of the residents of Sahaspura, a resettlement housing complex, and the slum residents in the surrounding area, the response of the beneficiaries to the housing “ladder” was clarified. Policy makers and planners intended to merge slum dwellers into the formal housing market through the provision of “ladders,” a set of regular ownership and dwelling units in Sahaspura. However, residents have responded in a variety of ways, including house extensions and renovations and informal housing transactions according to their daily needs. As a result, the original intention of the planners was distorted and the “ladder” was incorporated into the indigenous housing market in the slum, revealing a “transformation” from legal tenure to de facto tenure. Factors contributing to this transformation include the location of resettlement sites near urban areas, the looseness of housing environment management, the possibility of choosing the multiple form of tenure, and the existence of actors and social relations that guarantee access to land.

세종시 출범 이후 수도권과 충청권 주택 가격변동의 연계성 분석

This study proposed the answers of the following questions: have housing markets in Chungcheong province been dependent on those in Seoul since the establishment of Sejong or the other around? and how have a spillover effect of housing price fluctuations among districts in Chungcheong been? The results were as follows. Since the start of Sejong, housing markets in Chungcheong including Sejong have formed different ones from Seoul and been influenced more by Gyeonggi than by Seoul. Housing price fluctuations of Chungcheong proved to play an important role in those of Daejeon. The price fluctuations of Daejeon had a larger impact on those of Chungcheong than the metropolitan province did. The fluctuations of Sejong had a little influence on those of Chungcheong relatively. It also was an evidence that the housing markets in Chungcheong were different from those in Seoul. Recent housing policies concentrated on demand reduction to stabilize housing prices in metropolitan areas as well as Seoul. The housing supply rate was over 100% in non-metropolitan regions, but under 100% in metropolitan ones. If restrictions against the non-metropolitan is the same as the metropolitan, it is likely to shrink the housing demand and distort the housing market in the non-metropolitan. In terms of conditions of the both regions, policy discrimination of the metropolitan from the non-metropolitan is expected on the basis of consideration of the housing markets in the non-metropolitan.

Residential experiences and satisfaction of public housing renters in Beijing, China: A before-after relocation assessment

The rapid expansion of affordable housing programs in Chinese cities in the past decade has attracted growing scholarly interest from various disciplines. However, little research has assessed the performance of these programs from the perspective of beneficiary families. Using Beijing as a case study, we investigate changes in the residential experiences of renters who recently moved into public rental housing projects, and how such experiences affect their residential satisfaction. Supported by a quasi-longitudinal survey and qualitative interviews, we find that satisfaction is less determined about the dwelling itself than the improved sense of stability, independence, and security that public rental housing offers to low-income households. This research offers a microlevel perspective for evaluating the recent affordable housing policy in China and a comparative lens for understanding the residential experiences of affordable housing renters in developing countries.

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.

A critical perspective on policies for informal settlements in Portugal

While informal settlements in Portugal are not a recent phenomenon, planning and housing policy responses and results have been inconsistent. In 2012, the Amadora Municipality, within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, resurrected the PER (Special Rehousing Programme), which was first launched in 1993 to remove informal settlements and rehouse inhabitants. This paper offers a critical analysis of the objectives, practices and results of the programme in Amadora and, particularly, regarding Bairro 6 de Maio, where most people were evicted without being relocated. It will discuss how informal settlement policies have been applied in Portugal over the past century and assess the New National Housing Policy, showing that integrated, effective policies regarding informal settlements are still lacking. The findings will suggest a change of the approach in addressing the phenomenon in order to guarantee the right to housing and to the city for inhabitants.

