Britain and Sweden: Premature obsolescence of housing
Titel:
Britain and Sweden: Premature obsolescence of housing
Auteur:
Reade, Eric
Verschenen in:
Housing, theory and society
Paginering:
Jaargang 2 (1985) nr. 1 pagina's 27-43
Jaar:
1985
Inhoud:
By premature obsolescence is meant that process whereby housing conies to be perceived as undesirable in social terms, becomes ill cared-for, difficult-to-let, often semi-derelict, and is sometimes even demolished, long before the end of its expected life, and long before the loans with which it was financed have been paid off. This process seems more marked in Britain than in Sweden, and the purpose of this article is to ask why this should be. To this end, four possible contributory causes of premature obsolescence are examined. These are first 'design faults', second excess supply, leading to concentrations of unlet dwellings, third inappropriate management practices, and fourth the process of spatial class segregation. In the case of each of these factors, comparisons will be made between Britain and Sweden. The article hypothesizes that it is the fourth of them, spatial class segregation, which primarily accounts for the greater incidence of premature obsolescence in Britain than in Sweden.
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