State Housing Policy Research Articles

Wasted Whiteness: The Racial Politics of the Stoner Film

Wasted Whiteness: The Racial Politics of the Stoner Film

New York State Housing Policy in Postwar New York City

In postwar New York State, a powerful partnership among state government, the private sector, and quasi-public authorities resulted in the development of thousands of units of high-density middle-income housing located in New York City and a much smaller amount in other New York State cities. This housing was intended to counterbalance affordable suburban homes that were luring the middle class out of the city. This article describes this initiative and focuses on the contributions made by Nelson A. Rockefeller, governor of New York State between 1959 and 1973. The state made creative use of bond financing and public benefit corporations, raising capital with unsecured moral obligation bonds. New York State’s housing finance mechanisms facilitated a model of housing development that was prescient in its insistence on melding public and private, which is now the dominant strategy for affordable housing development in the United States.

HOUSING: FROM NIGHT WATCHMAN STATE TO WELFARE STATE

This paper illustrates and evaluates some of the features of the Danish and European research of the history of housing policy and relates these to the main results and perspectives in the author's doctoral thesis ‘Housing: From Night Watchman State to Welfare State – Construction and Housing Policy in three Danish Towns, 1850–1930’, 2006. The paper argues that the roots of the welfare state's housing policy are to be found in the far more prominent part which the public sector got to play in the Danish society as a result of the crises following World War I and the conjunctural repercussions throughout the 1920s.

State innovations in affordable housing policy: Lessons from California and New Jersey

Decades of diminishing federal leadership and support for affordable housing policy have opened up a gap in public response to housing needs. Filling this gap is critical if the long‐held goal of decent (and affordable) housing for every American is to be honored and communities are to thrive. This article investigates state governments in an era of federal retreat by examining the factors associated with innovations in housing policy in California and New Jersey, two reputed leaders in state housing policy. We collected data through interviews with key informants, as well as from meetings, reports, public documents, agency records, and other secondary sources. Our analysis indicates that state innovations in housing policy are influenced by bureaucratic (internal) factors, such as funding and agency structure, and by environmental (external) factors, such as local autonomy and interest group activity. We conclude with the policy and research implications of our findings.

Relocating the Master’s Domain: Social and Legal Locations of Gender from Post-Disaster to Everyday Life

The post-disaster situation provides an insight into the role of rights in the relocation of social and legal spheres and the location of gender within. Grounded in four years of empirical research in the post-earthquake reconstruction process in Maharashtra, India, this article traces the World Bank and state government policy to relocate 52,000 houses and 67 villages. Lorde’s (1996) analogy of ‘the master’s house’ provides a metaphor for the location of women within the patriarchal architecture of the private and public sphere, which I relate to discourses of place and space and the local and global. Drawing upon feminist and post-colonial perspectives, this article challenges the essentialist binary locations of women within public and private domains of rights constructed within the World Bank and state housing policy, the public and private legal system and informal to alternative spheres of social and legal relations. Alternative women’s meetings, street protests and gatherings at the village to international fora intersect and disrupt the boundary walls to relocate women across social and legal spheres. This experience provides the possibility of ultimately becoming the master of the relocation of social and local domains and one’s location within.

“The Right to a Home”

Between 1946 and 1955, Juan Perón's government built more houses for the most impoverished sectors of Argentina society than ever before. This article explores the articulation of the state housing policy with the experience of the inhabitants who received homes built by the Peronist state. In a sense, the houses were a testing lab for new ways of daily life. Their inhabitants frequently experienced in only a few years a transition that usually demanded decades. The family model shifted from the traditional family to the nuclear model, maintaining the traditional roles of the male provider and the female dedicated to motherhood and home. Using oral testimony, this analysis highlights the connection between politics and individual experience at a microhistoriographical level, allowing for the contextualization of Peronist public housing policies and analyzing the continuities with their predecessors as well as the way in which they channeled contradictory political ideologies and architectural sensibilities.

Opportunities and Constraints in State Housing Policy: The Example of Tasmania's ‘Affordable Housing Strategy’

The lack of Commonwealth government funds for public housing has encouraged state governments across Australia to develop ‘Affordable Housing Strategies’ to address the problems that result from the shortage of housing available for low-income households. However, to date there has been limited discussion of the implications of these affordable housing strategies and their significance as a form of policy intervention. This article highlights the Tasmanian Government's ‘Affordable Housing Strategy’ as a case study to illustrate the obstacles that confront state housing policy makers. These include difficulties in securing partnerships with the private sector, an inability to influence macro-economic policy settings, fluctuations in the property market cycle and a reliance on small and uncertain budgetary allocations. However, there is limited scope to address some of the problems that have undermined previous state and Territory housing policy initiatives by reaching agreements with local government to ease planning controls for social housing, boosting the capacity of the community housing sector and using additional budgets judiciously.

