Empowering Local Communities? An International Review of Community Land Trusts

This paper aims to investigate the premise that community land trusts (CLTs) offer a method of delivering affordable housing that empowers local communities and provides democratic management of community assets. The paper provides a comparative analysis of CLT developments in England, Scotland and the USA, reviewing the policy and literature to identify two key approaches that underpin CLTs: an approach to property development that emphasises resale restrictions used to preserve housing use for the CLT's target clientele, and an approach to citizen governance that privileges local communities. The paper identifies a variation of practices that underpin the operation of CLTs in each country and uses the advanced developments in Scotland and the USA to illustrate some of the challenges that remain if the CLT sector in England is to continue its recent growth.     

Housing and Mortgage Markets in Turbulent Times: Is Australia Different?

This paper presents an account of recent housing and mortgage market developments in Australia viewed from a longer-term perspective. It is argued that Australian housing drivers and outcomes are, to some extent, unique, enabling the sector to withstand the fall-out from the global financial crisis to date. However, they have resulted in increasing problems of housing stress for lower-income and younger households who are finding it increasingly difficult to access homeownership and are facing significant affordability problems in the private rental market. The paper casts forward to the next 20 years, outlining both a ‘positive’ ‘business-as-usual’ scenario characterized by buoyant housing demand and strong national economy, and a ‘negative’ scenario marked by stalled economic growth and a sharp downward correction in housing prices. Under both scenarios, it is suggested that addressing the housing affordability gap will remain a major policy challenge.     

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.     

Community Perspectives on Localness and ‘Priority’ Housing Policies in Rural England

Policy actors tasked with delivering against rural housing needs face a key conceptual conundrum familiar to researchers: how to define need and how to link that concept to the idea of localness. Community perspectives on this issue reveal that ‘official’ priorities are often not considered to reflect the true nature of local need. There is considerable appetite for setting ‘community priority’ and for assuming direct responsibility for housing delivery. Discussions with community groups in different parts of rural England are used to expose these concerns, which accord with the UK government's localism agenda, a component of which is the empowerment of parish councils to deliver additional homes for ‘local need’, above planned allocations. However, although community perspectives may become vital in driving future policy outcomes, there are associated risks. These perspectives may belong to a dominant minority, with a tendency to draw narrow definitions of localness and local interest as a means of closing the door to unwanted development.     

Is Homeownership the Answer? Housing Tenure and Indigenous Australians in Remote (and Settled) Areas

This paper examines the relevance of recently floated policy ideas for extending homeownership to remote Aboriginal Australians. It argues that while the housing tenure system in more densely settled Australia is dominated by homeownership, this is not, and cannot realistically be expected to be, the case in remote areas. The paper uses data from the 2001 Census, organized by remoteness geography, to demonstrate the different character of the housing tenure system in remote Australia. The paper argues that homeownership in remote Aboriginal communities is a somewhat unrealistic policy goal, given the underlying income and employment status of Indigenous people in these communities. The paper also argues that there are better measures of Indigenous housing need and disadvantage in Australia than low homeownership rates. It briefly reports on one past failed experiment in Queensland to introduce homeownership to a remote Aboriginal community.     

Accommodating New Housing Development in Rural Areas? Representations of Landscape,Land and Rurality in Ireland

Abstract

Housing development in rural localities represents one of the most visible and contested indicators of landscape change, as many European rural landscapes that are regulated by weak planning regimes are transformed by incremental suburbanisation. However, scant attention has been given to understanding stakeholder perceptions and interpretations of the physical processes of landscape change and preferences towards accommodating new housing development in rural areas among stakeholder groups. We address this deficit by drawing on a series of stakeholder focus groups undertaken in Ireland addressing: 1) stakeholder perceptions of landscape change and 2) attitudes towards future change scenarios based on digitally manipulated images of landscape change. The focus group analysis suggests a nuanced interpretation among rural residents of the impact of accommodating housing development, particularly in balancing local demand for rural housing with preferences for maintaining a sense of ‘rural character’; however, there were variations across rural space dependant on the extent of development experienced in recent years.     

Public Cities,Public Scholars? Questioning Urban Policy and Research in Australia

This review examines relationships and tensions between urban research and policy impact, drawing on the inaugural Public Cities Lecture at the State of Australian Cities Conference 2015 in honour of the late Paul Mees. It examines the different ways Australian urban researchers are questioning, engaging with and contributing to public policy—and the relative influence of this work in relation to the range of other sources of information now seeming to dominate public debate. Despite a desolate funding environment and a hollowing of demand from government and political leaders for independent research, the varied forms of public scholarship canvassed in this review do suggest an evolution rather than atrophy of urban research in Australia. The question is how we advance, and equally importantly, critically evaluate our changing roles and contributions beyond the usual metrics of academic citations, to help inform, and reform, the parameters of policy debate and action.     

Towards Effective City Planning—The Case of Cape Town in Identifying Potential Housing Land

Vacant land in cities is an important resource as it presents opportunities for urban renewal and revitalisation and can contribute to municipal revenue. In a context of growing informality and homelessness in cities of the South, the presence of large tracts of vacant land is a sign of inefficient urban planning and a dysfunctional land market. It is therefore critical for local governments to have reliable data of the extent of vacant land parcels in cities and their potential for housing development, particularly affordable housing for the poor. This paper will detail and discuss the “Potential Housing Land Model” developed by the Cape Urban Observatory, part of the African Centre for Cities, based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. South African cities, and in this case the city of Cape Town in particular, face huge constraints in terms of suitable, well-located and affordable land for low-cost housing development. A tool like the “Potential Housing Land Tool” is one tool which could assist decision-makers in identifying such land parcels. Besides identifying land that can potentially be used for housing; the model can also allow officials to pin-point areas that are not well-serviced. The deployment of the model on the World Wide Web makes the tool available to a range of users including municipal officials, academic researchers and organised sectors of civil society who might benefit from this kind of information. The responsible and strategic use of this model and the information it provides, can facilitate a broad-based discussion about vacant land and its potential use in the city, allowing for more transparent and participatory planning. The application of tools like the “Potential Housing Land Tool” can therefore greatly assist in improving urban governance and can contribute towards more efficient and sustainable urban planning and management systems.     

