Search

An ongoing question in capability research is how to incorporate the value of freedom into the measurement of inequality. This article proposes an approach to answering this question in the housing domain and its operationalisation. The approach places an evaluation focus to the conditions constraining or expanding housing choices in the dimensions of opportunity, security, and ability. For operationalisation, the study designed a measurement of multidimensional housing disadvantages (MHDs) using the Alkire-Foster method and data from the Netherlands. Indicators include the entitlement to housing tenure options, vulnerability in housing cost payments, and ability to plan finance for housing. The measurement outcome demonstrates that the MHDs measurement can provide information on whose housing choices are more intensely constrained, thus having a lower capability for housing, and whose current housing situation is likely a result of coerced choices. The findings indicate that adults living with housemates or family (latent households), youths, and those with precarious jobs have a significantly lower capability for housing compared to other population groups. This article also compares the freedom-oriented measure of MHDs with functioning-oriented and other conventional measures and discusses its distinguishing properties. This comparison suggests a need to revisit current policy priorities in addressing housing inequality., Urban Development Management

When correcting policies to tackle rising housing inequality, certain principles of housing justice are necessary. Recently, the capability approach to justice has attracted the attention of housing scholars, as promising guidance to compensate for problems in conventional policy approaches. However, the practicality of its policy application remains uncertain. This article suggests how to manage the issues creating gaps between the philosophy of the capability approach and housing policy practices, along the chain of essential questions of justice theories (which ideal institutions, metrics of justice, and distributive pattern rules?). Building on this reasoning, the article proposes that housing policy be guided by the changes in unjust housing situations in terms of people’s capability for housing, instead of by absolute principles of distribution, or characteristics of welfare state/housing regimes. For evaluating housing capability, this article proposes to assess housing opportunities, housing securities and housing abilities. The article concludes with implications for the roles of comparative housing research in implementing the proposed approach., Urban Development Management

Housing inequality is a growing concern in our society. In recent decades, this inequality has been exacerbated by the phenomenon of housing being financialized and commodified as a means for wealth accumulation. Management of financial institutions and housing markets has become the centre of attention in policy discussion. The questions of how to promote the moral values tied to housing, such as human rights, dignity and freedom, and how to better enable people to access suitable housing have been marginalized. As a way forward, the states’ re-intervention and re-distribution policies, and the human rights-based approach to housing policies are discussed, but this thesis advocates for a more ambitious paradigm shift. By extending Amartya Sen’s capability approach to housing, the thesis argues for resetting the primary goal of housing policies as expansion of people’s capabilities for housing—expanding opportunity, ability and security to lead their valued ways of residing—beyond the distribution of monetary and material resources for housing, such as housing benefits and dwelling units. This thesis presents the theoretical foundations of this argument and proposes basic principles to guide housing policies, which can serve as a normative basis of housing debates on necessary policy actions. An essential tool to guide housing policies towards this newly proposed goal is to evaluate policy outcomes and housing affairs of people—well-being, deprivation and inequality in housing—with capability considerations. The thesis suggests how this evaluation can be done and can help policies address the inequalities in what people can do to pursue their suitable housing options and how well they are actually residing., A+BE I Architecture and the Built Environment No 23 (2022), Urban Development Management

This study empirically examines the difference of the capability approach to evaluating well-being and equality in housing, with data from the Netherlands. Conventionally, well-being/inequality in housing have been evaluated by measures of economic/material means for housing or satisfaction. In theory, these evaluation approaches overlook some important normative concerns, and applying the capability approach – evaluating the capabilities to reside in ways a person values – can compensate for such weakness. However, its practical difference appears as yet contested. This study reviews the sources of such contesting views, and clarifies them by comparing the capability-oriented and conventional measures of housing deprivation in terms of their identification of deprived groups that welfare policies are supposed to address. The results showed that the overlap between the deprived groups was rather limited, revealing blind spots in the current welfare policies for housing and the informational benefits of capabilityoriented evaluation. This study adds implications for measurement methods., Urban Development Management

When correcting policies to tackle rising housing inequality, certain principles of housing justice are necessary. Recently, the capability approach to justice has attracted the attention of housing scholars, as promising guidance to compensate for problems in conventional policy approaches. However, the practicality of its policy application remains uncertain. This article suggests how to manage the issues creating gaps between the philosophy of the capability approach and housing policy practices, along the chain of essential questions of justice theories (which ideal institutions, metrics of justice, and distributive pattern rules?). Building on this reasoning, the article proposes that housing policy be guided by the changes in unjust housing situations in terms of people’s capability for housing, instead of by absolute principles of distribution, or characteristics of welfare state/housing regimes. For evaluating housing capability, this article proposes to assess housing opportunities, housing securities and housing abilities. The article concludes with implications for the roles of comparative housing research in implementing the proposed approach., Urban Development Management