Institutions of Nonprofit Credit in the Housing Sphere

The article considers new forms of the state housing policy. The author argues to establish the federal special fund to support housing mortgage debtors, to complete Tax Code of the Russian Federation with preferences for such debtors, housing cooperatives and their members.

Rehousing and Refinancing Russia: Creating Access to Affordable Mortgaging

THE HOUSING SECTOR PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE in every country's economy, acting as a potential tool for sustaining and promoting overall welfare and development. In Russia, however, housing investment constitutes only 3-4% of GDP. As a result the housing sector, and its financing, require urgent restructuring in order to cope with the depreciation of stock and infrastructure networks that has resulted from a dependence on public subsidisation. Indeed, the large-scale and pervasive under-pricing of inputs in what is collectively referred to as the 'housing and communal sector' generates problems with maintaining financial viability in both the provision of housing and utility services, further encouraging flows of subsidy transfers.1 The impact of high subsidies is reflected in the fact that Russian households on average spend only about 6% of their income on housing and utility services, a figure much lower than in the transition countries of Eastern Europe.2 Local governments continue to assume prime responsibility for the housing and communal sector, managing and maintaining virtually all of the housing stock.3 Numerous housing reform initiatives have been introduced during the past decade, all with the intention of moving this sector to a more market-oriented system. All households located in state and municipally owned multi-apartment blocks became the subjects of this reform, as residents were granted the right to privatise free of charge the flat they were occupying.4 Most crucially, it was assumed that together with this transfer of ownership title the new owners would take over the management and maintenance of the housing stock." However, no real incentives have existed for households to privatise, as rents and utilities are highly subsidised, and housing management and maintenance are still provided by municipal enterprises.6 When considering how to construct mechanisms for the resolution of this problem the development of a system of mortgage financing is integral. It embodies the utilisation of property rights by owners to reorganise their property and to exercise this right to benefit from any appreciation in the value of the property whilst taking on responsibility for the property itself. In the present housing structure the majority of the new middle class still live in mixed-tenure housing. If they privatise their flats they enjoy capital appreciation, while public finance takes responsibility for the fabric of the building. The provision of appropriate incentives, such as subsidised and accessible

Vivienda social y violencia intrafamiliar: una relación inquietante. ¿Una política social que genera nuevos problemas sociales?

This paper states that the present state policy for the production of social housing has had a low innovating profile and it needs and urgent radical improvement. This is due to the form in which the invitations to tenders for construction, applications and allocation is done. The characteristics of the participants remain stratified and this gives the impression that everything is in order and working well. Contrary to this is the negative social impact which the quality of the produced habitat has which confirms the need for a twist in state housing policies.

Efficiency and effectiveness of housing policies in the Central and Eastern Europe countries

The article provides the comparison of state housing policies in six selected Central and Eastern European countries. The description of the basic elements of policy approaches is followed by an analysis of both the efficiency and effectiveness of new supply- and demand-side subsidies. For this purpose the author set particular criteria allowing evaluation of subsidies. According to the results the most effective/efficient subsidies were implemented where general policy orientated towards the rental model was combined with decentralization/deregulation in the rental sector. The worst results appeared in countries where the same orientation of policy was not accompanied by decentralization/deregulation of rental housing. The factor of housing shortage may also influence the level of efficiency and effectiveness of public subsidies.

'To induce humanitarian sentiments in prurient Londoners': the Propaganda Activities of London's Voluntary Housing Associations in the Inter-war Period

During the inter-war period, voluntary housing associations built relatively few houses compared to the state. However, their efforts were directed less towards construction and more towards influencing debates and policies through research, education and propaganda. Through detailed case studies of the St Pancras Housing Improvement Society and the Kensington Housing Association, this paper argues that during the 1920s activists sought to influence debate and local housing policy in London. During the 1930s, when central government became more directly involved in housing provision, voluntary groups sought to promote the sector as a potential agent of state housing policy. In particular, voluntary associations promoted exhibitions as a way of drawing attention to the problems of poor housing and the need for new solutions. Through publicity seeking stunts and displays, notably associated with the New Homes for Old exhibitions, these associations continued to play a significant role in housing policy during the period.

