Overview

Urban sustainability and governance in relation to housing trends and policies is the focus of this book written by leading Nordic and Baltic housing researchers. The empirical examples are from the Baltic transition economies and the Nordic welfare states. For a number of reasons it is, however, of interest for outside this region. Firstly, the global challenges of sustainable development and planning, presented in the theoretical section, are clarified and given a deeper practical meaning through the empirical chapters. The contrasts between the post-solicalist Baltic states and the social-democrat Nordic countries are in this context of special value. Secondly, the general challenges facing the post-socialist states are demonstrated in the housing development and policies evolving since 1991, as these integrate both social, economic and environmental issues. Thirdly, the book illustrates how path dependencies and former legacies influence present developments, which, contrary to common beliefs, differ between the 5 Nordic and the 3 Baltic states. It is crucial reading for students and actors in planning and housing in the Baltic and Nordic states. The Nordic countries developed its post- WWII housing and welfare policies in the framework of a social-democrat egalitarian spirit resulting in co-ops dominating much of the scene in Norway, municipal housing companies in Sweden, non-profit local housing associations in Denmark and housing with special state loans in Finland. In the same period Soviet state-socialist intentions formed the basis of large-scale uniform housing estates providing standard housing for the masses in the Baltic states. Privatisation in the east and increasing market liberalisation in the west have created new social cleavages on the housing scene. There are striking policy differences between the Nordic and Baltic states, but also similarities, both before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, and in recent trends and challenges. The book provides a crucial common ground for reciporcal learning in the field of housing and planning.

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