An examination
of the space-place-home (sph) matrix as a conceptual tool for studying housing
policy
Joseph Kim-keung Ho
Independent
Trainer
Hong
Kong, China
Abstract:
It is the aspiration of the subject of Housing
Imagination (HI) to offer knowledge to inform housing policy evaluation and
implementation. For that, the HI subject needs to explain how its favoured
notions of space, place and home, among others, can actually help analysts and
researchers to do so. The space-place-home (sph) matrix, developed by Ho and
grounded on the Multi-perspective, Systems-based (MPSB) Research, is considered
as relevant to achieve that. Nevertheless, at present the sph matrix is a
sketchy concept. In this paper, the sph matrix is used to examine academic
articles from the International Journal of Housing Policy in order to show the
relevance of the matrix to housing policy studies. By doing so, it also contributes
to the theoretical development of the sph matrix.
Keywords: housing policy; Housing Imagination; literature review;
Multi-perspective, Systems-based (MPSB) Research; space-place-home (sph) matrix
Please cite the article as:
Ho, J.K.K. 2016. “An examination of the space-place-home (sph) matrix as a conceptual
tool for studying housing policy” American
Research Thoughts 2(5) March: 3737-3747.
Introduction
In the subject of Housing Imagination (HI), there are
several primary analytical notions, i.e., housing imagination, artefact study,
space, place, home and social discourse analysis (Ho, 2014a; 2014b; 2014c;
2014d; 2016a; 2016b), with critical systems thinking as the theoretical
foundation. The main objective of an HI study is to inform housing-related,
notably housing policy-related, problem-solving and research works. In Ho
(2016b), the space, place and home notions are synthesized into the
space-place-home (sph) matrix as a theoretical framework in HI to explore
housing-related problem-situations. The space-place-home (sph) matrix was
clarified using an urban renewal case of the Wedding Card Street in Hong Kong
(Ho, 2016b). As an endeavour to more explicitly shed light on the relevance of the
space-place-home matrix to housing policy studies, this paper makes use of the space-place-home
matrix to review, albeit briefly, a number of articles from the academic
literature on housing policy. By doing so, the various perspectives considered
within the sph matrix are further illustrated with housing policy-related academic
works, thus conceptually enriching the sph matrix itself.
The basic ideas underlying
the space-place-home (sph) matrix
In Ho (2016b), the HI literature on space, place and home
are synthesized with the space-place-home matrix. The matrix takes the form as
exhibited in Table 1.
Table 1: The
space-place-home (sph) matrix – the theoretical framework
Objective
|
Subjective
|
Conflictual
|
|
Weakly history sensitive
|
I
|
II
|
III
|
Strongly history
sensitive
|
IV
|
V
|
VI
|
The matrix comprises two dimensions, i.e., the research philosophy dimension
(dimension 1) and the history sensitivity
dimension (dimension 2):
The research philosophy
dimension (dimension 1) identifies three
perspectives (Ho, 2016b; Gill and Johnson, 2010; Jackson, 2000; 2003; Kitchin,
2009):
The objective perspective endorses positivism, hard systems thinking and nomothetic
science. Its inquiry focuses on discovering and measuring patterns and
regularities in the social world as related to housing-related topics. Overall,
this perspective prefers scientific-based findings to support generation of
optimum solutions to solve housing-related problems.
The subjective perspective is associated with interpretivism, soft systems thinking,
idiographic science and emotional geography. Its inquiry is attentive to
people’s emotion, experience and perceptions on housing-related topics. It is
aware of inter-subjectivity and mild conflicts/ social contradictions that exist
in a housing-related problem-situation. Overall, this perspective favours
participatory and collaborative learning to address problems.
The conflictual perspective embraces critical theory, emancipatory systems thinking, post-modern
systems thinking and critical geography. Its inquiry is sensitive to asymmetry
of power, coercion, deep conflicts and contradictions in social relations as
related to housing-related topics. It also exhibits high social and critical awareness
in investigation as well as strong interest in empowerment.
The history sensitivity
dimension (dimension 2) stresses the attention (weak
or strong) paid by a particular space-place-home perspective to history,
including the cultural heritage, event history, and the length of considered
time-frame on a housing-related study. It is sensitive to ontogenesis (i.e.,
“not on what something is, but rather how something becomes” (Kitchin, 2009).).
