The Encyclopedia of Housing

THIS ENCYCLOPAEDIA PROVIDES a substantial reference for readers regarding key issues relating to housing. It aims to capture the diversity and scope inherent in the housing field, and responds to the growing interest in integration between the many disciplines involved in housing as a field of research, including urban studies, political science, sociology, economics, geography, anthropology and psychology. It contains contributions from nearly 250 authors, including many leading authorities and internationally recognized experts representing more than a dozen disciplines and working in widely different settings, including academic departments, public agencies at the federal and local level, non-profit organizations and private firms.

The volume has more than 500 entries – from Abandonment to Zoning – including essays on topics such as behavioural and cultural aspects, design and planning, discrimination and segregation, environmental hazards and contamination, housing construction and finance, population groups, regulatory aspects and residential development. It offers a brief description of each topic and further elaboration of selected aspects, followed by critical assessment. Most entries also have a brief bibliography listing classical works and recent authoritative studies or other key publications. The encyclopaedia also brings into focus the many, important connections between different disciplines within the field, through cross-referencing. Entries often form clusters of interrelated topics, and cross-referencing at the end of each entry helps identify these clusters and facilitates an understanding between different subjects.

The encyclopaedia has four appendices. The first comprises the nodal entries used for cross-referencing. The second and third list the housing organizations and housing publications included in the entries. The fourth is a chronology of major US housing legislation. Most of these acts and their major components are also covered in separate entities. There are three indices at the end of the volume: the first lists the authors of the encyclopaedia, the second the names of the authors whose works are cited in the brief bibliographies that conclude most entries, and the third lists terms that appear in the text of the entries.

Unlike traditional encyclopaedias, the entries go well beyond providing definitions of topics. Rather, they describe, elaborate and critically assess issues of relevance to a wide variety of readers. It is not only a simple historic volume but also is conceptual in nature so that the issues are dealt with in a long-term manner. Any reader will thus be able to scan the history and come up with the central problems and prospects for each area covered. In some instances, readers may find entries more argumentative than they are used to seeing in a standard encyclopaedia. The list of authors, for example, includes both long-time champions of a progressive housing agenda and leading advocates of a more conservative political paradigm.

Although the prime reference for the encyclopaedia is North America, in particular the United States, it should be of interest to a wider audience because of the wealth of information and analysis covering key concepts and issues that apply without regard to national context.
The encyclopaedia serves as an important step in the process of using the knowledge we have accumulated in many disciplines to address the persistent and worldwide problem of how to provide decent and affordable shelter for all.