Covid-19 and especially the extreme measures of the lockdown in response to the virus, have exposed existing housing inequalities. They revealed how, in the 21st century, households still live in poor and insecure housing conditions exposing them to increased physical and mental health risks. In the Netherlands, where we as authors are based, similar inequalities and injustices in the housing sector can be observed. How can the wide variety of impacts of the coronavirus be understood, and what should be done to address them? Justice theories offer a valuable framework. By spotlighting the impacts of the coronavirus crisis on four households who are differently affected, we explore different critical perspectives to analyse the current crisis more coherently., Practice Chair Urban Area Development, Housing Institutions & Governance

Housing Institutions & Governance

Housing has played a significant role in increasing inequality. It has been financialised and losing its human and social dimensions. A critical review of housing policy directions is needed to explore a new housing approach. This article revisits the underpinning perspectives of housing policy discussions through the lens of the capability approach. The capability approach is a normative evaluative approach to understanding poverty, well-being, and justice. It argues that policy should primarily focus on expanding individuals' capabilities instead of resources and utilities. From its perspective, understanding the sources and nature of capability deprivation and inequity is central to removing existing injustice in our society, and to re-establishing ethics at the centre of policy discussions. What implications for housing studies can we draw from the capability approach? The article presents a conceptual application of the capability approach to housing policy discussions, and concludes that a capability-oriented housing policy framework has an added value., Housing Institutions & Governance

Covid-19 and especially the extreme measures of the lockdown in response to the virus, have exposed existing housing inequalities. They revealed how, in the 21st century, households still live in poor and insecure housing conditions exposing them to increased physical and mental health risks. In the Netherlands, where we as authors are based, similar inequalities and injustices in the housing sector can be observed. How can the wide variety of impacts of the coronavirus be understood, and what should be done to address them? Justice theories offer a valuable framework. By spotlighting the impacts of the coronavirus crisis on four households who are differently affected, we explore different critical perspectives to analyse the current crisis more coherently., Practice Chair Urban Area Development, Housing Institutions & Governance

Housing has played a significant role in increasing inequality. It has been financialised and losing its human and social dimensions. A critical review of housing policy directions is needed to explore a new housing approach. This article revisits the underpinning perspectives of housing policy discussions through the lens of the capability approach. The capability approach is a normative evaluative approach to understanding poverty, well-being, and justice. It argues that policy should primarily focus on expanding individuals' capabilities instead of resources and utilities. From its perspective, understanding the sources and nature of capability deprivation and inequity is central to removing existing injustice in our society, and to re-establishing ethics at the centre of policy discussions. What implications for housing studies can we draw from the capability approach? The article presents a conceptual application of the capability approach to housing policy discussions, and concludes that a capability-oriented housing policy framework has an added value., Urban Development Management

Urban Development Management

The paper explores an idea for framing housing justice with the capability approach, and how the housing justice framework can guide for the inequality reduction in housing. The changes in the world – such as the growth of wealth inequality, housing financialisation, and the rise of the precariat – indicate that the traditional welfare state models and housing policy directions need to be redesigned. The factors creating inequality in housing are no longer confined to the boundary of a ‘state’. This demands us to reexamine the nation-state-based discourse on inequality. There is a growing consensus that a correction is urgently needed, but debates on guiding principles seem absent. The paper aims to open a debate about this topic and suggests that the housing justice framework with the capability approach can play a role as a guide. Three essential subjects of theories of justice are specified to form a base of the idea for housing justice: (a) the characterisation of ideal institutions; (b) metrics of justice (i.e. capabilities); and (c) distributive pattern rules. The paper concludes that the realisation-focused comparative approach to housing justice is plausible in contrast to the approach that primarily focuses on defining ideal institutions. Housing capabilities need to be compared, and the paper suggests three sub-spaces of the housing capabilities metric to make its concept more workable: opportunities, securities and abilities. The scope of housing justice should not be confined to the distribution of holdings – such as adequate housing – and the notion of redistribution of the welfare states. It concludes that the primary task is to monitor to what extent a housing policy is enhancing capabilities of individuals – real housing opportunities to enjoy, rather than to merely monitor whether a policy has reached the perfectly just distributive rule or threshold. Based on the ideas proposed, the paper draws implications for the role of housing research, particu, Urban Development Management

This presentation summarises the research proposal for developing a model for applying the capability approach to housing studies, and testing the model through a case study in Manila. The conceptual framework of this research lies in a comparative analysis of key theoretical approaches to well-being in the field of welfarism, planning and development: i.e. utilitarian and capability approach. Welfare-housing framework has deeply been rooted in welfarism and utilitarianism. They have been dominant in analysing housing outcomes as well as designing housing policies for low-income groups and the poor. Meanwhile, in development studies, the capability approach has substantially influenced on the research of poverty and well-being, and also on policy recommendations. The capability approach, pioneered by economist-philosopher Amartya Sen, claims that social policy framework and its evaluative approach should move beyond the norms of welfarim and utilitarianism. This research proposes to examine the extent to which the housing policies/programmes in Manila are linked to or influenced by utilitarian and capability approach, and to analyse each policy or programme’s impact on households’ well-being. It first examines what dimensions of capabilities are relevant to housing. Based on the findings, it evaluates the impact of housing programmes on the capabilities identified, and thus eventually well-being of the urban poor. This research aims to examine the applicability of the capability approach and its contributing value to welfarism-oriented practices that are dominant in housing policy and planning field. The case study – a model test – plans to conduct a comparative study of three settlements in Manila, in which public housing, slum upgrading, and community-driven housing programmes have been implemented. The research expects to reveal what aspects are missing or fulfilled in different housing approaches for enhancing the urban poor’s capabilities and well-being, and th, Housing Institutions & Governance

