|
PLENARY SESSIONS
Abstracts
Balanced Regional Development: The Challenge for Housing in an Era of
Financial Crisis, Labour Market Shortages and Hyper Consumption
Andrew Beer
Balanced regional development receives relatively scant attention within
the housing studies literature while housing per se is rarely considered
a critical factor in the economic development of poorly performing or
developing regions. While there is a literature on the relationship between
housing markets and labour market mobility, the regional dimension of
housing investment and disinvestment decisions is often unexplored. This
presentation considers the impact of housing market processes on balanced
regional development within the context of the sub-prime mortgage ‘crisis’ in
the United States; increased investment in second homes and holiday homes
in distant regions or located in another country; and, restructuring
associated with the growth of the economies of China and India. The paper
draws upon case studies from Europe, Australia and North America to suggest
that there is a need to revisit and reconceptualise the relationship
between the achievement of balanced regional development and the provision
of housing.
Suburban dreams, suburban realities-mapping affiliations in
Ireland’s
twenty-first century suburbs
Mary P. Corcoran, Jane Gray, Michel Peillon
Ireland has, from the mid 1990s, experienced an extraordinary phase
of economic and social development. Housing estates have mushroomed around
towns and cities, and more particularly around Dublin. Public concern
has been expressed about the weak regulation of such peripheral urbanisation,
the impact on residents’ quality of life and the robustness of
community feeling in these new neighbourhoods. As colleagues at the National
University of Ireland, Maynooth we initiated a research project (The
New Urban Living Study) to investigate the impact of suburban development
in Ireland. The study involved an empirical analysis using quantitative
and qualitative techniques of everyday life in four contrasting suburban
locations. We re-visited the mainly negative assessment that has been
made of the suburban social fabric, and found that residents in suburban
estates are not disaffiliated: they are in fact connected with the place
where they live and with each other, in many different ways. In presenting
our analysis we seek to move beyond the dualism inherent in much of suburban
discourse by demonstrating empirically the precise contours of the “affiliative” suburb,
identifying those factors that act to socially embed people in their
localities (creating the possibility of intensive affiliation) and those
that threaten to erode or undermine connectedness and belonging (creating
the conditions for dis-affiliation). By telling the story of these four
contrasting suburbs, we hope to provide some general insights into the
ways in which suburbs develop, consolidate across time, and become the
object of affection or disaffection amongst those who live there.
Target for immigration, paradise for second homes… Are
sustainable urban dynamics still possible in Spain?
Montserrat Pareja Eastaway
Spain has been an attractive case study in housing and urban research
for quite some time now. Traditional and unique aspects, such as unbalanced
tenure patterns or the insignificant social housing sector, have been
given considerable attention by national and international academics
and researchers who have not been deterred by the country’s social
diversity and its territorial heterogeneity. Besides, recent phenomena
are contributing to the above complexity. The impact exerted at neighbourhood
level and on the housing market by the massive arrival of immigrants
since the end of the nineties and the “push effect” on the
construction of second homes that foreigners allured to the coastal areas
of the country have generated, deserve to be incorporated in the analysis
of housing and urban issues in Spain. This paper intends to examine the
local consequences in terms of sustainability of the dynamics created
by these recent phenomena since their potential to impact on the country’s
society and territory for a long time is considerable.
According to official data, almost four million and a half of legally
immigrants lived in Spain by the end of 2007. This constitutes almost
10 per cent of population. In 2001 and 1991, the figures were 3.8 and
1.2 per cent respectively. The majority of these individuals were attracted
by the possibility to improve their economic and social conditions. Certainly,
the distribution of immigrants is not homogeneous across Spain; they
tend to concentrate in large cities, such as Madrid and Barcelona, and
their metropolitan surroundings. In their majority, these new inhabitants
accommodate in affordable segments of the housing market, simultaneously
creating an evident social impact. However, patterns of segregation of
immigrants within the city and at the neighbourhood level are different
in Spain from those evidenced in other European countries.
The unprecedented
level of housing construction starting from the end of the nineties
has partially been observed in areas considered tourist
destinations, that is, the Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands.
Although the national demand for second homes has traditionally been
high, demand from non-nationals has been responsible for the beginning
of the real estate boom in 1999. According to data provided by official
sources, in 2003, there were around seven million of second homes in
Spain, over one and a half of these acquired by foreign investors.
Some experts predict that more than two million second homes will belong
to
foreign nationals in 2008. Beyond the stimulus to the national economy
created by the boom, the rhythm of construction of second homes has
altered in many cases the unstable equilibrium of certain areas not only
from
the environmental point of view but also in social terms In the light
of the diverse and multiple dynamics that immigration and tourism have
set in motion in the Spanish context, is it still possible to strive
for sustainability?
