Mark Kleinman's new book explains what has happened to housing policy in Europe over the last two decades, and what housing policy can tell us about welfare development more generally over the period. Housing, Welfare and the State in Europe identifies a divergence in housing policy between, on the one hand, the majority of relatively affluent households and, on the other, an impoverished minority. The legal, financial and economic concerns of the well-housed, owner-occupier majority have preoccupied public policy across Europe, with the impoverished minority often badly housed or homeless. In Britain this has been particularly evident with elections won and lost on the level of the mortgage rate rather than the level of housing output, and still less on the level of homelessness. Housing policy occupies a unique place in public policy at the intersection of social with economic policy, involving a mixed economy of welfare. Consequently, Dr Kleinman's study offers insights into the future direction of public policy as a whole, the balance between economic and social goals, and the relative weighting given to free markets and state intervention in a variety of countries.

Contents:
Contents
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations
The Authors
Preface

1. Competition, Cohesion, Governance: The Urban Triangle

London and the New Urban Agenda

Competitiveness, Cohesion and Governance: Issues and Debates
Cities and Competitiveness
Cohesion, Exclusion and Social Capital
Policy Issues and Urban Governance

Conclusion: From Theory to Research

2. Spaces and People: Changing Geographies of the Region

Structures and Processes: London and Its Region since 1950
The London of 1950
An Intermediate Geography: London in 1975
The Changed Geography of London 2000

Mapping London's Geographies
The Changing Geography of Employment
Social Structure
House Prices: An Index of Social Change
Social Patterns across the Region: Households, Ethnicity and Deprivation

The Eight Localities
Reading and Wokingham (East and Central Reading and Earley)
Hounslow (Heston and Great West Road)
Wandsworth (Battersea and Clapham)
Southwark (Bankside, Bermondsey and Peckham)
Newham (Stratford and Upton Park)
Redbridge (Gants Hill and Ilford)
Greenwich (Charlton and Eltham)
Dartford and Gravesham (Kent Thames-side)

Conclusion: Unpicking the London Puzzle

3. Complex Business: Growth and Volatility in London's Economies

Assessing London's Recent Competitive Performance
Employment Change
Productivity
International Markets
Overall Competitive Performance

Instability and Volatility in the Regional Economy

Key Sectors and Clusters
The Economic Base of the Regional Economy
Global City Functions
Capital City Functions
Innovative and Knowledge-based Activities
Cultural Services

The Local Economies
Reading (Centre and East)
Hounslow (Great West Road)
Wandsworth (Battersea and Clapham)
The City of London
Southwark (Bankside and Bermondsey)
Newham (Stratford)
Redbridge (Ilford)
Greenwich (Charlton)
Dartford (Thames-side)

Social Influences on Business Performance
Labour Supply
Entrepreneurship
Local Networks
Crime and Other Threats
Conclusion: Is London Competitive?

4. More Opportunity, More Inequality: Social Structure and Economic
Change in London
Population Change and Its Consequences
The Changing Ethnic Composition
Occupation and Social Class: Is London a 'Global City'?
Earnings and Incomes in London
The Role of the Housing Market
Commuting
Neighbourhood Change and Social Segregation
Conclusion: Social and Neighbourhood Change in London

5. ''Education, Education, Education': The Role of Schooling in London

Skills and Human Capital

Educational Outcomes and School Performance in the London Region
Socio-economic Influences on School Performance
The School Quality Factor

The Competitive London Schools Market
Parents' Educational Strategies
Effects of the Quasi-Market

Further and Higher Education in the Competitive City

Ethnicity, Immigration and Schooling in London

Conclusion: Education, Economy and Society in London


6. Climbing Up, Bumping Down and Flitting Around: London's Dynamic Labour Market

Aggregate Imbalances and Adjustment Processes

Flexibility and Turbulence in the Metropolitan Labour Market

Flexibility and Job Changing in the London Labour Market

Upward Mobility

The Role of Agencies

The Costs and Benefits of Flexibility

Concentrated Unemployment and Its Causes: Discrimination, Recession and Sedimentation

