ABSTRACT
Housing is of central importance in both the national economy and the individual’s standard of living. It is a major land use, and its location is a crucial factor in the economy of cities, in transportation, in local economic development, and in the access to opportunities available to individuals. At the same time, its very high cost, compared with other items of household expenditure, presents some particularly difficult problems of finance. Its long life necessitates continual maintenance to prevent deterioration. The condition of individual houses can have neighborhood effects: poor maintenance can blight nearby houses. Deterioration can also result from neighborhood changes – social, economic, or physical. In addition to it providing physical shelter, an individual’s position in the housing market can affect social status, capital gains (or losses), and credit availability. The ramifications of this combination of attributes make housing an extraordinarily complex matter. Its multiple dimensions include locational, architectural, physical, economic, social, medical, psychological, and financial. As a result, ‘housing policy’ involves very much more than the building of houses. It involves a number of policy areas that must be considered together, not independently of each other. Doing the latter may simply exacerbate existing housing problems. Moreover, the reader who has come this far will not need reminding that discrimination is a major issue
in the determination of land uses. This discrimination affects the operation of the housing market, and greatly adds to the problems of ensuring the provision of affordable housing.
