Jan O’ Sullivan TD, Minister for Housing and Planning receives new book on housing and globalization, which examines major challenges and barriers to adequate and affordable housing, and developments in global housing finance.

Jan O’Sullivan, TD, Minister of State, Department of Environment, Community and Local Government with special responsibility for Housing and Planning was at NUI Galway this week to receive a copy of Contemporary Housing Issues in a Globalized World, edited by School of Law Lecturer, by Dr Padraic Kenna.

The globalization of housing finance led to the global financial crisis, which has created new barriers to adequate and affordable housing. It presents major challenges for current housing law and policy, as well as for the development of housing rights. This book examines and discusses key contemporary housing issues in the context of today’s globalized housing systems.

The book takes up the challenge of developing a new paradigm, working towards the possibility of an alternative future. Revolving around three themes of writing by diverse contributors, each chapter sets out a clear and developed approach to contemporary housing issues.

The first major theme considers the crisis in mortgage market regulation, the development of mortgage securitization and comparisons between Spain and Ireland, two countries at the centre of the global housing market crisis.

The second theme is housing rights within the architecture of European human rights, within national constitutions, and those arising from new international instruments, with their particular relevance for persons with disabilities and developing economies.

The third theme incorporates an examination of responses to the decline and regeneration of inner cities, legal issues around squatting in developed economies, and changes in tenure patterns away from home-ownership.

Raquel Rolnik, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and of the University of Sao Paolo, Brazil said “The deregulation, liberalization and internationalization of finance have had major implications for housing and urban developments throughout the world. The ‘financialization’ of housing has been accompanied by the conceptual transformation of adequate housing from a social good into a commodity, and financial asset and housing markets are increasingly regulated so as to promote financial rather than social aspects of housing.”

Ms Rolnik continued, “This book analyses how this process has impacted on violations of the right to adequate housing in different countries and regions. More than understanding the situation, the book offers alternatives and perspectives, crucial in the current housing crisis.”

This topical book will be valuable to those who are interested in law, housing rights and human rights, policy-making and globalization. It is published by Ashgate (UK) and can be ordered here   http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472415370

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