With the two dimensions in the sph matrix, six specific
perspectives are identified. They are labelled as cells I, II, III, IV, V and
VI in Table 1. Each of these six perspectives tends to favour different space,
place and home notions. Drawing on Kitchin (2009), the writer suggests the
following association among the six perspectives and various space notions.
·
For cell 1: absolute space,
masculinist space
·
For cell II: cognitive
space, metaphorical space, relational space, spatialization
·
For cell III: paradoxical
space, relational space, timespace
·
For cell IV: absolute
space, masculinist space
·
For cell V: cognitive
space, metaphorical space, relational space
·
For cell VI: paradoxical
space, relational space, timespace
Space, place and home-related ideas and theories are thus
categorized into the sph matrix (Ho, 2016b). Such a matrix encourages sensitivity to
multiple perspectives to explore housing-related problem-situations. For Ho
(2016b), a multi-perspective-oriented employment of the sph matrix is
recommended and should be guided by critical systems (Jackson, 2000; 2003)/
multi-perspective, systems-based (MPSB) thinking (Ho, 2015). In order to establish
more clearly the relevance of the sph matrix to housing policy studies, the
next section conducts a brief literature review on housing policy using the sph
matrix lens.
Using housing policy literature
to illustrate the space-place-home matrix
The literature review on housing policy primarily draws on
the articles from the International
Journal of Housing Policy (Routledge), formerly called the European Journal of Housing Policy
(Routledge). Altogether, 20 articles are chosen as examples on housing policy
topics and concepts that are affiliated with specific perspectives located in
the six cells of the sph matrix. The literature review result is summarized in
Table 2.
Table 2: The space-place-home
(sph) matrix and relevant illustrative articles from the Housing Policy
literature
Cells
in the space-place-home matrix (re: Table 1)
Relevant articles from
the Housing Policy literature for illustration and related space, place and
home notions
|
Cell
I - Objective-weakly history sensitive
Article 1.1: Hulse, K. and B. Randolph. 2005. “Workforce
disincentive effects of housing allowances and public housing for low income
households in Australia” European Journal of Housing Policy 5(2),
Routledge: 147-165.
This
work studies how different types of rental housing assistance affect
incentives to participate in paid work. It stresses the importance of
assessing the effects of different types of rental housing assistance on the
locational outcomes of households.
Article 1.2: Andersen, H.S., R. Andersson, T. Wessel and K.
Vilkama. 2016. “The impact of housing policies and housing markets on ethnic
spatial segregation: comparing the capital cities of four Nordic welfare
states” International Journal of Housing Policy 16(1), Routledge:
1-30.
This
study examines “how ethnic segregation is connected to an ethnic division of
the housing market and a spatial separation of different housing tenures in
four Nordic cities”. The main finding is that, in one of the cities examined,
a neighbourhood tenure mix policy resulted in “a relatively low degree of
segregation in spite of high concentrations of immigrants in social/ public
housing”.
Article 1.3: Kellekci, Ő.L. and L. Berköz. 2006. “Mass
Housing: Using Satisfaction in Housing and its Environment in Istanbul,
Turkey” European Journal of Housing Policy 6(1), Routledge: 77-99.
This study conducted linear
regression analysis to assess factors, e.g., demographic and socio-economic
structural ones, that influence user satisfaction in housing and
environmental quality.
|
Cell
II - Subjective-weakly history sensitive
Article
2.1: Dewilde, C. and F. D. Keulenaer. 2003. “Housing and
poverty: the ‘missing link’” European
Journal of Housing Policy 3(2), Routledge: 127-153.
This
study made an estimate on the relative importance of housing problems as a
dimension of poverty in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Spain. The
main finding is that “housing problems occupy a large part of everyday life
for the poor in those countries where housing policy has not been considered
as an integral part of the post-war welfare state”.
Article
2.2: Søholt, S. 2001. “Ethnic minority groups and strategies
in the housing market in Oslo” European
Journal of Housing Policy 1(3), Routledge: 337-355.