Recent Housing Policy Trends and Research Issues

Recent Housing Policy Trends and Research Issues

POLÍTICA HABITACIONAL RURAL E MORADIA CAMPONESA NO MARANHÃO

Este texto analisa as limitacoes e consequencias de politicas publicas locais quando se utilizam de programas nacionais pensados a partir de outras realidades socioespaciais. Tal analise parte de pesquisa da recente politica habitacional rural do Governo do Maranhao, que, inspirada no Plano Nacional de Habitacao Rural (PNHR), integra o plano estadual de desenvolvimento de municipios com baixo indice de desenvolvimento humano (IDH), buscando enfrentar o grave quadro das moradias precarias do Estado. Sob a otica da divisao social do trabalho e da lei do desenvolvimento desigual e combinado, a primeira secao analisa os dispares resultados regionais do PNHR para, em seguida, contextualizar a realidade do campones maranhense, que, vivendo a margem do sistema economico, pratica o extrativismo e tem a moradia como forma de sobrevivencia. Com base nas especificidades do deficit habitacional rural do estado e fundamentada em pesquisa nos povoados selecionados pelo programa, a terceira secao avalia os processos de producao e apropriacao da moradia pelas familias contempladas, constatando o nao atendimento das metas fisicas e sociais da proposta. Conclui que incompativel com os modos de vida e praticas tradicionais de autoconstrucao, o programa contraria metas de desenvolvimento local e nao contribui para a afirmacao cultural de grupos sociais marginalizados, grande presenca populacional no Estado. Palavras Chave: Politica habitacional rural; moradia camponesa; Maranhao/Brasil

Wohnungspolitik in der Krise des Neoliberalismus in Berlin und Wien

Against the backdrop of rising housing problems and protests, the comparative paper asks to what extent a paradigmatic shift in housing policies towards greater decommodification of housing has been initiated in Berlin and Vienna. Recent housing policies in both cities are discussed and evaluated with reference to the emerging debate about post-neoliberalism in housing.

Delivering Social Housing: An Overview of the Housing Crisis in Dublin

This paper explores the responses to the housing crisis in Dublin, Ireland, by analysing recent housing policies promoted to prevent family homelessness. I argue that private rental market subsides have played an increasing role in the provision of social housing in Ireland. Instead of policies that facilitate the construction of affordable housing or the direct construction of social housing, current housing policies have addressed the social housing crisis by encouraging and relying excessively on the private market to deliver housing. The housing crisis has challenged governments to increase the social housing supply, but the implementation of a larger plan to deliver social housing has not been effective, as is evidenced by the rapid decline of both private and social housing supply and the increasing number of homeless people in Dublin

The role of “Minha casa, minha vida” program in the cities building process: the configurational perspective

Resumo A literatura aponta a fragmentação espacial caracterizada pela “colcha de retalhos” como uma das feições mais marcantes das cidades brasileiras. Considerando que a política habitacional recente, ao disponibilizar vultosos recursos para a construção de moradias por meio do Programa Minha Casa Minha Vida (PMCMV), vem impactando substancialmente as estruturas urbanas, seja pela expansão ou consolidação do tecido, explora-se neste artigo a relação entre o programa e a produção do espaço urbano, na perspectiva configuracional. Utilizando-se do aparato teórico, metodológico e ferramental advindo da Sintaxe Espacial ou Teoria da Lógica Social do Espaço, analisam-se os empreendimentos contratados pelo PMCMV por meio do Fundo de Arrendamento Residencial – FAR em 24 capitais estaduais brasileiras, de modo a compreender, a partir da análise comparativa em caráter exploratório, em que medida esses empreendimentos impactam o tecido urbano, em termos relacionais. A hipótese a ser testada é de que as novas áreas impulsionadas pelo PMCMV seguem a mesma tendência de fragmentação do tecido identificada em cidades brasileiras, reforçando a segregação sócio espacial existente. No entanto, os achados apontaram um cenário heterogêneo, verificando que não se deve reputar ao programa, de forma generalizada, a piora no quadro de fragmentação/dispersão do tecido, que vem sendo uma característica das cidades do país há décadas.

Bounded political contestation: the domestic translation of international health and housing rights in Australia

ABSTRACTPolitical contestation within liberal democratic states is an important, albeit limited, guide in defining how these states domestically implement their international human rights obligations. While often ritualistically endorsing human rights standards, political actors allow themselves a limited policy space with their domestic political contest circumscribed by more pervasive influences, often at odds with the state's international commitments. This article examines recent health and housing policy initiatives by Australia's two major political parties and assesses them against its international commitments. Applying a social constructivist approach, this article argues that the dominant neoliberal political discourse and the state's institutional structure set contextual boundaries to the parties’ policy contestation and reveal the limited influence of domestic political contestation in determining Australia's rights implementation.

