Council Housing and Culture : The History of a Social Experiment

ISBN-13: 9780415239462 / Angielski / Miękka / 2001 / 272 str.

Alison Ravetz

Opis

This book is a comprehensive and indepth history of British council housing. For political and institutional reasons it operated as a law unto itself for most of its history, but is now undergoing major change and re-integration into mainstream housing and society. The bulk of research and literature on the subject has been from social policy and politics perpectives, and an overall history has not been attempted, other than as chapters or sections of chapters in more general books. This has resulted in a number of important omissions - notably the relation of design and management to the quality and performance of public housing, and the role and influence of users (tenants and their families) both in provision, quality and performance. This book should remedy these gaps and make clear the importance of council housing to 20-century life and culture, both at a personal and a societal level. A major thread running through the book is the interaction of council housing with evolving working-class patterns and aspirations.

Recenzje

'This is a thoughtful and well-written account of a clearly focused subject that also stimulates a wider social question.' - Built Environment

'Ravetz approaches the topic with a mix of careful analysis and underlying compassion... Ravetz avoids the easy route and chooses instead to take the reader along a clearly signposted path which shows evidence of achievements as well as failings.' - Built Environment

'Lucid, compelling, and highly relevant to current concerns.' - Town and Country Planning

'The arguments here are thought-provoking and the story is well-written. This should be worthwhile reading to anyone interested in the past or the future not only of council housing but also of housing associations.' - John Doling, Local Government Studies

'Excellent comprehensive history, the latest addition to the praiseworthy series of books on planning, history and the environment edited by Professor A. Sutcliffe. This is a brave book, probably the first comprehensive history of the subject. The bibliography is impressive.' - Urban Design Quarterly, Summer 2002

'Its most stimulating aspect is the comprehensive approach to the subject and the avoidance of the simplistic explanations so frequently used when dealing with it. Alison Ravetz has not only researched widely, she has also tried to connect the various strands of this complicated and often depressing story. A book that should be compulsory reading for anyone concerned with reducing social inequalities.' - THES, 6 September, 2002

Spis treści

Part I Chapter 1. Introduction. Chapter 2. A Domestic Revolution: Poverty, Respectability and Housing Reform. Chapter 3. Housing for the Poor. Chapter 4. The Utopian Roots of Council Housing. Chapter 5. The Artistic Inspiration of Council Housing. Chapter 6. Garden City to Council Estate. Part II Chapter 7. The Utopian Legacy. Chapter 8. The Management of Council Housing. Chapter 9. 'Community' on Council Estates. Chapter 10. Patterns of Working-Class Life. Chapter 11. Estate Histories. Part III Chapter 12. Turning Points: The Parameters at the Turn of the Century.

O autorze

Alison Ravetz is Professor Emeritus of Leeds Metropolitan University, and has written extensively for more than 25 years on the history of housing, cities and planning.