Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
housing organisations. Overall, there are 214
contracts in existence, fifty-eight of which are in
the Paris region
(lie de France)
. An additional 4
billion francs is provided by regional councils.
Contracts last five years (1994-8) and are funded
by central government.The key aims are to enhance
public service provision, renovate poor housing
(120,000 units a year), support economic
regeneration and prevent crime. The amount of
resources set aside by the government is 9.5 billion
francs (approximately 1 billion) to be spent between
1994 and 1998 (LHU1997). The implementation
of the contract is the responsibility of the senior
chef de project
and a steering committee, on which
serve elected representatives and the local prefect.
The actual implementation of the contract is the
task of officers.
The policies now being pursued in France are
in certain respects similar to the initiatives being
undertaken in the UK and other developed
countries. Both illustrate the pressures on
government to target resources selectively and at
the same time integrate housing measures alongside
economic initiatives. However, as is the case in
Britain, it is doubtful whether these initiatives can
reverse the accelerating social problems now
emerging in developed countries and the increasing
divide between the 'weil-off' and those who are
deemed to be socially excluded. In addition, there
is increasing concern that the complex bureaucracy
established by
contract de ville
means that
implementation is now contingent on a wider
network of agencies than was the case previously,
making it much more difficult to undertake quick
and effective decision making or attract private
sector investment (Tuppen 1995: p. 371).
other considerations such as politics and ideology if
we are to understand the nature of contemporary
housing problems. The three case studies provide
an illustration of the way in which pressures on
government to act may not be as substantial as other
competing pressures to control public expenditure
and stimulate growth. Although considerable
publicity and energy is devoted to the new
initiatives, this should not conceal the stark
underlying reality that social housing problems are
slipping from the mainstream political agenda of
most governments in the developed world.
However, in spite of this pessimistic assertion,
there are some positive aspects to the way that
specific problems are being addressed. In both
France and the UK, efforts to integrate housing
policies within wider economic and political
concerns reverse long-standing policies that saw
government tiers working in isolation.Yet in both
countries it is doubtful whether the resources
provided are sufficient to address the scale of the
problem. In New York, the response to
homelessness reflects the low status accorded to
social welfare. It is no surprise that in this
environment government rhetoric has not been
matched by spending commitments.
In any assessment of specific policy responses, it
is important to recognise that throughout the
developing world there is little enthusiasm to
commit large-scale resources to tackle the problems
that exist for the poorest members of society. If we
judge housing policies by the level of resources set
aside by governments and not statements of intent,
then the only conclusion that can be meaningfully
drawn is that the problems of housing have
marginal importance in the policy agenda framed
by governments throughout the developed world.
Ultimately, this can be traced back to the capacity
of sophisticated electorates to resist policies that
promote increased taxation as a means of alleviating
inequality (Galbraith 1992) and the willingness of
countries to adopt market solutions irrespective of
the impact that these policies have on the poorest
and most vulnerable residents.While predicting the
future is always difficult, it would appear from
current housing policies that even though the
widening gulf between rich and poor citizens may
CONCLUSION
This chapter began with a discussion about how
problems of housing are defined and what are
deemed the appropriate policy responses. It was
argued that a reliance on a narrow economic
formulation as either one of limited supply and
excess demand or as an enduring facet of industrial
society is best supplemented with an analysis of
