ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the goal of the right to housing with reality for the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It also discusses the housing situation of refugees in the Netherlands, focusing on processing asylum applications, housing permit holders, and facilitating their integration into society. The book reviews the historical legacy of past discrimination in the mortgage and housing market and shows how this legacy has persisted in shaping unequal returns to homeownership. It traces the history and complications of providing a neighborhood with an identifiable, physical center, which is an important component of neighborhood life, and argues that planners should put more efforts into nurturing neighborhood center definition and designation. The book describes demographic, economic, and policy contributors to homeownership across Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.
