Residential futures

Book chapter, 2016

Housing as a research field has theoretically a similar position as some other multidisciplinary applied research areas have, as there is no special theory designed for the topics which are not disciplines in the traditional sense of the definition. The constructionist epistemology offers a theoretical foundation that can enable to extend the parameters of academic enquiry in housing research. In social constructivism, the role of human subjects in residential processes is taken seriously instead of concentrating only on impersonal forces. The main criticism on the constructivist approach has been that it neglects the structural context within which individual experience is situated. The housing practices are currently undergoing profound changes. In spite of the current mortgage crisis, threats of negative differentiation in housing areas and inequalities in dwelling inside and in between countries, housing also has a future and positive potential to be more flexible, adaptable and resilient, responding to both predicted and unexpected changes.