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.     

Towards more Social Cohesion in Large Post-Second World War Housing Estates? A Case Study in Utrecht,the Netherlands1

The last few years have seen many studies of large post-Second World War housing estates. At present they are often the most deprived areas of European cities. The turnover of the population on these estates is characteristically rapid, leading to considerable socio-economic and socio-cultural changes and a multi-ethnic neighbourhood. Such areas often have to contend with severe physical, social and economic problems and the consequent dissatisfaction of the residents. This combination of rapid and selective population turnover and increasing numbers of problems may well affect aspects of social cohesion within these neighbourhoods, particularly the social networks. This process is regrettable, because social cohesion is regarded in a positive light, something that enhances the quality of life. Stimulating social cohesion is therefore an important objective of many policies that focus on large post-Second World War housing estates. The authors have found it interesting to discover how important social cohesion is in the opinions and the lives of the inhabitants rather than the policy makers. In their opinion, urban policies focus on social cohesion while the inhabitants' views of its relevance are unknown. On the basis of this paper, certain aspects of social cohesion in large post-Second World War housing estates appear to be valued, but housing market behaviour, such as residential moves, is hardly affected by aspects of social cohesion. Other aspects, such as moving to a better house, are much more relevant. The results may put into doubt the stress placed in urban policies on social cohesion.     

Self-help Housing and Co-operation in Post-war Australia

Australia experienced a self-help housing boom after World War Two which played an important part in overcoming a serious housing shortage. This paper looks at the magnitude of the boom and at the factors which made it possible. It argues that the basic factor motivating amateur builders was the absolute scarcity of accommodation rather than its high cost. There were significant regional variations in the extent of self-help activity. These are best explained by the extent of public housing provision. Where state governments invested heavily in public housing there was less self-help activity. The paper also traces the sources of finance used by owner-builders and the extent of co-operation amongst them.     

Investment in Rental Housing in Australia: Small Landlords and Institutional Investors

The private rental sector has always been an important part of the Australian housing system. Although declining in relation to home ownership in the two decades after the Second World War, private renting has never fallen below 20 per cent of the total housing stock, a share that it has maintained over the past 40 years. Small, scale petty landlordism has characterised this market sector, with a majority of rental stock owned by individuals. This paper summaries the specific characteristics of rental ownership in Australia, drawing on a recent national survey of landlords carried out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and identifies the key factors responsible for the persistence of this pattern of ownership. The reasons for the absence of institutional investors from this sector are then discussed, based on selective interviews with key players in the banking, insurance and superannuation industries. Current changes in market and policy environments are identified which may, however, increase the likelihood of institutional involvement in the provision of rental housing, in general, and social housing, in particular. The analysis is informed by the results of financial modelling carried out at the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.     

美国与法国的社会住宅：共性与差异

美国自大萧条之后以及法国在二战之后，分别发展了补贴性的出租房居住区，然而在这之后，出租房的开发急剧变化，更多地依靠私有部门可以采用的措施。本文通过案例对比，说明如下道理在特定的环境下，解决住房问题的有效方法应基于对该问题的正确诊断，并且考虑该国的国情及其局部地区的特征。对于从中央到地方各级政府，这是创造高效、可持续以及可负担住房财政机制的最佳途径。本文将讨论美国与法国解决住房问题的不同方法。对美国案例的探讨，我们关注两个计划：运用税法作为激励措施的低收入住房返税计划，以及容许公共住房机构将资金流证券化，以此更新住房的投资基金融资计划。在同一时期，法国在私人出租房产业内实行税收补贴，除此之外，这种补贴还在公共住房领域内推行。重税措施抑制了私人投资之后，慷慨的税收激励措施使资金重返祖房市场。这些计划对于中等收入的住户而言，大多数是不可负担的。于是，这导致了最近几年内公共住宅小区的建遣需要更多来自政府的承诺。     

A critical review of the modernization of Dutch rent policy

Since the Second World War, the Dutch rental market has been subject to close government regulation. In the 1970s, however, landlords started to gain greater freedom in setting the initial rental price and in determining the level of annual rent increases. In late 2004, the government announced plans whereby the hitherto cautious liberalization of the market would be continued with greater vigour. The proposed modernization of rental policy will be achieved by removing all restrictions on one quarter of the rental stock, and by implementing substantial rent increases in the remaining regulated sector. This paper gives a critical analysis of the new rent policy. This is done in the light of two considerations: the current context of the housing market, and the objectives and effects which the government hopes to achieve through the new rental policy. The author concludes that the implementation of this policy will have many disadvantages, and that alternative strategies exist which will not only serve to attain the objectives of public housing policy, but will have a less disruptive influence on the Dutch housing market.     

Urban Growth And Elitism In Kenya: Public Policy Toward Employment and Housing

ABSTRACT: It is universally acknowledged that Third World countries are experiencing rapid urbanization. Although the causes and effects of urbanization have been discussed in substantial detail, few scholars have examined public policy toward urban expansion in underdeveloped areas. Perhaps most important, Third World cities face a severe shortage of adequate employment and housing. This article discusses the urban policy followed by the Republic of Kenya with respect to these two problems. Overall, the data indicate that urban policies are biased in favor of economic and political elites. Although the Kenyan government has “officially” endorsed the creation of additional employment in both urban and rural areas, its policies have not facilitated these objectives. Similarly, the government has not allocated sufficient resources for urban housing, and resources that are allocated often subsidize a small elite. The findings for Kenya have broad implications for the study of urbanization throughout the Third World.     