Housing as a Social Right: Implications for Welfare State Theory

The article contributes to two central and interrelated discourses in welfare state theory and housing policy. One concerns the meaning of a ‘right to housing’, and the other concerns the meaning of the dichotomy ‘universal’–‘selective’ in housing policy. The right to housing is best seen as a political ‘marker of concern’ pointing out housing as an area for welfare state policy. The more precise meaning of the idea is always defined socially, in a specific national context of relations between state, citizen, and markets in housing provision. Two alternative interpretations of a right to housing are suggested, each related to a certain logic of housing provision. In a selective housing policy, the state provides a ‘protected’ complement to the general housing market, and the right to housing implies some legalistic minimum rights for households of lesser means. In a universal housing policy, the state provides correctives to the general housing market in order to make housing available to all types of households, and the right to housing is best seen as a social right in Marshall’s meaning of an obligation of the state towards society as a whole. The concepts of ‘universal’ and ‘selective’ may be applied to either the political discourse or the social outcome of policies. Furthermore, they may refer to different political levels (e.g. welfare state level, sector level, and policy instrument level). If the dichotomy is not specified in those two respects, the distinction between a universal and a selective policy will always be seriously blurred.

The association between state housing policy and lead poisoning in children.

This study examined the effect of an active program of household lead paint hazard abatement, applied over 22 years, on childhood lead poisoning in Massachusetts. A small areas analysis was used to compare screening blood lead levels of children in Worcester County, Mass (n = 27,590), with those in Providence County, RI (n = 19,071). Data were collapsed according to census tract. The percentage of children with lead poisoning (blood lead level > or = 20 micrograms/dL [Pe20]) was, on average, 3 times higher in Providence County census tracts (3.2% vs 0.9% in Worcester County census tracts, P < .0001), despite similar percentages of pre-1950s housing in both counties. The ratio of Pe20 in Providence vs Worcester County census tracts was 2.2 (95% confidence interval = 1.8, 2.7), after adjustment for differences in housing, sociodemographic, and screening characteristics. This estimate was robust to alternative regression methods and sensitivity analyses. Massachusetts policy, which requires lead paint abatement of children's homes and places liability for lead paint poisoning on property owners, may have substantially reduced childhood lead poisoning in that state.

Slipping through the Cracks: The Origins of Aided Self-help Housing, 1918-53

The history of aided self-help housing, that is, of housing built with state assistance by families for their own use, is largely unknown. There is a widespread misapprehensionthat such a policy was first discussed and practised during the 1960s, in the context of the Third World. In fact, it was adopted in the Soviet Union, and in many European nations and cities, notably Vienna and Stockholm, after the First World War. During the 1930s it was incorporated into homestead schemes, and praised, on both sides of the Atlantic. Then, for a time after the Second World War, it was widely debated and adopted in many of the more advanced industrial societies. Unlike public housing or market-oriented policies, aided self-help never had strong political or ideological associations. In one sense this was a strength: at different places and times, it was endorsed from all sides of the political spectrum. In other respects its detachment from parties and ideologies was a weakness. It was not promoted by any political constituency, and aroused opposition from the building industry and trades. At best aided self-help has sometimes filled, and at the worst it has slipped through, the cracks in state housing policy.

The State and Self-help Housing in Urban Finland, 1920 to 1950

This paper examines self-help housing and state housing policies in urban Finland from 1920 to 1950. In Finland self-help housing consisted primarily of self-building of one- and two-family houses. It is often assumed that self-building used to be the typical urban form of housing production. It was certainly the form that housing reformers preferred. However, most urban housing production was private speculative production. Self-building became relatively important only when other production was depressed. The state supported self-building by providing subsidised housing finance. Of the three successive housing finance systems examined, only the last concerned only self-building. The loan policies also included an attempt to control the quality and design of self-built housing. The policies were, however, so limited that they did not have a large impact on urban housing in normal times. In Finland, as in many other countries, the government's attitude towards self-building can be characterised as guarded support.

