CityReads│Three Reference & Study Guide Books on Housing Studies

242

Three Reference & Study Guide Books on Housing Studies

Three reference books present the state-of-the-art of housing studies and provide study guide. 

David F. Clapham, William A.V. Clark and Kenneth Gibb, eds. 2012. The Sage handbook of housing studies, London: Sage.

Susan J. Smith, 2012. International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home. Elsevier.

Smith, Susan J., and Beverley A. Searle, eds. 2010. The Blackwell Companion to the Economics of Housing: The Housing Wealth of Nations. Wiley.

Sources:

https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/asi/the-sage-handbook-of-housing-studies/book232882

https://www.sciencedirect.com/referencework/9780080471716/international-encyclopedia-of-housing-and-home

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781444317978

1 The SAGE Handbook of Housing Studies

Housing studies as a field of study in the social sciences has a relatively recent pedigree. There have been studies of housing dating back to the Industrial Revolution, but it was not until the 1970s that housing became a subject in its own right.

The SAGE Handbook of Housing Studies is designed to review the ‘state of the art’ of this field of housing studies. It is a diverse field, with research being undertaken from a number of disciplines as well as some multi-disciplinary work. This handbook attempts to review where we have got to and to chart future directions in housing studies.

The book is constructed around four main themes – housing markets, approaches, context and policy issues – and has 5–8 chapters per theme. The first section examines the basic structure of a housing market. The concept of a market is reviewed and our existing ways of thinking about it are re-examined. There follow chapters on different elements of the market. One review knowledge of the supply of housing. Another examines household decision making and the factors that influence that. A third looks at the processes of housing mobility. The final chapter examines the concept of neighborhood.

Section 2 reviews different approaches to the study of housing. It starts with a review of the neo-liberal economics approach to housing markets. Second chapter examines alternative economic approaches such as behavioral and new institutional economics. Other disciplinary approaches are also reviewed, such as the geographical focus on space, the psychological emphasis on people-environment studies, politics perspective, social constructionist perspective, and structuralist sociological paradigm.

Section 3 focuses on the different elements of the context within which housing market operate, such as housing and the wider economy, housing and natural environment, housing and urban form, housing and social life, housing and welfare.

The final section focuses on government policy towards housing, including homelessness and government responses, the provision of affordable housing, policy to counteract the residential segregation, housing subsidies to the producers and consumers of housing, the management of public housing.

In the conclusion, editors tie together some of the themes emerging from the contributions on the future direction of housing studies.

2 International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home

Housing studies is a quintessentially interdisciplinary and international enterprise whose research and teaching spans a wide range of social science, health, and environmental disciplines. Its relevance ranges from sociology and geography to law, from politics to public health, from economics to accountancy, and from architecture to planning, engineering, and environmental science. The meaning and materiality of home has，likewise moved to center stage in a broad sweep of cultural studies, English, and humanities research.

The International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home attempts to serve as the major single reference work for housing professionals – for academics and practitioners – for all teaching, learning, and research needs. This comprehensive book is edited by distinguished housing expert Susan J. Smith, together with Marja Elsinga, Ong Seow Eng, Lorna Fox O'Mahony and Susan Wachter, and a multi-disciplinary editorial team of 20 world-class scholars in all.

The International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home contains over 500 entries, listed alphabetically, but grouped into seven thematic sections including methods and approaches; economics and finance; environments; home and homelessness; institutions; policy; and welfare and well-being.

‘Approaches’ contains articles on the main concepts and theories used in housing research, and on the methodologies commonly used to explore key themes around housing, home, and homelessness. ‘Economics and Finance’ engages with all aspects of housing and economy, including housing economics, housing market dynamics, housing wealth, and housing finance.‘Environment’ includes articles on the physical and social environments, including environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, neighborhood trajectories, and residential segregation.‘Home and Homelessness’ addresses the full range of ideas about homemaking, home cultures, home values, domestic interiors, design, and meanings of home; it also considers the absence of home – the predicament of homelessness – in its many and varied forms. ‘Institutions documents all the main institutions of the housing system: legal frameworks, housing tenures, lenders, insurers, valuation, marketing, intermediation, and so on. ‘Policy’ is concerned with all aspects of housing governance and regulation: access and affordability of housing, housing production, tax policies, and links between housing, labor markets, and mortgage markets. ‘Welfare and Well-Being’ is concerned with the social aspects of housing. It examines the links between housing, welfare, and well-being; it considers housing needs, risks, and affordability; and it touches on health, safety, and security.

3 The Blackwell Companion to the Economics of Housing

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, on the crest of a wave of home-price appreciation, the wealth of nations appeared to be accumulating faster through housing than in any other way. Residential property formed the largest single class of assets in the economy, and became a key component of personal wealth. Housing has become a hot research topic.

The Blackwell Companion to the Economics of Housing includes 39 world-class authors spanning a mix of disciplines and professions: they include housing economists, experts in the social study of finance, and specialists in qualitative research; they draw together analysts from the national Banks, the OECD, IMF, and other financial institutions, as well as academic researchers, financial engineers, and practitioners in financial markets. This mix encourages innovative thinking, and provokes a range of new research ideas. It is offered as an accessible introduction to, and overview of, the achievements and potential of the interdisciplinary collaboration required to explore the housing economy

This companion is divided into three parts: banking on housing, housing wealth as financial buffer, and mitigating housing risks. Part I contains a collection of papers collectively labeled Banking on Housing, exploring the extent to which banks, governments, and the public – as well as whole economies – have come to rely in different ways on the value of residential property. The essays in this section address an enduring macroeconomic question concerning the link between home prices, consumption, and the wider economy.

The essays in Part II concerns with the microeconomic significance of housing for households’ budgets and welfare, discussing the changing role and relevance of housing wealth and mortgage debt in everyday financial affairs.

The third set of essays expose the wide range of financial risks that now permeate the housing economy, thanks to the uneven integration of housing, mortgage, and financial markets. Key concerns include the risks of depending too squarely on the accumulation of wealth into property, as well as the danger of being unable to service and sustain the debts consolidating against it.

Related CityReads

（Click the title or enter our WeChat menu and reply number ）

CityReads ∣Notes On Cities

"CityReads", a subscription account on WeChat, 

posts our notes on city reads weekly. 

Please follow us by searching "CityReads"