Comparative urban developments
Tony Fahey and M. Vaatovaari
Abstract to follow
Uncharted territory: the first housing market crash in Northern Ireland?
Chris Paris
Chris Paris will be exploring recent changes in housing in Northern Ireland
in the context of changing housing systems on the island of Ireland,
and in the UK. He will relate recent local developments to wider processes
of change in global housing markets, including growing affluence and
mobility for some, despite growing overall inequality. His overview of
the recent housing boom in NI includes:
* the (non) impact of devolution on housing policy and the housing system;
* widespread suburbanisation and counter-urbanisation;
* emergent new housing market dynamics (explosive growth of second homes);
* dramatic house price inflation until the current crash.
European Urban Sprawl: Housing, Cultures of (Anti) Urbanism
and ‘Hybrid
Cityscapes’
Nataša Pichler-Milanovic and Chris Couch
The term ‘urban sprawl’ is often used today rather negatively,
typically to describe low density, inefficient and unsustainable suburban
development around the periphery of cities. Many definitions tend to
emphasise urban sprawl being a type of urban form or a pattern of urbanisation,
rather than a process of urban change, - as the process of sprawling
leads to undesirable urban development effects, in which policy must
intervene. This paper originates in a comparative research project examining
aspects of urban sprawl in Europe undertaken within the 5.FP EU. The
project Urban Sprawl: European Patterns, Environmental Degradation and
Sustainable Development (URBS PANDENS) sought to understand recent trends
in urban sprawl in a number of case study urban regions (Athens, Liverpool,
Leipzig, Ljubljana, Stockholm, Vienna, Warsaw) and to advise the European
Commission on policy development with regard to the control, management
and amelioration of the effects of urban sprawl. The scientific results
of the project are published in the book: Couch, Leontidou, Petchel-Held
(Eds.) Urban Sprawl in Europe: Landscapes, Land-use Change & Policy,
Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007.
The aims of the paper are to provide the extent to which common European
patterns and processes of residential sprawl can be found, distinct from
those previously identified in the USA, and to show a small number of
important ‘archetypical’ perspectives of European urban sprawl:
life-style driven, infrastructure-related, state-regulated. The paper
also considers new theories that can be formulated to explain urban sprawl,
and policy innovation recommendations regarding the sustainable management
of residential sprawl in European cites.
Panel debate on Rural housing rights
Chair: Nick Gallent
This plenary panel discussion will focus on 'rural housing rights' and,
in particular, the 'rights of local people to access homes at a reasonable
cost', in areas where there is sometimes strong external demand from
retiring households, from people seeking second homes, or from newcomers
who are simply looking for a change of lifestyle for themselves and their
families. Drawing on different national perspectives, the discussion
will focus on the rationale of prioritising local needs: should local
needs automatically and universally be protected through policy intervention,
or through housing subsidy support? Should such policies be linked to
local labour needs? Or is the whole idea of prioritising 'local needs'
within an increasingly networked and mobile society simply anachronistic?
Anniversary Debate: Housing and Social Theory
Chair: David Clapham
The session will mark the 25th anniversary of the journal Housing, Theory
and Society and its forerunners and will be chaired by Professor David
Clapham the current editor. The aim is to discuss the role of social
theory in housing research. Dr Peter King will make the argument that
housing is unique enough to justify its own distinct body of theory.
Professor Chris Allen will argue that any theory in housing involves
the construction of knowledge in a way that sidelines the everyday knowledge
of residents. There are also two disciplinary contributions. Professor
Ken Gibb will examine the role of economic theory in housing research
and assess the potential for cross-disciplinary research. Dr. Lotte Jensen
will examine the contribution of political science to housing by examining
the application of ideas of governance.
Professor David Clapham is Professor of Housing at Cardiff University
in the UK. He is editor of the journal Housing, Theory and Society and
of books such as The Meaning of Housing (Policy Press, 2005). He is a
sociologist with interests in homelessness, international comparative
research and the application of social theory to housing.
Dr Peter King is Reader in Social Thought at De Montfort University.
His recent work, particularly Private Dwelling (Routledge, 2004) and
The Common Place (Ashgate, 2005) and In Dwelling (Ashgate, 2008) uses
personal anecdote, philosophical critique and film studies to look at
the notions of subjectivity and privacy in housing and dwelling environments.
Professor Kenneth Gibb is head of the Department of Urban Studies at
the
University of Glasgow. He is a housing economist with specific interests
in the economics of social housing, market analysis and housing policy
development. Ken is also an editor of Urban Studies and is actively
involved in the voluntary housing sector, chairing a Scottish-wide
housing association.