This study examines via in-depth interviews “how different
ethnic groups are coping with the housing market in Oslo, seen from the
ethnic minorities’ own perspectives”. The finding indicates that “there are
substantial differences regarding perceived possibilities and hindrances in
the housing market”.
|
Cell
III - Conflictual-weakly history sensitive
Article 3.1: Arthurson, K., I. Levin and A. Ziersch. 2015. “Social mix, ‘[A]
very, very good idea in a vacuum but you have to do it properly!’ Explore
social mix in a right to the city framework” International Journal of Housing
Policy 15 (4), Routledge: 418-435.
The
study employs the “right to the city” notion to examine mixed tenure projects
implementation in Australian cities, using the case study of Carlton Housing
Estate Redevelopment project in Melbourne, Australia. The main finding is
that “public tenants’ opportunities to influence and participate in
decision-making processes for the
redevelopment project have been limited and privatization of public space has created ongoing symbolic and
physical barriers to their fully accessing on-site ‘open’ space”.
Article 3.2: Bolzoni, M., E. Gargiulo
and M. Manocchi. 2015. “The social consequences of the denied access to
housing for refugees in urban settings the case of Turin, Italy” International Journal of Housing Policy 15 (4), Routledge: 400-417.
This
study investigates refugees’ ease to access to housing, which, consequently,
affects their opportunities for social inclusion. Their finding indicates
their experience of inability to “properly tackle their housing needs and to
achieve the objectives of social recognition and public solidarity”.
Article 3.3: Forrest, R. 2015.
“Housing and family wealth” International Journal of Housing Policy 15 (4), Routledge: 491-494.
This
article reflects on the central role that housing and the housing market play
in shaping life chances. It also examines personal qualities and the family
as relevant factors in the topic.
Article 3.4: Foo, R. 2015. “Barriers
to building institutional capacity in the Malysian housing development
sector” International Journal of Housing Policy 15 (4), Routledge: 436-460.
The article studies institutional deficiencies in the
Malaysian housing sector, e.g., poor payment practices, a trust deficit
between key actors, poor construction quality and an ineffective housing
planning framework. It also evaluates measures that promote institutional
capacity to improve the situation.
|
Cell
IV - Objective-strongly history sensitive
Article
4.1: Priemus, H. 2002. “Public housing policy in a housing
market without general shortages” European
Journal of Housing Policy 2(1), Routledge: 65-86.
The article assesses the impacts of expected long-term
housing surplus in the Netherlands due to population reduction after 2030; it
also examines the implications on housing policies and the need for policy
revision, e.g., development of a new
set of instruments of housing policy, arising from the future population
reduction.
Article
4.2: Buckley, R.M. and S. Tsenkova. 2001. “Housing market
systems in reforming socialist economies:
comparative indicators of performance and policy” European Journal of Housing Policy 1(2), Routledge: 257-289.
This is a comparative study on the housing market dynamics
in thirteen reforming socialist economies. It develops a set of housing
policy performance indicators for evaluating housing policy environments.
Subsequently, it offers recommendations on housing policy reforms.
Article
4.3: Blanc, M. 2004. “The changing role of the state in French
housing policies: a roll-out without roll-back?” European Journal of Housing Policy 4(3), Routledge: 283-302.
The paper makes use of the
notions of “roll-back” (dismantlement) and “roll-out” (restyling) of the
welfare state to study State intervention in housing policies in France from
the late 1960s onward. Via the case study analysis, the paper also assesses
the conceptual distinction between the “roll-back” and “roll-out” notions of
the welfare state.
Article
4.4: Edgar, B. and J. Doherty. 2001. “Supported housing and
homelessness in the European Union” European
Journal of Housing Policy 1(1), Routledge: 50-78.
This paper examines the nature
of supported housing as a solution on homelessness, notably those with mental
illness, over time in Europe. In particular, it offers a framework on “the
relationship between the accommodation and care perspectives involved in
supporting a person to live independently in the community”.
Article 4.5: Case, K.E. and J.M. Quigley. 2015. “How Housing
Booms Unwind: Income Effects, Wealth Effect, and Feedbacks through Financial
Markets” International Journal of Housing Policy 8(2), Routledge:
161-180.
