Economic Growth and Sustainable Housing: An Uneasy Relationship critically discusses the possibilities of decoupling environmental degradation from economic growth. The author refutes the belief in combining perpetual economic growth with long-term environmental sustainability based on the premise that economic growth can be fully decoupled from negative environmental impacts. This proposition is underpinned by intensive study in the housing sector from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. This book will be of interest to students of housing and urban studies, to students of environmental sustainability and also for those students and academics with a general interest in critical realism.

Economic Growth and Sustainable Housing: An Uneasy Relationship critically discusses the possibilities of decoupling environmental degradation from economic growth. The author refutes the belief in combining perpetual economic growth with long-term environmental sustainability based on the premise that economic growth can be fully decoupled from negative environmental impacts. This proposition is underpinned by intensive study in the housing sector from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Xue employs critical realism to inform the investigation and organize the argumentation throughout the book. The book is organised into four parts: the first discusses the relevance of critical realism to the research field of housing and urban sustainable development in terms of ontology and methodology. The second makes a transcendental refutation of the possibilities of decoupling economic growth from housing-related environmental impacts by describing transfactual conditions of full decoupling. The third part presents two case studies to show whether and to what extents decoupling between economic growth and housing-related environmental impacts have historically taken place. Inspired by critical realist ontology, generalization of abstract concept from the case studies are made to cast light on the implausibility of maintaining perpetual economic growth through decoupling. The final part explains why and how the belief in full decoupling and economic growth is generated and sustained despite its implausibility and non-necessity, which constitutes an explanatory critique of the growth and decoupling ideology and paves the way for the paradigm shift to socially sustainable de-growth. This book will be of interest to students of housing and urban studies, to students of environmental sustainability and also for those students and academics with a general interest in critical realism.

This book is a much-needed account, with numerous detailed examples, of the role of housing in economic growth and development by an author in a unique position to understand its importance and the practical measures for delivering that growth. While the linkages between housing and the macroeconomic environment in developed countries has been studied, the case of developing and transitional countries has been mostly overlooked. The author establishes these linkages with great clarity, supported by detailed case studies chosen to reflect regional diversity as well as differences in socio-economic development and political systems. On the basis of this analysis, the author goes on to develop specific policies and practices to enable governments to enhance the contribution of housing in economic growth.

Sustainable housing is generally used to describe housing that is environmentally friendly and resource-efficient over the lifetime of the building. Homes are designed to have the least possible negative impact on the environment. This means energy efficiency, avoiding environmental toxins, and responsibly using materials and resources while having positive physical and psychological effects on inhabitants. This book presents a comprehensive overview of sustainable housing, starting from legislation and ending with the design and configuration of homes.

Why the global economy has become increasingly unstable, and how financial “de-carbonization” could break the pattern of bubble-driven wealth destruction. The global economy has become increasingly, perhaps chronically, unstable. Since 2008, we have heard about the housing bubble, subprime mortgages, banks “too big to fail,” financial regulation (or the lack of it), and the European debt crisis. Wall Street has discovered that it is more profitable to make money from other people's money than by investing in the real economy, which has limited access to capital—resulting in slow growth and rising inequality. What we haven't heard much about is the role of natural resources—energy in particular—as drivers of economic growth, or the connection of “global warming” to the economic crisis. In The Bubble Economy, Robert Ayres—an economist and physicist—connects economic instability to the economics of energy. Ayres describes, among other things, the roots of our bubble economy (including the divergent influences of Senator Carter Glass—of the Glass-Steagall Law—and Ayn Rand); the role of energy in the economy, from the “oil shocks” of 1971 and 1981 through the Iraq wars; the early history of bubbles and busts; the end of Glass-Steagall; climate change; and the failures of austerity. Finally, Ayres offers a new approach to trigger economic growth. The rising price of fossil fuels (notwithstanding “fracking”) suggests that renewable energy will become increasingly profitable. Ayres argues that government should redirect private savings and global finance away from home ownership and toward “de-carbonization”—investment in renewables and efficiency. Large-scale investment in sustainability will achieve a trifecta: lowering greenhouse gas emissions, stimulating innovation-based economic growth and employment, and offering long-term investment opportunities that do not depend on risky gambling strategies with derivatives.

Housing is crucial to the quality of life and wellbeing for individuals and familes, but the availability of adequate or affordable housing also plays a vital role in community economic development. Rural areas face a substantial disadvantage compared to urban areas in regard to housing, and this book explores these issues. Rural Housing and Economic Development includes chapters from nationally known experts from throughout the U.S. to provide insight to help understand and address the difficult housing concerns within rural areas. The chapters cover a variety of issues including housing for rural minorities, the extent of and problems associated with mobile home dwelling, the extent to which affordable rental housing is available in rural areas, the rapidly growing elderly population, and the housing consequences of rapid population and economic growth associated with energy development. The authors not only describe various housing problems, but also suggest policy approaches to more effectively address them. This book will be a vital resource to policy makers at the local, state or national level as they grapple with difficult rural housing problems. Researchers and professionals dealing with housing issues will also benefit from the insights of these experts while the book will also be appropriate for upper level undergraduates or graduate students in courses on housing or economic development.