ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book guides the theme of intertwining the dialogues and respective activities of researchers and policy makers. It aims to produce a thoroughly practical policy manuscript facilitated by a dialogue in which authors and policy makers challenged one another to articulate what a good sustainability policy is and how it is delivered most effectively. The book reflects major changes in public policy development and analysis over the past twenty years in advanced capitalist nations. Neo-liberalism has emerged as the dominant policy paradigm, especially in the Anglo-democracies of Australia, Britain, the United States, Canada and New Zealand. Market forces tend to focus the minds of both housing providers and residents on the immediate costs of accessing the dwelling, not on the lifetime costs of living in it.
