Social implications of housing diversification in urban renewal: A review of recent literature

British and Dutch urban policies have advocated housing diversification and social mix in neighbourhoods subject to urban renewal. Question marks have been placed against the evidence base for the assumed social effects of diversification. This paper provides a review of research into the actual consequences of diversification in Great Britain and the Netherlands. After a brief policy discussion, the paper identifies five issues for which evidence is reviewed: housing quality and area reputation, neighbourhood-based social interactions, residential attitudes towards social mix, the role-model effect, and problem dilution. The review shows ambivalent results that necessitate modest expectations, especially with regard to area reputation, cross-tenure social interaction and residential attitudes. This ambivalence is partly due to unclear policy goals and policy terms as well as vagueness about the relevant spatial level. Moreover, the influence of tenure mix is often superseded by other, more important factors in residential satisfaction, such as lifestyle. The paper also argues that positive role-model effects in neighbourhoods have not yet been adequately studied and therefore remain based on conviction.     

Tenure preference and housing strategy: An exploration of Pakistani experiences

There is an increasing literature on the exclusion of and difficulties faced by minority ethnic communities in a range of areas, of which housing is one of the most important. But there is relatively little good, recent, qualitative material available, which explores the process of decision‐making—including decisions regarding housing—within minority ethnic families. A missing element, therefore, is the study of action by householders and consequently, the realisation (or otherwise) of preferences and the cumulative results of actions in facilitating or restricting choice. The present paper reports on a small‐scale research study of Pakistani housing preferences in Glasgow, whose aim was to develop a life history interviewing technique, using a semi‐structured schedule, focusing on housing preferences, housing moves and experiences. Pakistani households are shown to experience continuing difficulties in funding and organising household moves. There are areas of Glasgow where families feel unsafe and there is a continuing problem of racial harassment. Neither the local authority nor housing associations are generally able to offer appropriate housing. The life history interviewing technique used allows an exploration of how households reached decisions on their housing and on how they indulged in ‘trade‐offs’ between different houses, areas or tenures. Thus our understanding of the role of agency in the development of patterns of housing and individual housing careers is developed.     

Social housing in Latin America: Opportunities for affordability in a region of housing need

In advanced capitalistcountries, the term social housing normallyrefers to social rented housing, and itsprovision can be examined within the context ofthe type of housing welfare regime that hasevolved within the country under consideration.However, in large parts of Latin America –because of minimal affordability and limitedinvestment – social housing is very much amarginalised tenure and – apart from a smallsocial-rented sector – comprises illegalshelter in shantytowns, assisted self-buildhousing, and low-cost owner-occupation. Itwould therefore be unproductive to examinesocial housing in Latin America within thecontext of any of the welfare regimes thatprevail in the developed world.Within the region, large-scale migration intothe major urban areas created a substantial andgrowing housing deficit among the poor in thelatter half of the twentieth century. At first,there was an attempt to satisfy housing needsby the provision of social rented housing, butit was soon recognised that such accommodationwas unaffordable to the majority of the poor,while municipal governments were constrained bybudgetary considerations from increasing oreven maintaining its supply. At the same time,it was realised that informal housing could beupgraded more cost-effectively, and that forits future development the legalisation oftenure was essential; while self-build formalhousing could be constructed through theprocess of community funding. By the 1990s,even the middle-income segment wasdisadvantaged in the housing market asunemployment and interest rates rose and realwages fell, and therefore – through theintroduction of means-tested demand-sidesubsidies – the term social housing wasextended to the conventional owner-occupiedsector.Clearly, welfare regimes in Latin America areat a rudimentary stage in their development,although there is a tendency for governments toembrace neo-liberal housing policies. But at atime of fiscal constraint, it is a cause forconcern that macroeconomic priorities mightmake it more difficult for a large proportionof the population of the region to satisfy itshousing needs.     

Social housing management: Concerns about effectiveness and efficiency in the Netherlands

Recently a discussion flared up in the Netherlands on the effectivenessand efficiency of providers of social housing. Though most people feel that Dutch housing associations are run effectively, there are no data to underpin this conclusion. The government is not clear about the criteria for each housing association: most of the criteria are unquantified and, to some extent, contradictory. Nor is it clear whether every individual housing association has to meet these criteriato the same extent. Many more doubts have been raised about the efficiencyof social housing providers, as housing associations do not act as if theywant to maximize profits.Several suggestions have been put forward to improve efficiency: periodicalexternal visitations, benchmarking, the introduction of a Real Estate Index,and outsourcing a substantial part of the management and development activities. The main conclusion so far is that we are under-informed aboutthe efficiency of housing associations. Some advisory bodies argue that theoverall efficiency of housing associations would improve if they were transferred from the semi-public to the private sector. They claim that thedemand side of the housing market could be strengthened by the introductionof housing vouchers and suggest that housing associations opt out of the public sector.These options fail to take account of the fact that we are insufficiently informed about the efficiency of commercial players on the housing market and the inherent shortcomings of free housing markets when it comes to accessibility, affordability and quality for low-income households, externaleffects and the cherry-picking of tenants by commercial landlords. Hence, weconclude that until more information is available on the true effectivenessand efficiency of housing associations, there are good reasons to continue their current hybrid status, which combines public tasks and market activities.     

