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Both theoretically informed and empirically rich, Defensible Space makes an important conceptual contribution to policy mobilities thinking, to policy and practice, and also to practitioners handling of complex spatial concepts. Critically examines the geographical concept Defensible Space, which has been influential in designing out crime to date, and has been applied to housing estates in the UK, North America, Europe and beyond Evaluates the movement/mobility/mobilisation of defensible space from the US to the UK and into English housing policy and practice Explores the multiple ways the concept of defensible space was interpreted and implemented, as it circulated from national to local level and within particular English housing estates Critiquing and pushing forwards work on policy mobilities, the authors illustrate for the first time how transfer mechanisms worked at both a policy and practitioner level Drawing on extensive archival research, oral histories and in-depth interviews, this important book reveals defensible space to be ambiguous, uncertain in nature, neither proven or disproven scientifically more...

This book shows how governance regimes before the 1970s suppressed rural prospects of housing improvement and created conditions for middle-class capture. Using original archival sources to reveal the intricacies of local and national policy processes, weak rural housing performances are shown to owe more to national governance regimes than local under-performance. Looking `behind the scenes'at policy processes highlights neglected principles in national governance, and shows how investigating rural housing is fundamental to understanding the national scene. With original insights and a new analytical perspective, this volume offers evidence and conclusions that challenge mainstream assumptions in public policy, housing, rural studies and planning. more...

First published in 1997, this volume presents the results of in-depth research into the application of the UK homelessness legislation in relation to community care, the Children Act 1989, violence to women, and racial harassment. This is supplemented with a consideration of policies and practices in 15 local authority homelessness departments. It is argued that government created the nation of a successful, or'appropriate'applicant, but this could not be translated into actual practice as the original legislation did not facilitate it. In fact, in the mid-1990s, government became more concerned with notions of inappropriateness, stereotyping those using the homelessness legislation and creating modern'folk devils'. This was the background to the 1996 changes to the homelessness legislation which have created the notion of the'inappropriate'applicant. It is argued that the new legislation is more concerned with denial, deterrence and privatization. The new legislation has also detrimentally affected the application of the homelessness legislation in each of the areas discussed. more...

As housing supply in England reaches crisis point, Duncan Bowie provides a critical review of housing policy under successive UK governments. From Blair's New Labour and Cameron's Coalition government to the 2016 Housing and Planning Act, Bowie demonstrates how successive governments have failed to provide adequate, affordable housing, leading to a chronic lack of provision. Exploring the inter-relationship between housing, planning and land policies, Bowie puts forward a reform programme based on an alternative set of policy priorities and delivery mechanisms, arguing the case for an integrated approach on land, taxation, planning and public investment to provide radical solutions to a growing crisis. more...

In recent years many nations have asked why not enough housing is being built or, when it is built, why it isn't of the highest quality or in the best, most sustainable, locations. Politics, Planning and Housing Supply in Australia, England and Hong Kong examines the politics and planning of new homes in three very different settings, but with shared political traditions: in Australia, in England and in Hong Kong. It investigates the power-relationships and politics that underpin the allocation of land for large-scale residential schemes and the processes and politics that lead to particular development outcomes. Using a comparative framework, it asks: how different systems of urban governance and planning mediate the supply of land for housing; whether and how these system differences influence the location, quantity and price of residential land and the implications for housing outcomes; what can be learned from these different systems for allocating land, building consensus between different stakeholders, and delivering a steady supply of high quality and well located homes accessible to, and appropriate for, diverse housing needs. This book frames each case study in a comprehensive examination of national and territorial frameworks before dissecting key local cases. These local cases – urban renewal and greenfield growth centres in Australia, new towns and strategic sites in England, and major development schemes in Hong Kong – explore how broader urban planning and housing policy goals play out at the local level. While the book highlights a number of potential strategies for improving planning and housing delivery processes, the real challenge is to give voice to a broader array of interests, reconstituting the political process surrounding planning and housing development to prioritise homes in well-planned places for the many, rather than simply facilitating investment opportunities for the few. more...

This book addresses the need for an in-depth study into design quality in new housing. The wider implications of policy and design are examined through a series of case studies of new housing projects in the UK and the Netherlands. Dutch interdisciplinary design and modern methods of construction are widely considered to be of the highest quality from which much can be learned and understood. This new guide offers architects the best practice for the design, policy and construction of new homes. The author considers proposals for the Thames Gateway and government incentives to create better quality housing, including the £60,000 house and design reviews. The wider implications of skills and training of architects, planners, design professionals and those parties involved in housing are also addressed. more...

Exploring the politics of housing during 1890-1990, this fascinating study examines the interaction not only of national and local politics but also of local factors such as civic culture, key local players, local discourse and geographical and demographic problems. This book argues that increasingly, tenants acted as consumers of a public service, and it questions the way in which notions of consumerism shaped responses to the housing debate.An analysis of the impact of legislation on housing policy in different cities is provided, as well as a more detailed account of the politics of housing in Manchester, including the Victorian legacy, the emergence of local government intervention, post-war overspill estates, new system-built flats and their rapid deterioration, rising tenant anger and protests, and the beginning of a new approach based on consultation and partnerships.The book will be of value to anyone studying urban history, politics, governance, civic culture, social policy and society. more...

This book directly addresses the major planning debate of our time - the delivery and quality of new housing development. As pressure for new housing development in England increases, a widespread desire to improve the design of the resulting residential environments becomes evermore apparent with increasing condemnation of the standard products of the volume housebuilders.In recent years central government has come to accept the need to deliver higher quality living environments, and the important role of the planning system in helping to raise design standards. Housing Design Quality focuses on this role and in particular on how the various policy instruments available to public authorities can be used in a positive manner to deliver higher quality residential developments. more...