The article studies “three
related mechanisms which govern the propagation of changes in the housing
market throughout the rest of an advanced economy: wealth effects, income
effects, and effects through financial markets”. The review relies on
quantitative research method and economic rationale in its investigation.
|
Cell
V - Subjective-strongly history sensitive
Article
5.1: Andrews, K.D. and R. Sendi. 2001. “Large housing estates
in Slovenia: a framework for renewal” European
Journal of Housing Policy 1(2), Routledge: 233-255.
This
study examines the “development of appropriate methods for the renovation of
large housing estates” in Slovenia. It offers a framework for the
regeneration of large housing estates as well as supportive administrative,
legislative and financial measures for the framework to be applied there. In
general, such regeneration endeavours endorse active resident involvement and
promotion of sense of belonging to the local residential areas.
Article
5.2: Memery, C. 2001. “The housing system and the Celtic
Tiger: The state response to a housing crisis of affordability and access” European Journal of Housing Policy
1(1), Routledge: 79-104.
The paper examines “how the lack of planning for housing
provision in a period of sustained economic growth has assisted in creating
the current housing crisis” in Ireland. In this regard, it considers the
“impacts of Ireland’s entry into Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the
Irish political environment which leads government to take short-term
populist steps, which quickly cause further house price increases”. The
discussion is advocative in tone and reasoning is qualitative/ interpretive
based, covering a long period of time.
|
Cell
VI - Conflictual-strongly history sensitive
Article
6.1: Malpass, P. 2001. “The restructuring of social rented
housing in Britain: demunicipalization and the rise of ‘registered social
landlords’” European Journal of Housing
Policy 1(1), Routledge: 1-16.
The article offers “a critique of established broad-brush
perspectives on tenure change in capitalist societies”. It “looks at changes
in housing in terms of the wider restructuring of the welfare state and
reviews three different approaches to the explanation of the rise of
registered social landlords”.
Article 6.2: Ruoppila, S. 2005. “Housing Policy and
Residential Differentiation in Post-Socialist Tallinn” European Journal of
Housing Policy 5(3), Routledge: 279-300.
This article examines “the role
and effects of housing policies on residential differentiation in the city of
Tallinn, the capital of Estonia”. It focuses on “contemporary
‘postprivatization’ housing-policy measures and their effects although the
transformation from socialism to a market economy during the 1990s is also covered”.
Its main finding is that, between neighbourhood and tenure segments, “poor
people seem to be concentrated in poor housing in all categories”.
Article 6.3: Nicholls, C.M. 2009.
“Agency, Transgression and the Causation of Homelessness: A Contextualized
Rational Action Analysis” European
Journal of Housing Policy 9(1), Routledge: 69-84.
This paper,
while recognizing the social structural factors on causing homelessness, explicitly
explores “the possibility that ‘agency’ (individually taken actions) also has
a role”. To do that, it makes use of contextualized rational action theory to
offer a critical realist conceptual framework. Such a framework recognizes
that “events occur due to a complex relationship of causation embedded in an
entire interconnected social system”. The paper is attentive to “people
experiencing homelessness and their circumstances, motivations and actions” with
critical thinking.
Article 6.4: Glass, M.R., R. Woldoff and L. Morrison. 2014.
“Does the middle class have rights to the city? Contingent rights and the
struggle to inhabit Stuyvesant Town, New York” International Journal of
Housing Policy 14(3), Routlege: 214-235.
The article reports on the
struggles over inhabitance and social justice in a housing project of New
York’s Stuyvesant Town. It evaluates “the utility of the right to city
perspective for understanding middle-class struggles in the context of
housing financialisation”.
|
The literature review exercise via the sph matrix lens, as
presented in Table 2, serves to contribute to the theoretical development of
the sph matrix in the following ways:
1. It improves the preparedness of the sph matrix to be
employed to explore housing policy-related problem-situations with a
multi-perspective, systems-based (MPSB) perspective.
2. It sensitizes us to the underlying theoretical perspective in
specific housing policy studies as represented by the six cells of the sph
matrix (re: Table 1), thus helping us to gain a deeper theoretical
understanding on individual housing policy approaches and viewpoints.
3. It facilitates a more space-place-home-based analysis on
housing policy-related problem-situations and research works.