This paper investigates to what extent the capability approach can contribute to housing studies and policy development. The capability approach, pioneered by economist-philosopher Amartya Sen and philosopher Martha Nussbaum, is built upon critical reviews on the norms of welfarism and utilitarianism, and argues that social policy and its evaluative approach need to move beyond them. Social policies have largely focused on material means such as income and wealth or subjective categories such as satisfaction and preferences. In contrast, the capability approach emphasises that the focus should be placed at expanding people’s opportunities and abilities to achieve the things – beings and doings – that they value, instead of limiting to resources or subjective feelings. Traditionally, housing policy studies have deeply been rooted in the norms of the welfare state, welfare economics and its philosophical foundation of utilitarianism. What implications for housing studies can we draw from the capability approach? The paper explores this topic and presents a conceptual discussion on how the capability approach can be applied to the studies on housing policy and its evaluative framework. It will critically review mainstream evaluative approaches in housing policy, and commonly used informational bases, such as the total number of dwellings supplied, housing quality, housing satisfaction and housing affordability, which have been the core indicators to assess overall housing performance. According to the capability approach perspective, the mainstream evaluative approaches tend to ignore other important aspects, such as distribution matters, diversity of human beings and values, and non-utility concerns such as moral issues, rights, and justice. The central concerns of housing policy need to include to what extent a policy expands people’s opportunities and abilities to pursue their housing process, by removing obstacles that people face in the process. In other words, it, Housing Institutions & Governance

This presentation summarises the research proposal for developing a model for applying the capability approach to housing studies, and testing the model through a case study in Manila. The conceptual framework of this research lies in a comparative analysis of key theoretical approaches to well-being in the field of welfarism, planning and development: i.e. utilitarian and capability approach. Welfare-housing framework has deeply been rooted in welfarism and utilitarianism. They have been dominant in analysing housing outcomes as well as designing housing policies for low-income groups and the poor. Meanwhile, in development studies, the capability approach has substantially influenced on the research of poverty and well-being, and also on policy recommendations. The capability approach, pioneered by economist-philosopher Amartya Sen, claims that social policy framework and its evaluative approach should move beyond the norms of welfarim and utilitarianism. This research proposes to examine the extent to which the housing policies/programmes in Manila are linked to or influenced by utilitarian and capability approach, and to analyse each policy or programme’s impact on households’ well-being. It first examines what dimensions of capabilities are relevant to housing. Based on the findings, it evaluates the impact of housing programmes on the capabilities identified, and thus eventually well-being of the urban poor. This research aims to examine the applicability of the capability approach and its contributing value to welfarism-oriented practices that are dominant in housing policy and planning field. The case study – a model test – plans to conduct a comparative study of three settlements in Manila, in which public housing, slum upgrading, and community-driven housing programmes have been implemented. The research expects to reveal what aspects are missing or fulfilled in different housing approaches for enhancing the urban poor’s capabilities and well-being, and th, Urban Development Management

This paper investigates to what extent the capability approach can contribute to housing studies and policy development. The capability approach, pioneered by economist-philosopher Amartya Sen and philosopher Martha Nussbaum, is built upon critical reviews on the norms of welfarism and utilitarianism, and argues that social policy and its evaluative approach need to move beyond them. Social policies have largely focused on material means such as income and wealth or subjective categories such as satisfaction and preferences. In contrast, the capability approach emphasises that the focus should be placed at expanding people’s opportunities and abilities to achieve the things – beings and doings – that they value, instead of limiting to resources or subjective feelings. Traditionally, housing policy studies have deeply been rooted in the norms of the welfare state, welfare economics and its philosophical foundation of utilitarianism. What implications for housing studies can we draw from the capability approach? The paper explores this topic and presents a conceptual discussion on how the capability approach can be applied to the studies on housing policy and its evaluative framework. It will critically review mainstream evaluative approaches in housing policy, and commonly used informational bases, such as the total number of dwellings supplied, housing quality, housing satisfaction and housing affordability, which have been the core indicators to assess overall housing performance. According to the capability approach perspective, the mainstream evaluative approaches tend to ignore other important aspects, such as distribution matters, diversity of human beings and values, and non-utility concerns such as moral issues, rights, and justice. The central concerns of housing policy need to include to what extent a policy expands people’s opportunities and abilities to pursue their housing process, by removing obstacles that people face in the process. In other words, it, Urban Development Management