Lotte Jensen is Associate Professor of Public Administration at the
University of Copenhagen. Her housing research concentrates on
governance in and of social housing, social housing history and
comparative housing studies in Scandinavia. Apart from housing studies,
her key research field is core executive governance and budgeting in
Denmark and comparatively.
Professor Chris Allen is a sociologist at Manchester Metropolitan University
whose work crosses into disciplines such as geography and philosophy.
The majority of his recent work has focussed on the urban dynamics of
social class as well as social science as a form of knowledge. A particular
concern is the relationship between social scientific knowledge, urban
policy and the everyday experiences of ordinary people.
Social and spatial outcomes of post-socialist urban development: Reflections
on the performance of cities in eastern Europe
Iván Tosics and Sasha Tsenkova
The last 20 years brought the largest and quickest changes in the history
of the east-central European cities. Within this short time three periods
can be distinguished: the socialist system, the unregulated free market
system, and the recent attempts for regulated capitalism.
The keynote debate will concentrate on these periods with a particular
emphasis on the turning points between them: marketization (privatization,
decentralization), and the efforts to introduce public control over the
market processes. The analyses will deal in parallel with the changes
in two domains: social (Tosics) and spatial (Tsenkova).
The final evaluation of the performance of post socialist city development
will concentrate on the following issues:
·
What is the balance of social and spatial development in post-socialist
cities? To what extent is the unquestionable improvement in the standard
of living offset by the sharply increasing social inequalities as well
as spatial differentiation and segregation?
·
What are the realistic chances for the success of the introduction of
regulated capitalism? Will the public sector regain enough power needed
for the necessary regulatory steps and corrective interventions to institutionally
reverse the over-privatized and the over-decentralized situation of today?
Recognizing the diversity of post-socialist cities, the presentation
will follow the main aspects of change in the three periods, allowing
for discussions of the social and spatial issues in comparative perspective.
The major question, whether the eastern European countries will follow
the model of southern European, less publicly regulated, or the north-western
European highly regulated models, is of relevance for all member states
in the European Union. The outcome will strongly influence the strategies
of European cities, especially those who plan to follow the marketization
path.
Biographical details of plenary session speakers
Andrew Beer
Andrew Beer is a Professor in the School of Geography, Population and
Environmental Management at Flinders University. He is also the Director
of the Southern Research Centre of the Australian Housing and Urban
Research Institute. He has been at Flinders University since 1993 and
previously worked in the Australian Public Service in Canberra, within
the Social Justice Secretariat of the Department of Prime Minister
and Cabinet; the Department of Health, Housing and Local Government;
and the ACT Government Service. Andrew's research interests include
housing, especially housing management issues, and regional development.
Andrew is the Editor of Sustaining Regions, a journal of the Australian
and New Zealand Regional Science Association International (ANZRSAI)
and has been involved in a number of government initiatives, including
the Southern Suburbs Industry Development Working Group (SSIDWG)
Professor Beer's major publications include: Beyond the Capitals: Urban
Growth in Regional Australia, AGPS, 1994 (with Andrew Bolam and Alaric
Maude); Home Truths: Property Ownership and Housing Wealth in Australia,
Melbourne University Press 2000 (with Blair Backock); Developing Australia's
Regions: Theory and Practice, UNSW Press, 2003 (with Alaric Maude and
Bill Pritchard); and Developing Locally: International Lessons in Local
and Regional Economic Development, Policy Press, 2003 (with Graham Haughton
and Alaric Maude).
Professor Beer has produced a number of major reports for AHURI Ltd including
work on housing assistance in non-metropolitan communities (with Alaric
Maude); the housing needs of refugees and temporary protection visa holders
(with Paul Foley) and the role of housing assistance in meeting the needs
of recent immigrants to Australia (with Sarah Morphett). Professor Beer
is currently heading up Collaborative Research Venture 2: 21st Century
Housing Careers and Australia’s Housing Future for AHURI Ltd.
David Clapham
David Clapham is Professor of Housing at Cardiff University. His research
interests cover a wide range of housing issues including:- housing management;
tenant participation and housing cooperatives; community care and housing;
housing for older people; homelessness; Eastern European housing systems;
comparative housing analysis; social exclusion; housing policy in Wales.
A particular recent interest is the application of social theory to housing,
particularly social constructionism and the social theory of Giddens.
This has resulted in the development of the "Housing Pathways" framework.
Recent work has concentrated on the application of the "Housing
Pathways" framework to housing. He has published extensively in
a number of areas of housing and in a range of academic journals. His
latest book is The Meaning of Housing: A pathways approach, Bristol:
Policy Press, (2005).
