ABSTRACT
Housing is more than shelter from the elements, it anchors individual and societal development. Even though the right to housing is accepted in principle, the United States has a housing crisis, in terms of (i) housing supply (shortage), (ii) housing affordability (high housing costs for buyers and renters), and (iii) homelessness (lack of basic shelter options). Tackling this enormous set of problems requires innovative thinking. This framing chapter argues that understanding the complex geographies of housing creates new opportunities to solve problems at the local/neighborhood scale where these housing crises are experienced by the public. This chapter addresses historical approaches to housing provision, considering societal attitudes, demographic shifts, and government policies. This chapter concludes by introducing the concept of spatial scale and multi-scalar analyses using Geographic Information Science (GIS) principles to elucidate housing issues.