Late Modern

The Waning of ‘Old Corruption’: The Politics of Economical Reform in Britain, 1779–1846. By Philip Harling Realms of Memory: The Construction of the French Past. Volume 1: Conflicts and Divisions. Edited by Pierre Nora and Lawrence D. Kritzman A Jew in the French Revolution: The Life of Zalkind Hourwitz. By Frances Malino The Impact of Napoleon: Prussian High Politics, Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Executive, 1797–1806. By Brendan Simms Napoleon's Irish Legion. By John G. Gallaher The Dissenters. Volume II: The Expansion of Evangelical Nonconformity. By Michael R. Watts Fearful Realities: New Perspectives on the Famine. Edited By Chris Monash and Richard Hayes The Homicidal Earl: The Life of Lord Cardigan. By Saul David John Bull's Other Homes: State Housing and British Policy in Ireland, 1883–1922. By Murray Fraser A Kingdom on Earth: Anglo‐American Social Christianity, 1880–1940. By Paul T. Phillips Ernie O'Malley: IRA Intellectual. By Richard English Michael Collins: The Secret File. Edited by A. T. Q. Stewart The Life of Edvard Beneš 1884–1948: Czechoslovakia in Peace and War. By Zbynek Zeman with Antonin Klimek Futurism and Politics: Between Anarchist Rebellion and Fascist Reaction, 1909–1944. By Günter Berghaus His Father's Son: The Life of Randolph Churchill. By Winston S. Churchill What Happened Where: A Guide to Places and Events in Twentieth‐century History. By Chris Cook and Diccon Bewes From Belloc to Churchill: Private Scholars, Public Culture, and the Crisis of British Liberalism, 1900–1939. By Victor Feske The War from Within: German Working‐class Women in the First World War. By Ute Daniel The Great War 1914–1918. By Spencer C. Tucker The Irish Guards in the Great War: The First Battalion. By Rudyard Kipling Germany 1916–1941. By E. J. Feuchtwanger Mandate Days: British Lives in Palestine 1918–1948. By A. J. Sherman Pariahs, Partners, Predators: German–Soviet Relations, 1922–1941. By Aleksandr M. Nekrich The Struggle for Power: Russia in 1923. By Valentina Vilkova Mussolini. By Jasper Ridley Mussolini and the British. By Richard Lamb Brethren in Adversity: Bishop George Bell, the Church of England and the Crisis of German Protestantism, 1933–1939. Edited by Andrew Chandler British Policy and the Refugees, 1933–1941. By Yvonne Kapp and Margaret Mynatt The Blueshirts and Irish Politics. By Mike Cronin Atlantic Roulette: A Merchantman at War, 1940. By Morris Beckman In the Combat Zone: Special Forces since 1945. By Robin Neillands Industrial Policy in Britain 1945–1951: Economic Planning, Nationalisation and the Labour Governments. By Martin Chick Youth in Britain since 1945. By Bill Osgerby The Envy of the World: Fifty Years of the BBC Third Programme and Radio 3. By Humphrey Carpenter The Cold War: An International History, 1947–1991. By S. J. Ball

The Mismatch Argument: The Construction of a Housing Orthodoxy in Australia

Australia's housing policy discourse contains many orthodoxies. While orthodoxies are never totally accepted within a discourse, they are the dominant notions within them and as such carry significant symbolic authority. One orthodoxy that has particular authority in Australia is the notion that there is a 'mismatch' in the housing system between the available stock and the size of households to the extent that there is significant underutilisation and underoccupancy of housing. The mismatch argument's power as orthodoxy is such that the idea is assumed in much housing policy discussion. Criticism of the mismatch orthodoxy can take many approaches, such as empirical, conceptual and discursive. The discursive critique focuses not on the empirical relationship between households and dwellings, but on the statements about that relationship. The resulting analysis shows how the mismatch orthodoxy arose in Australia and its effects on housing discourse. This paper examines the construction of the mismatch orthodoxy, from its first uses in the early 1970s to its entrenchment in national and state housing policy research in the early 1990s. It shows how the structures of the discourse construct the orthodoxy, despite empirical and conceptual criticisms of it. Of particular importance is the effect the orthodoxy has on people deemed to be underutilising their dwellings, and on how the orthodoxy affects policy interpretations, such as occupancy standards.

A study on state and local housing policy in the United States (2)

A study on state and local housing policy in the United States (2)

Spatial Relations and Housing Policy: Regulations that Discriminate Against Mexican-origin Households

Local, state, and federal housing policies define bedroom and acceptable sleeping arrangements. While often considered universal, such spatial relations actually are inextricably entwined with societal values. Many seemingly neutral housing policies designed to protect health, safety, and welfare, in fact often protect dominant values and morals, not physical or emotional well-being of nondominant groups. Consequently they discriminate against the latter. Here, Mexican and U.S. domestic spatial relations are compared within their larger conceptual frameworks to explain some sociocultural bases for these regulations, questioning their applicability. The study concludes that a combined anthropological/planning approach is important for analyzing and developing policy generally.