Wartime planning for post-war housing in Britain: the Whitehall debate, 1941-5

The starting point for this article is the observation that planning for post-war housing policy has been a neglected area of study, especially in comparison with the attention given to housing during the First World War. Drawing on research in the official files, the article shows that planning for housing after the war began as early as 1941, and that a detailed and ambitious policy was in place well before the end of the war. Commitment to a very large housing programme was underpinned by the intention to use the construction industry as a way of absorbing labour and pursuing full employment. The main questions addressed by officials and ministers concerned the number of houses to be built and the agencies to be employed to build them. It became established policy that the local authorities would play a major role in the transitional period, but that, in the longer run, the majority of new building would be left to the private sector, with the local authorities reverting to their pre-war role concentrating on slum clearance and provision for the least well off. It is concluded that in terms of the quantity and quality of houses to be built the housing policy of the coalition government was more radical and ambitious than is generally recognized. But it was highly conservative in terms of its stance on systemic reform.     

The Limits and Potentials of the Housing Market Enabling Paradigm: An Evaluation of China's Housing Policies from 1998 to 2011

This paper examines the housing policies in China in the last 14 years in the context of the international debate on the World Bank's housing market enabling strategy to improve low-income housing provision in developing countries. A review of China's urban housing outcomes reveals housing price inflation and shortage of affordable housing in the fast expanding housing market. The paper analyzes policies to increase both demand for and supply of housing and argues that these policies have contributed to worsening affordability. This situation has been exacerbated by problems in the institutional framework managing the housing sector. The paper concludes that market enabling alone is not sufficient to achieve a satisfactory housing outcome for low- and middle-income groups in Chinese cities. It advocates more effective and direct public intervention for enhancing social housing provision and tightening market regulation to address both market and government failures to improve housing conditions for lower income groups.     

试谈住宅建设中的居民参与

二战后,工业革命带来了工业化生产方式为人们提供了大量的住房,但同时将建造住宅变成了一个固定模式,其弊病逐渐暴露出来,受到广泛的关注。居民参与各国住宅建设的重要组成部分,文章介绍了居民参与住宅建设的历史发展,探讨了居民参与住宅建设的几种主要方式,并对居民参与过程中需要注意的一些问题进行了讨论。     

Public Housing as Control: Spatial Policy of Settling Immigrants in Israeli Development Towns

This paper examines the relationship between inter-ethnic power relations and public housing policy for immigrants in Israel since 1948. Based on a comparative analysis of Israeli policy of housing Mizrahi immigrants in the 1950s and Russian immigrants in the 1990s, the paper argues that despite the perceived decline in the state's capacity, the implication of public housing policy has remained unchanged since the 1950s. By moving Jewish immigrants into development towns in sparsely populated and overwhelmingly Palestinian regions of the country, Israeli policy has served to Judaize these regions and to reinforce ethnic stratification among the country's Jewish population. In this manner, Israeli public housing policy was neither consistent with conceptions of post-Second World War public housing policies in welfare states nor with the recent impact of globalization and the free-market dynamics on public housing policies.     

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.     

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.     

Urban History Matters: Explaining the German–American Homeownership Gap

The homeownership rate in the United States has continuously been about 20 percentage points higher than that of Germany. This homeownership gap is traced back to before the First World War at the urban level. Existing approaches, relying on socio-economic factors, demographics, culture or housing policy, cannot explain the persistence of these differences in homeownership. This article fills this explanatory gap by making a path-dependence argument: it argues that nineteenth-century urban conditions either began to create the American suburbanized single-family house cities or compact multi-unit-building cities, as in Germany. US cities developed differently from German ones because they lacked feudal shackles, were governed as “private cities” and gave easier access to mortgages and building land. The more historically suburbanized a city, the lower its homeownership rate today. Economic and political reinforcing mechanisms kept the two countries on their paths. The article’s contribution is to give a historical and city-focused answer to a standing question in the housing literature.     

Planning for play: seventy years of ineffective public policy? The example of Glasgow,Scotland

This paper looks at the planning and provision of outdoor play spaces for children over a seventy-year period since the Second World War. Using Glasgow as a case study, the paper examines whether and how research on families and children living in flats has been used to inform national and local planning policies in this area, and in turn how well policy is converted into practice and provision on the ground. The paper considers these issues in four time periods: the period of post-war reconstruction from the late 1940s to the early 1970s, when large amounts of social housing was built; the period of decline and residualization of social housing in the 1970s and 1980s; the 1990s and 2000s when several attempts were made to regenerate social housing estates; and the last five years, during which time the Scottish Government has developed a number of policies concerning children’s health and physical activity. Planning policy in Glasgow appears to have been ineffective across several decades. Issues such as a weak link between research and policy recommendations, unresolved tensions between a number of policy options, and a lack of political priority afforded to the needs to children are identified as contributory factors.     

