A Research Agenda for Housing

Elgar Research Agendas

Edited by Markus Moos, School of Planning, University of Waterloo, Canada

Housing is one of the most pertinent issues of our time. Shaped by rapid urbanization, financialization, and various changes in demography, technology, political ideology and public policy, the provision of affordable, adequate, and suitable housing has become an increasingly challenging feat. From high-rise apartment towers constructed in global cities around the world to informal settlements rapidly expanding across the global south, this volume focuses on how political, economic, and societal changes are shaping housing in a variety of contexts.

‘This work clearly illustrates the interconnectedness between global market forces and local housing conditions and is essential reading for housing and planning students and academics wanting a contemporary overview of housing research.’
– Ruth Lucas, Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal

‘This is a deceptively small volume packed with a lot of ideas. While I am eager to agree that housing touches all aspects of human societies the challenge of tackling such a broad number of issues over such a variety of geographic regions is formidable. One of Moos’s stated goals is to leave the reader “with a sense of the complexity of housing as a fruitful area for future research” and I think the collection of essays certainly achieves that goal. Public policymakers could benefit from his recommendations on housing rights, financialization and mortgage markets, social or public housing, sustainability, and affordability.’
– Stephanie Sweeney, Journal of Urban Affairs

‘In A Research Agenda for Housing, editor Markus Moos bring together contributors to illustrate and examine the major theoretical, analytical and empirical developments in the housing field, showing housing to be a complex area and an essential priority for public policy. Offering useful analytical tools and evidence-based, interdisciplinary research, this collection will be a key resource for
housing researchers.’
– Valesca Lima, LSE Review

‘The housing question has come back as a major issue in our so-called advanced economies. High-income households have a vast choice while the traditional middle classes have been losing options at a rapidly growing pace. In A Research Agenda for Housing, Markus Moos brings together a strong group of experts who engage the subject and shows us options that we must pursue if we are to ensure a reasonable housing market for a majority of households. A must read!’
– Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, US, author of Expulsions

‘The contributors to this volume provide an extremely important interdisciplinary perspective to one of the most important social, economic, and public policy questions of our time – how to provide decent shelter to the masses of people who cannot purchase it in the private market. They look at the question through the lens of international comparisons, identifying causes and some approaches to addressing it, bearing in mind that housing is inseparable from general issues of the capitalist political economy.’
– Susan S. Fainstein, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, author of The Just City

‘This collection of essays offers a very welcome, creative and novel take on the contemporary housing question. The editor correctly identifies housing as being pivotal to the shaping of the political events and economic vicissitudes of the early 21st century. A provocative and engaging read with a good mix of established and new scholars.’
– Ray Forrest, University of Bristol, UK