ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a macroeconomic overview of the state of the art in the field of housing, which reveals considerable regional or country-specific demographic, social and economic differences between the cases drawing on specific countries. It discusses the changing circumstances for the formation and study of residential preferences. The book also focuses on the culture of second homes in an affluent Norwegian society with a constantly increasing living space per person. It also discusses the social significance of conversion of centrally-located industrial heritage complexes in Tallinn. The book presents a discourse analysis of a case in Flanders, Belgium, which based on 1990s low-scale debate on the assumed dysfunctions of social rental housing. It presents critical account on the lack of diversity of offers within housing market, which is particularly notable in housing production systems based on industrialisation and standardisation.