Discrimination

Segregation and Unemployment

Conclusion: London's Distinctive Labour Market

7. Down But Not Out in London: Marginality and Social Exclusion

The Analytical Framework

The Spatial Pattern of Disadvantage

Forms of Poverty and Disadvantage in London
Labour Market Marginality
Poverty
Subjective Poverty and Stress Indicators
Housing
Stress and Isolation
The Persistence of Poverty and Other Measures of Disadvantage

Populations at Risk

The Persistence of Poverty and Other Measures of Disadvantage

Conclusion: Deprivation and Social Exclusion in London

8. How Social is the Capital? Getting By and Getting On in London

Families in London

Friends

Neighbours

Getting Ahead

Trust, Neighbourhood Affiliation and Communities

Social Capital, Civil Society and Governance

Social Capital and the Economy

Social Disorder

Crime

Conclusion: Social Relations in London

9. Things Endure, Things Change: London's Neighbourhoods

Six Kinds of Neighbourhood
The New Melting Pots: Battersea and East Reading
Proletarian Islands Under Pressure: Bermondsey/Peckham
An Area of 'Potential': Upton Park
The Suburb Challenged: Eltham, Heston
The Arcadian Suburb under Shadow: Gants Hill
The Dynamic Edge Suburb: Dartford, Earley

Generalities and Commonalities: Dimensions of Neighbourhood Life

Conclusion: Change and Continuity

10. Steering, Rowing, Drowning or Waving? The Modernization of London's Governance

The Modernization Agenda

The Local Authorities and the Modernization Agenda

The Local Authorities and Service Delivery

The Local Authorities: Their Agenda, Policies and Politics
Newham
Southwark
Wandsworth
Greenwich
Hou nslow
Redbridge
Dart ford
Reading and Wokingham

New Governance Organizations: the Mayor, the GLA and the RDAs

Conclusion: From Government to Governance?

11. The Name of Action: Ideas, Commitment and the Agenda for Cities

Answering the Five Key Questions

Is London Special?

Work in Progress: A New Society, A New Sociology

The Role of Policy: Obstacles and Opportunities

Governance: Structures, Operations, Collaboration

Postscript: The Mayor's London Plan

Bibliography

Index

This volume features a series of debates which arise from individual countries' differing housing needs within the confines of European integration. Key issues are addressed in four principal sections. First, the consequences of European integration for different housing markets is examined. Charting the progress made towards the integration of housing finance markets and the development of a Europe-wide construction industry, explanations for the differing levels of housing investment are sought and the problems that arise from housing market volatility. Secondly, a series of policies are examined, including the impact that the Maastricht Treaty. Thirdly, the social consequences of European integration are examined assessing income, distribution, homelessness and marginal housing estates. The final section provides descriptive accounts of housing in the Nordic countries and in Eastern Europe. By exploring member state disparities between demand and supply of both subsidies and housing provision, the authors demonstrate that progress towards European integration in housing systems and poliicies is a complex yet crucial issue.

This volume features a series of debates which arise from individual countries' differing housing needs within the confines of European integration. Key issues are addressed in four principal sections. First, the consequences of European integration for different housing markets is examined. Charting the progress made towards the integration of housing finance markets and the development of a Europe-wide construction industry, explanations for the differing levels of housing investment are sought and the problems that arise from housing market volatility. Secondly, a series of policies are examined, including the impact that the Maastricht Treaty. Thirdly, the social consequences of European integration are examined assessing income, distribution, homelessness and marginal housing estates. The final section provides descriptive accounts of housing in the Nordic countries and in Eastern Europe. By exploring member state disparities between demand and supply of both subsidies and housing provision, the authors demonstrate that progress towards European integration in housing systems and poliicies is a complex yet crucial issue.

For decades the cities of the developed world were seen as problem-beset relics from times of low mobility and slow communications. But now, their potential to sustain creativity, culture and innovation is perceived as crucial to success in a much more competitive global ecomony. The vital requirement to secure and sustain this success is argued to be the achievement of social cohesion.

Working Capital provides a rigorous but accessible analysis of these key issues taking London as its test case. The book provides the first substantial analysis of key economic, social and structural issues that the new London administration needs to deal with. In a wider context, its critical assessment of the bases of the new urbanism and of the global city thesis will raise questions both about the adequacy of urban thinking and about the capacity of new institutions alone to resolve the fundamental problems faced by cities.