Mary P. Corcoran
Mary P. Corcoran is Professor in the Department of Sociology, National
University of Ireland, Maynooth. She is a graduate of the University
of Dublin, Trinity College and Columbia University, New York. Her research
and teaching interests lie primarily in the field of urban transformations,
public/civic cultures and migration processes. The author of numerous
scholarly articles and reports, Corcoran is the co-author (with Michel
Peillon and Jane Gray) of Suburban Affiliations, forthcoming, co-editor
(with Perry Share) of Belongings: shaping identity in modern Ireland
(2008); co-author with Perry Share and Hilary Tovey of the third edition
of A Sociology of Ireland, Gill and MacMillan (2007); the co-editor (with
Michel Peillon) of Uncertain Ireland, (2006); Place and non-place; The
Reconfiguration of Ireland (2004) and Ireland Unbound: a turn of the
century chronicle (2002) all published by the Institute of Public Administration.
Corcoran’s co-edited book (with Mark O’Brien), Censorship
and the Democratic State, was published by Four Courts Press in 2005.
Her earlier book, Irish Illegals: Transients Between Two Societies (1993)
charted the experiences of undocumented Irish people in New York City
during the 1980s. She appears occasionally as a social commentator on
Irish radio and television.
Chris Couch
Chris Couch is Professor of Urban Planning at Liverpool John Moore’s
University (UK) and formerly Head of Planning and Housing Studies. His
main research interests lie in the application of socio-economic and
planning theory to aspects of urban planning and regeneration, particularly
in European comparative context, as well as the study of urban change
and policy in the Liverpool area. He is the author of several books on
planning including City of Change and Challenge: Urban Planning and Regeneration
in Liverpool (Ashgate, 2003) and co-editor (with c. Fraser and S. Percy)
of Urban Regeneration in Europe (Asgate, 2003) and (with L. Leontidou
and G. Petchel-Held) of the book European Urban Sprawl. Landscape, Land
use Chang& Policy (Blackwell, 2007).
Nick Gallent
Nick Gallent is Reader in Housing and Planning at University College
London. His research is chiefly concerned with UK housing policy
and, in particular, rural housing and issues relating to the provision
of
affordable housing through planning policy. This work has been published
in a range of academic and professional formats. Past research has
looked at housing needs in the north of England (for local authorities
and government),
the re-use of airfield sites (ESRC), the geography of employment
change (TCPA), the relationship between housing providers and planners
(RTPI),
housing pressure in rural Europe (for the Scottish Executive) and
the characteristics of sustainable suburban areas (Civic Trust).
Recent work
on rural housing has focused on policy towards second homes in Wales
(Welsh Assembly Government) and in England (Countryside Agency).
He has also completed more recent projects on categorising rural
areas in South
East England (SEEDA), the rural-urban fringe (Countryside Agency),
housing growth in southeast England (SEERA) and effective practice
in spatial
Planning (RTPI).
Books recently published include: Rural Second Homes in Europe (Ashgate,
2000 with Mark Tewdwr-Jones), Housing in the European Countryside (Routledge,
2003 with Mark Shucksmith and Mark Tewdwr-Jones), Delivering New Homes
(Routledge, 2003 with Matthew Carmona and Sarah Carmona), Shrinking to
Grow? (Institute of Community Studies, 2004, with Alan Mace, Peter Hall
and others), Second Homes: European Perspectives and UK Policies (Ashgate,
2005, with Alan Mace and Mark Tewdwr-Jones), Planning on the Edge (Routledge,
2006, with Johan Andersson and Marco Bianconi), Decent Homes for All
(Routledge, 2007, with Mark Tewdwr-Jones), Introducing Rural Planning
(Routledge, 2008, with Meri Juntti, Sue Kidd and Dave Shaw – forthcoming).
Montserrat Pareja Eastaway
Montserrat Pareja Eastaway has worked at the University of Barcelona
since 1993. An economist, her main research interests are residential
mobility, housing policies, neighborhood regeneration and sustainability.
She was the Spanish partner in the SOCOHO project (The importance of
housing systems in safeguarding social cohesion in Europe” funded
by the European Union- 5th Framework Programme) and in the RESTATE project
(“Restructuring large-scale housing estates in European cities:
good practices and new visions for sustainable neighborhoods and cities” funded
also by the 5th Framework Programme). She is currently involved in the
KATARSIS project on “Growing Inequality and Social Innovations:
Alternative Knowledge and Practice in Overcoming Social Exclusion in
Europe”, a Coordinated Action under the 6th FP. She is the coordinator
of the Spanish team in the ACRE project “Accommodating Creative
Knowledge – Competitiveness of European Metropolitan Regions within
the enlarged Union”: an Integrated Project also under the 6th FP
for the period 2006-2010. She was a convener of an Exploratory Workshop
funded by the European Science Foundation in 2007 on “Changing
housing and leisure-time cultures: a threat to sustainable development?