Abitare la crisi nella periferia contemporanea: attese, occupazioni e idee di futuro ai margini della città di Milano

In the Italian context, buying a house is considered one of the most important social, economic, and cultural investment in people’s lives. Local, regional and national policies tend to transmit and reinforce the idea that house represents a source of economic and psychological stability and it offers the possibility to project a good future. Nevertheless, the recent economic crisis has not only brought down the housing market, but also made it more difficult to be able to support the economic weight of rent. The article, through the reconstruction of lives and working stories of some Milanese peripheral inhabitants, shows, on the one hand, the creativity in the production of new tactics to housing access; on the other, it shows the sense of nostalgia of the marginal inhabitants of the city. We identified in a useful key to understanding the various biographies and experiences analyzed. Moreover, we point out that in its meanings of pause, suspension and break, but also of expectation, hope and prospect, represents a recurring element that gives a structural dimension to the risk of dispersion emerging from biographical narratives. The article, through ethnographic analysis, shows possible paths that people create from the moment they find themselves without a home to when they critically reflect on their experiences. The aim of our analysis is to show how wait produces a structured and structuring feature into recent Italian housing policies and how it creates imaginaries and strategies in the context of the Milanese outskirts.

Ecological Approaches to an Age-Friendly Portland and Multnomah County

ABSTRACTResearchers at Portland State University's Institute on Aging (IOA) conducted Portland's age-friendly baseline assessment as part of the original 2006–2007 World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Age-Friendly Cities Project. This article describes the ongoing Portland and Multnomah County age-friendly initiatives, using Menec et al.'s (2011) ecological framework to highlight the interplay between people and environments (i.e., physical, social, and service environments). An overview is provided of Portland's age-friendly community-based research, the evolution and role of the Advisory Council, as well as recent housing policies that have been developed through university-community partnerships.

Future directions for social housing in NSW: new opportunities for ‘place’ and ‘community’ in public housing renewal

ABSTRACTLarge scale Estate Renewal Projects (ERPs) have been a prominent feature of recent public housing policy in Australia. These projects are often presented as an urban panacea intended to solve the social and asset challenges that have left estates as neighbourhoods of ‘concentrated disadvantage’. Communities Plus, a component of the recent Future Directions for Social Housing in NSW policy represents a recommitment to place based ERPs. These plans include a broad range of social and physical environment interventions that “create opportunities for innovation through partnership”. Past research has sought to understand the impact of social mix policies. Or have championed an idealistic agenda for urban design and renewal. This research establishes a nuanced understanding of how conceptions of ‘community’ and ‘place’ are deployed by stakeholders to navigate social housing renewal by approaching ERPs from three directions: lived experience, discourse and spatial form. The article draws on interviews, place audits, and participant led photographic surveys from two Sydney ERPs to argue that estate renewal is a complex and often site-specific undertaking. Deployed sensitively, Communities Plus may have significant potential to ensure equitable renewal of NSW’s social housing estates.

User-based design for inclusive urban transformation: learning from ‘informal’ and ‘formal’ dwelling practices in Guayaquil, Ecuador

In Latin American cities, modes of housing and settlement production are rapidly shifting with city-making becoming an increasingly unequal process. While the Latin American region was once a cradle for ground-breaking research on incremental urban development, more recent housing policies have radically disengaged from incremental dwelling typologies and socially engaged design practices. Taking a people-centred approach, this article documents the ways in which urban dwellers contribute to the production of the urban environment in Guayaquil, the largest city of Ecuador. Grounded in an intensive case study methodology, the inquiry focuses on the ways in which users resourcefully transform, adapt or contest space at the micro and the meso scales in both consolidated low-income settlements and state-led resettlement housing projects, most commonly present in the consolidating city of Guayaquil today. On this basis, the study examines how and to what extent spontaneously produced dwelling environments may inform new formal housing arrangements in the city and vice versa. It reflects on key principles for a new set of housing policies and design strategies suggesting the cultivation of a ‘variety of choices’ and draws attention to user-based design and housing mechanisms that foster inclusive urban transformation.

What Pushes Up China’s Urban Housing Price So High?

Since the housing reform in 1998, real housing prices in China’s urban areas have increased 60 percent, much faster than the growth rate of disposable income. Consequently, the price-income ratio rose from 7.11 in 1998 to 15.37 in 2012, indicating a dramatic decrease in housing affordability. This article first describes the skyrocketing of China’s urban housing prices. It then discusses factors that led to the soaring housing prices, including institutional, cultural, and economic factors. Finally, the article examines recent government housing policies and their effectiveness. The article argues that removing the local government’s double monopoly powers and replacing taxes and fees at transactions with property taxes during possession could better control China’s fast growing housing price.