Achieving a Socio-Spatial Mix? Prospects and Limitations of Social Housing Policy in Santiago de Chile

In the Chilean housing sector, the combination of free-market imperatives guiding investment decisions and a long tradition of social housing subsidies has generally had remarkable success in quantitative terms but has also contributed to the large-scale segregation of poor families on the urban periphery. With the goal of a better socio-spatial mix and, ultimately, social integration, the Chilean government recently revised its guidelines for housing subsidies, promoting small-scale social housing in central locations. This paper examines the early effects of this new housing policy in a cluster of the so-called “pericentral” municipalities in Santiago de Chile. Specifically, it raises the question of whether the policy has a chance of achieving its objectives in light of prevailing free-market conditions. We demonstrate strong interrelations between the current dynamics of real-estate investment and government-led housing programs which together continue to promote uneven socio-spatial development and segregation of the urban poor on a smaller scale.     

Factors Shaping the Dynamics of Housing Affordability in Australia 2001–06

This paper investigates factors shaping the dynamics of housing affordability in Australia over the period 2001–06. Panel model findings indicate that those with children and the unwaged are more prone to persistent housing affordability stress. However, residential moves during spells of housing affordability stress alleviate housing cost burdens. Survival in affordable housing has become progressively more difficult over the 2001–06 timeframe, an unsurprising finding given a house price boom over the period of analysis. Residential moves are again influential, but those made by households during a spell in affordable housing are associated with the onset of housing affordability stress.     

Causes and Consequences? Exploring the Shape and Direction of the Housing System in the UK Post the Financial Crisis

The impacts of the global financial crisis continue to reverberate around the world. This paper explores its impacts in the UK in general and England in particular in relation to the housing market and housing policy. It examines the underlying trends which were already in place before the financial crisis and the impact of the crisis and the government's policy responses on the housing and mortgage markets. The paper argues that the crisis mainly exacerbated already long established tensions while the current policy solutions have ameliorated, but not fully, resolved these pressures.     

Between ‘Market’ and ‘Welfare’: Rent Restructuring Policy in the Housing Association Sector,England

This paper empirically evaluates the market and welfare impacts of rent restructuring policy in the housing association (RSL) sector. The focus is on the financial viability of housing associations in the north of England, the affordability problems of tenants in the south, and the changes of turnover rates of RSL tenancies that have resulted. Using data from the Regulatory and Statistical Returns and the CORE (COntinuous REcording) from 2001/02 to 2005/06, the analysis shows that the ‘market’ component of the rent formula plays a more substantial role in affecting the RSL rent levels despite the ‘welfare’ measures in the policy—the greater emphasis on local earnings, the restriction of annual rent increase and the imposition of rent ceilings. Given that social housing in England is essentially a residual mode of provision, it is argued that a more flexible approach in balancing these two conflicting principles in rent setting is needed.     

The Problems of Industrial Land Use in Chinese Cities and Counter—Measures

The concentration of Industries In cities is a commonphenomenon In the course of urhanlzatlon.The reason isIballhe concenlralbn orsndustrles wsuob重alnlhe‘乞concen-traied conomlc returns.” The concentration ofindustriesincities has occupied more land for indutrial use ifthe industri-al land use makes up a very low proportion in the total landuse In cities,the concentrated e门Dciency can not be broughtinto play.Ifthe Proportion is too big,land for other func-nons will be squeezed out,thus affecting the full play of theoverall functions of＊theons urban land.The unreasonable indus-trial land used now exists in Chinese cities.     

Social Aspects of Beijing''''s Old and Dilapidated Housing Renewal——Beijing''''s Old and Dilapidated Housing Renewal(Part Ⅵ)

Ⅰ.Introduction Since the start of the program in 1990,Beijing＇s Oldand Dilapidated Housing Renewal has received considera-ble attention from all areas of society-from government of-ficials and professionals as well as ordinary citizens.The re-newal program has not only exerted a major impact on theold city areas of Beijing like the demolition of the old CityWall and the Pai Lou(Memorial Archways),but has alsobeen a sensitive issue related to housing problems whichmay affect hundreds of thousands of residents both in theold city and in other parts of Beijing.Furthermore,the pres-ervation of architectural relics and the historic core of Beij-ing Old City is now receiving more and more attention.Asa result,research on Beijing＇s housing renewal program in-volves a broad range of issues covering city development,housing construction and Old City preservation. The work of our group has involved lookingcomprehensively at all aspects of residential area renewal inold city areas-the economic,social and enviro     

Exploring how urban design has sought to inspire confidence and longevity in Western Australia’s Pilbara region

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, architecture in mining settlements often acted as a measure of wealth, as if to arouse confidence and longevity in places with an infamously brief lifespan. Arguably, recent planning for upgraded town centres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia has similarly employed urban form to provide reassurance to current and potential future residents of these settlements. Using Karratha, the largest urban centre in the Pilbara, as a case study, this paper explores the ways in which urban form has been used to further a narrative of longevity through references to traditional cities characterized by urban density, spatial delineation and economic diversification. While only six years has elapsed since the launch of a plan to guide Karratha’s transformation from a town into a city, the current mining downturn highlights the limits of urban design interventions in relation to broader issues facing the mining industry. The paper concludes by pointing to the implications of such urban design efforts for the development of cities in Northern Australia.