Content

Housing and urban systems have emerged in each city and society reflecting variegated dwelling practices and spatial relations as well as variegated historical processes. Housing and urban systems thus provide a particular lens into societies and social change. This course addresses the built environment as a fundamental socio-economic dimension. The course begins by considering the socio-economic and political importance of the built environment and goes on to elaborate how housing and urban systems have interacted with processes of international convergence and divergence. We pay attention to the different actors involved in both urban/housing policies and different housing market segments (i.e. the owner-occupied, private rented and social rented markets). We discuss the following topics: political economy and other approaches in urban/housing studies; ideology, welfare and and urban/housing policies; housing tenure, financialization and non-market housing; gentrification, uneven development and neighbourhood/urban change; urban neoliberalism and entrepreneurialism; and finally, comparative urban and housing studies. The growing commodification of housing markets and urban space have helped reconfigure the field of urban/housing studies within the social sciences in recent decades and have reemphasised the importance of the built environment in understanding both cities and societies, including an appreciation of the differences between cities and countries.

Course material

Book chapters, papers and videos provided on Toledo.

Format: more information

• 11 lectures/seminars of 3 hours each, with preparation in the form of readings and videos
• 1 student presentation/critical reflection in the seminar
• 1 one-day field trip or other interactive and participative activity