Bearing in mind the rich ideas expressed in the academic
articles, the literature review exercise conducted here, which resulted in the
construction of Table 2, has to be treated as a rough one; more often than not,
an article raises viewpoints and theoretical issues that are associated
with more than one cell of the sph
matrix. Also, the articles referred to in Table 2 did not explicitly use space,
place and home notions in their discussion, though the sph matrix points to
specific space, place and home notions as conceptually relevant to their
investigation. Overall, the chief aim of the discussion here is to clarify the
sph matrix per se by relating housing policy articles that resonate with
certain perspectives related to the matrix cells. In this case, these articles mainly
give us concrete housing policy topics and issues for comprehending the matrix.
Concluding remarks
It is the aspiration of the subject of HI to make use of
notions such as space, place and home to inform housing-related decision-making
and research works. The discussion in this paper goes some way toward clarifying
this aspiration by offering (i) the sph matrix as a study tool as well
as (ii) specific advices on how literature review on housing policy via the sph
matrix lens can be conducted. This way, the paper contributes to the theoretical
development of the sketchy sph matrix notion. Subsequent research should also
work on the employment of the sph matrix to conduct case studies in housing
policy as another path to theoretically enhance the sph matrix. This kind of
research works on housing policy needs to be more explicitly theory-driven with
the space, place and home notions so as to build up the HI literature. Lastly,
conducting literature via sph matrix lens also offers a useful intellectual
learning path on housing policy studies for housing studies students. So, it is
worth practising.
Bibliography
Andersen, H.S., R. Andersson, T.
Wessel and K. Vilkama. 2016. “The impact of housing policies and housing
markets on ethnic spatial segregation: comparing the capital cities of four
Nordic welfare states” International Journal of Housing Policy 16(1),
Routledge: 1-30.
Andrews, K.D. and R. Sendi. 2001. “Large housing estates in
Slovenia: a framework for renewal” European Journal of Housing Policy 1(2),
Routledge: 233-255.
Arthurson, K., I. Levin and A. Ziersch. 2015.
“Social mix, ‘[A] very, very good idea in a vacuum but you have to do it
properly!’ Explore social mix in a right to the city framework” International Journal of Housing Policy 15 (4), Routledge: 418-435.
Blanc, M. 2004. “The changing role of the state in French
housing policies: a roll-out without roll-back?” European Journal of Housing Policy 4(3), Routledge: 283-302.
Bolzoni, M., E. Gargiulo and M. Manocchi. 2015. “The social
consequences of the denied access to housing for refugees in urban settings the
case of Turin, Italy” ” International Journal of Housing
Policy 15
(4), Routledge: 400-417.
Buckley, R.M. and S. Tsenkova. 2001. “Housing market systems
in reforming socialist economies:
comparative indicators of performance and policy” European Journal of Housing Policy 1(2), Routledge: 257-289.
Case, K.E. and J.M. Quigley. 2015. “How Housing
Booms Unwind: Income Effects, Wealth Effect, and Feedbacks through Financial
Markets” International Journal of Housing Policy 8(2), Routledge:
161-180.
Dewilde,
C. and F.D. Keulenaer. 2003. “Housing and poverty: the ‘missing link’” European Journal of Housing Policy 3(2),
Routledge: 127-153.
Edgar, B. and J. Doherty. 2001. “Supported housing and
homelessness in the European Union” European
Journal of Housing Policy 1(1), Routledge: 50-78.
Flint, J. and A. Kearns. 2006. “Housing, Neighbourhood
Renewal and Social Capital: The Case of Registered Social Landlords in
Scotland” European Journal of Housing
Policy 6(1), Routledge: 31-54.
Foo, R. 2015. “Barriers to building institutional capacity
in the Malysian housing development sector” International
Journal of Housing Policy 15 (4), Routledge: 436-460.
Forrest, R. 2015. “Housing and family wealth” International Journal of Housing Policy 15 (4), Routledge: 491-494.
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struggle to inhabit Stuyvesant Town, New York” International Journal of
Housing Policy 14(3), Routlege: 214-235.
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Routledge: 79-104.
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without general shortages” European
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the housing market in Oslo” European
Journal of Housing Policy 1(3), Routledge: 337-355.
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