Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas.
This timely Advanced Introduction explores the links between housing and households, including the complex process of how people sort themselves into houses and neighborhoods. It covers the choices that households make, why these choices are made, and the constraints faced in achieving housing aspirations, with a particular focus on the contemporary difficulties facing young adults and those unable to buy a house despite a reasonable income.
Key features include:
- using the concept of the life course to analyse residential decisions and choices
- discussing tenure choice, affordability and social housing, as well as how neighborhoods matter in urban studies
- reviewing what is known about how the housing market operates, and how families and individuals engage with the process of becoming homeowners
- providing new information on the urban housing environment in a time of rising inequality, low income growth and extensive regulation in the housing market.
Advanced students and professionals of geography, planning, demography and economics will find this an invigorating read on how housing markets operate and the role of individual decisions about homeownership and residential space.
Industry Reviews
'The book's interdisciplinary and multi-country approach to housing studies is a strength. As is its multiscalar understanding of housing access, starting from the individual household through the lens of residential moves, to housing units based on their design and geographic placement, then to neighborhoods as independent social units sorting residents and housing across the urban mosaic, and finally to the institutional and country levels through macro demographic forces and policies shaping housing demand and supply. Written in a clear style, this book is suitable for students and scholars in geography, sociology, urban studies, urban planning, economics, and regional studies.' -- Noli Brazil, Journal of Urban Affairs
'William A.V. Clark shares four decades of wisdom in housing studies to craft a sweeping overview and broad integration of this multi-faceted field. Scholars in urban economics, geography, sociology, and public policy and planning can all profit from this high-level orientation that links supply and demand, markets and institutions, and dynamics of people moving across urban space. Specialists will find new light shed about context and implications, and every chapter features nuggets of deeper insight.' -- - Dowell Myers, University of Southern California, US
'Written by one of the leading international housing researchers, this valuable wide ranging introduction covers issues of housing demand and supply, sustainability, social housing and affordability; housing and social life and demography. It provides a stimulating, clearly written and very useful resource.' -- Chris Hamnett, King's College London, UK and Renmin University of China
'25 years after the book Households and Housing that he co-authored with the late Frans Dieleman, William A.V. Clark publishes a new book on housing. The book builds on around 40 years of scholarly research from various disciplines by the author himself--a world-leading expert in the field--and many others. Highly recommended!' -- - Clara H. Mulder, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