‘The Houses Have Been Constructed Everywhere’: The Country Programme of the Housing Commission of Victoria 1945–1960

Abstract

The shortage of housing in Victoria at the end of the Second World War was acute. Families throughout country Victoria were forced to shelter in dwellings that were either ramshackle or overcrowded. From 1945, the Housing Commission of Victoria expended all available resources on the construction of housing units and by 1960 in excess of 47,000 houses and flats had been constructed. Of this total just over 18,000 were built in 120 towns and cities in country Victoria. At all times, the Commission's major criterion for the allocation and siting of these units and the selection of tenants was need. As well, houses were constructed specifically to aid decentralized industry and for numerous government authorities.     

Residential Satisfaction in Housing Estates in European Cities: A Multi-level Research Approach

This paper mainly focuses on the determinants of housing and estate satisfaction in post-Second World War housing estates. Multi-level linear regression models were applied to estimate the impacts of individual, dwelling and estate characteristics on resident satisfaction levels, using a unique dataset from 25 post-Second World War estates in nine European countries. It is concluded that satisfaction with the dwelling is higher for the elderly and residents with higher incomes, and in situations where the dwelling has been renovated and is sufficiently large. The presence of children and a longer duration of stay have negative impacts, and renters are generally more negative than owners. Estate satisfaction is highest among immigrant households or when the dwelling is renovated, and among lower educated inhabitants. Individual characteristics and opinions on the estate are more important than estate characteristics in explaining estate satisfaction. The overall conclusion is that attempts to improve post-Second World War areas may result in new areas, but does not necessarily improve the overall satisfaction.     

Space over time: The changing position of the black ghetto in the United States

Ghettoization is increasingly of concern in countries around the world. The manifestation that causes the concern is known primarily from the United States. But it is not a simple phenomenon there, and has gone through many changes over the past several centuries. The article describes the ghetto of several historical periods: in the aftermath of slavery, during a period of acceptance between the two World Wars, in pursuit of integration after World War II, and as today's quite different outcast ghetto, a ghetto of exclusion, in a period during which for the first time it is perceived as a permanent component of urban society. Whether the negative results of these developments can be overcome remains a contested question. This paper expands a portion of a discussion that appeared in Marcuse (1997). Peter Marcuse is Professor of Urban Planning at Columbia. A lawyer and planner and past President of the Los Angeles Planning Commission, he is a member of Community Board 9 in Manhattan, and has written extensively on housing policy issues, the history of planning, and problems of race and of globalization. He has researched these issues in the United States, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Australia, and South Africa.     

Changing places: New Zealand Houses by Winkler & Eisenhofer 1958 to 1969

The Austrian-born architects Erwin Winkler and Fritz Eisenhofer immigrated to New Zealand during the 1950s. After working at the Housing Division of the Ministry of Works, they established a joint architectural practice in 1958 when the growing New Zealand economy and governmental efforts, such as the Group Housing Scheme, increased the building of homes. At the same time the repetitive appearance of English Cottage Style state houses, that had been built in reaction to a severe housing shortage after the Second World War, led to a demand for architecturally designed homes. In reaction to this,Winkler & Eisenhofer established a reputation as a non-conformist practice in creating homes that not only offered modern open-plan living, but also featured unusual features, murals or sculptures. After New Zealand had overcome the housing shortage by the early 1960s, and during an economic upsurge, the practice received commissions from wealthy clients and was no longer competing with builders who offered standardised homes. Winkler & Eisenhofer now oriented their houses towards contemporary American precedents created for a clientele who wished their homes to reflect individuality, internationality and modernity. A number of architectural practices sought at the same time to develop a distinct New Zealand architectural idiom. This paper investigates how the careers of Winkler & Eisenhofer developed at a time when the demand for homes that were designed to overcome a housing shortage, shifted to a demand for modern houses that reflected a newly developing life-style. Within the complex discourse on architectural modernism in New Zealand, Winkler & Eisenhofer's houses were created outside of the ongoing search for a distinct New Zealand style.     

Reconstruction and the Self-help Housing Movement: The French Experience

The destruction during the Second World War made the city a crisis of looming proportions throughout Europe. In the case of France, over three-quartersof the country was struck by the war. Cities and towns were in ruins. Over 2 million buildings, a quarter of the housing stock, was destroyed or damaged (Croize, 1991, pp. 253-257). A million families were left homeless. Millions of others lived in temporary shelters and run-down apartments without access to basic services. This tragic situation made the housing crisis-that is finding a place of live-one of the most serious and explosive post-war domestic issues in France, as it was all over Europe. One way the crisis was addressed was for men and women to build their own homes, or to simply occupy vacant buildings. This paper looks at the role of the organised self-help housing movement within the massive effort of reconstruction and building after the Second World War, from 1945-1954. The movement comprised three phases: the squatter movement; the mouvement Castors or Beavers movement, which became a limited effort at auto-construction; and lastly, the housing campaign launched by the Abbe Pierre.