Challenges for European practices and policies”. She is the lead
person responsible for two projects funded by the Agencia Española
de Cooperación Internacional that involve the creation of a Latin
American Network for Housing and Urban Research (LANHUR) and the transferability
of knowledge, methodology and indicators in urban regeneration projects
in Barcelona and in Chile. She has also acted as an international advisor
on a World Bank project based in Costa Rica. Currently, she is co-editor
of the “Environment” section of the forthcoming Encyclopedia
of Housing and Home to be published by Elsevier in 2011. She has been
a member of the Co-ordination Committee of the European Network for Housing
Research since 2000 and co-ordinates the working group on Housing and
Urban Sustainability.
Chris Paris
Chris Paris is Professor of Housing Studies at the
University of Ulster, Honorary Professor in Urban Planning & Environmental Management at
the University of Hong Kong and Visiting Professor in Social Science & Planning,
RMIT University. Chris has wide international experience of university
research, teaching and examination in housing, planning and urban development.
He also has extensive international experience of applied research
for government, statutory agencies and private sector organisations.
He is
currently conducting research on social and economic aspects of second
home ownership in affluent societies. His recent research activities
have included migration and Irish housing markets, changing Irish urban
systems, demographic change and housing need, the housing needs of
older people, and planning and housing affordability. Chris is the
author or
co-author or editor of many books, monographs and research reports
on housing, planning and urban policy as well as over 100 publications
in
refereed journals, research-based books, and professional journals.
Nataša Pichler-Milanovic
Nataša Pichler-Milanovic is a senior research associate at the
Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Her academic and profession background is in geography and urban and
regional planning. She has been employed as a researcher and lecturer
in Belgrade, London, Tokyo, Ljubljana, and as a consultant for UN, EU,
OECD. Her current research interests are in city competitiveness, housing
studies, spatial analyses, European polycentric development and cross-border
cooperation.
Ivan Tosics
Iván Tosics is sociologist (Ph.D.) and research fellow with
long experiences in urban sociology, strategic development, housing
policy and EU regional policy issues. He is Coordination Committee
member of the European Network for Housing Research (ENHR) and of the
European Urban Research Association (EURA). Dr Tosics represented MRI
in several EU 5th and 6th Framework Programme projects. He is the representative
of the Municipality of Budapest (currently chair) in the Economic Development
Forum of EUROCITIES. He is Policy Editor of the new journal Urban Research
and Practice, and member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the ‘Journal
of Housing and the Built Environment’ and of ‘Housing Studies’.
He participated in the preparation of the Rehabilitation Strategy of
Budapest, and is the leader of a consortium working on the medium and
long term Urban Development Strategy of Budapest. Together with József
Hegedüs, he organised the ENHR International Housing Conference
in Budapest in 1993 (300 participants) and ENHR conference in Balatonfüred
in 1999 (150 participants). He is co-editor of the books on "Restructing
large housing estates in Europe", "Housing Privatization
in Eastern Europe", "The Reform of Housing in Eastern Europe
and the Soviet Union" and author of some 50 scientific publications
in urban and housing issues.
Sasha Tsenkova
Dr Sasha Tsenkova is Professor of International Development and Director
of Planning at the University of Calgary. She holds a Ph.D. in Architecture
(Technical University, Prague) and a Ph.D. in Planning (University
of Toronto). A strong commitment to interdisciplinary research and
scholarship has guided her career. Over the last 25 years she has taught
at the universities in Toronto, York and Calgary and has been a visiting
professor in Sweden, Scotland, Latvia, the Netherlands and her native
Bulgaria. Dr Tsenkova specialises in urban planning, housing policy
and comparative urban development. Her research and professional activities
in these areas for the the World Bank, Council of Europe and the United
Nations include a range of housing and urban projects in more than
20 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Central
Asia. She is the author of 15 books and research monographs and over
50 articles on urban policy, regeneration, urban sustainability and
housing policy. Her scholarship is internationally recognised by a
number of other prestigious awards for international scholars, such
as Killam Fellowship, Urban Studies Fellowship, Sasakawa Scholarship,
International Peace Scholarship, and British Council Award. Her most
recent books on urban transformations in eastern Europe include The
Urban Mosaic of Post-socialist Europe and Lost in Transition: Housing
Reforms in Post-socialist Europe.
|