The impact of urban renewal on neighborhood housing prices in Taipei: an application of the difference-in-difference method

This study examined the impact of urban renewal delineation time on housing prices in neighborhoods undergoing urban renewal. More specifically, the study used the difference-in-difference method to assess successful housing transactions in Taipei City from 2008 to 2011. According to the empirical results, before the implementation of urban renewal, the average housing price in the areas that later underwent urban renewal (the treatment group) was lower than that in neighborhoods that did not undergo urban renewal (the control group) by 11,180 NTD. After the urban renewal projects were publicly announced, the price per ping of the control group was increased by 148,800 NTD, while the price per ping of the treatment group was increased by 163,680 NTD. This means that the housing prices per ping in the urban renewal areas were increased by 14,880 NTD more than the housing prices per ping in the areas not affected by urban renewal after the urban renewal projects were publicly announced. This increase, then, indicates the value added after implementation of urban renewal delineation time on houses in the neighborhood. Therefore, research into the impact of urban renewal on housing prices should be concerned not only with the neighborhood factors or time factors of urban renewal delineation. Rather, the two types of factors should be considered at the same time.     

Self-build communities: the rationale and experiences of group-build (Baugruppen) housing development in Germany

Group-build housing developments can bring together the cost and customisation benefits regularly attributed to self-build housing with a communitarian ethos associated with ‘intentional’ communities. This paper presents an initial examination of the rationale, motivations and social experiences of group-build housing from Germany, where over half of all new homes are produced independently from volume-build developers. The paper aims, firstly, to test the hypothesis that group-build delivers general ‘community’ benefits; secondly, to contribute to an understanding of the processes leading to successful schemes; and lastly, to demonstrate that by making individual home building dependent on the success of a larger group, collective interests can prevail over personal pursuit. This research draws attention to the motivations, the social experiences through the development process and the social legacy – aspects of particular interest for policy-makers as well as prospective builders – of group-build housing projects.     

Deadlocks and breakthroughs in urban renewal: a network analysis in Amsterdam

Urban renewal in the Netherlands has become a matter of ‘networking’. Housing associations, Dutch social landlords, became financially independent in the 1990s and have a responsibility in urban renewal. It is a joint responsibility in which local authority, social landlord and tenants are dependent on each other. This situation is rather new and needs some getting used to, as the two case studies show. The paper concludes that taking account of the complexity of networks could improve the chances of gaining support for problem definitions and solutions. This would result in agreement about goals and win–win package deals for actors, and ultimately in ‘more’ progress in urban renewal.

The role of the private sector in housing renewal: Lessons from the neighbourhood revitalisation services experiment in England

During the 1980s the British government made a number of attempts to involve the private sector in the administration and financing of housing renewal initiatives in inner city areas. One of the most significant of these was the Neighbourhood Revitalisation Services (NRS) initiative which was based on the Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) concept developed in the United States. This paper traces the history of housing renewal policy in England leading up to the development of the NRS initiative. It then compares the NHS projects developed in the United States with the English NRS model and discusses the key differences. The performance of both the pilot NRS projects and the expanded programme of government‐funded NRS schemes is then examined in detail with particular emphasis upon the objective of involving private sector organisations in housing renewal. In conclusion the paper discusses the reasons why the NRS initiative failed to meet these objectives including those stemming from the differing housing and financial policy contexts in England and the United States. Ways are also suggested in which attempts to involve the private sector might be more successful in the future.     

Men’s experiences of state sponsored housing in South Africa: emerging issues and key questions

In South African cities, millions of men and women living informally are being rehoused through the state-directed provision of formal houses to poor beneficiaries. This intervention is reshaping their lives, and innovatively targets beneficiaries with dependents, where over half are women. Aiming to redress the historical context of gendered inequality in housing ownership and house the very poor, these policy and implementation changes necessarily impact on men in terms of their power, resources and employment but in complex ways including positive and negative. The home remains significant for many men’s desires for authority and identity. Using the lens of masculinity, this paper considers the ways in which men are experiencing this housing intervention, revealing a complex mix of outcomes in terms of their sense of identity, their relationships and their financial pressures and income generation. It draws on empirical work in South Africa to illuminate the importance of focusing on men in relation to housing and offers key questions for future research.     

Fear of crime in gated communities and apartment buildings: a comparison of housing types and a test of theories

Dramatic increases in crime and fear of crime in Mexico have encouraged interest in research questions about the relationship of fear with new housing developments. We have seen increases in the number of gated communities and apartment buildings in Mexico City as a response to fear of crime. But there are two problems. First, it is not known if these housing options actually help control fear of crime. Second, fear of crime theories are pending further empirical testing worldwide. The end results include general misunderstanding and weak connections between theory and reality. This study shows that neither gated communities nor apartment buildings seem to provide lower levels of fear of crime when home alone. This statement was verified through non-parametric bivariate tests, ordinal logistic, and binary logistic regression analyses. Other variables held constant, fear of crime was unrelated to the type of housing. Instead, fear of crime when home alone was associated with gender, years of schooling, social marginality levels, neighborhood fear of crime levels, and the opinion on the local police.     

Financialization and the subprime subject: the experiences of homeowners during California’s housing boom

This paper extends scholarship on the ‘everyday practices’ of global finance by specifically examining the decisions, motivations, and financial practices of homeowners caught up in the subprime lending boom in California. Drawing on evidence from 80 in-depth interviews in Oakland and Stockton, the paper explores how homeowners enacted their own subject positions within the financial ecologies of subprime markets. The research enriches and complicates our understanding of the interplay between financialization and the formation of financial subjects, and highlights how race and class, affective ties, and distinct socio-spatial relations shape and inform borrowers’ financial decisions and practices, even during a period of excessive credit access and house price speculation.