Throughout the world there is an increasing movement of populations into urban areas and cities. As a result the demographic, economic, social and cultural characteristics of urban areas are changing, particularly in countries undergoing rapid urbanization. This book explores the different approaches to this internationally within the fields of housing and urban planning with a particular focus on developing countries. Concepts such as "informal settlements,""shelter" and "housing deficit" are explained. The impact of rapid urbanization and associated globalization on land use and housing is...

Housing market renewal is one of the most controversial urban policy programmes of recent years. Housing Market Renewal and Social Class critically examines the rationale for housing market renewal: to develop 'high value' housing markets in place of the so-called 'failing markets' of low-cost housing. Whose interests are served by such a programme and who loses out?

Drawing on empirical evidence from Liverpool, the author argues that housing market renewal plays to the interests of the middle classes in viewing the market for houses as a field of social and economic...

Urban regeneration projects are once again deployed in Europe's cities, involving a widening range of actors whilst increasingly depending on private investment. This book explores the relationships, the objectives, and the strategies of the actors engaging in these projects in cities of three advanced European economies.

Drawing on recent academic studies in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, this book is the first international text on homelessness in rural areas. Consisting of fifteen specially commissioned chapters, International Perspectives on Rural Homelessness provides comparative material on the cultural, political and policy contexts of rural homelessness, examining the nature and scale of the issue and the complex local geographies of rural homelessness.