During the past decade, Ireland’s economic growth has attracted international attention. This book analyses the consequences of that growth on housing and serves as a primer to other countries on the complexities of delivering sustainable housing solutions in the face of economic success. It introduces key housing developments and also reports on the findings of the latest research on the transformation of the sector in the past decade.

This book examines the architectural design of housing projects in Ireland from the mid-twentieth century. This period represented a high point in the construction of the Welfare State project where the idea that architecture could and should shape and define community and social life was not yet considered problematic. Exploring a period when Ireland embraced the free market and the end of economic protectionism, the book is a series of case studies supported by critical narratives. Little known but of high quality, the schemes presented in this volume are by architects whose designs helped determine future architectural thinking in Ireland and elsewhere. Aimed at academics, students and researchers, the book is accompanied by new drawings and over 100 full colour images, with the example studies demonstrating rich architectural responses to a shifting landscape.

The unprecedented housing and homelessness crisis in Ireland is having profound impacts on Generation Rent, the wellbeing of children, worsening wider inequality and threatening the economy. Hearne contextualises the Irish housing crisis within the broader global housing situation by examining the origins of the crisis in terms of austerity, marketisation and the new era of financialisation, where global investors are making housing unaffordable and turning it into an asset for the wealthy. He brings to the fore the perspectives of those most affected, new housing activists and protesters whilst providing innovative global solutions for a new vision for affordable, sustainable homes for all.

"Should the standard of housing in Ireland reassure us or be a cause for grave concern? Against the 'luxury lifestyle' backdrop of Celtic Tiger Ireland, did we really build the right sort of homes and communities? And what about a future, less affluent Ireland? What challenges face us in this changing climate?" "Bringing together leading architects, planners, politicians, sociologists, writers, artists, designers and developers, this book looks at where we have come from, and offers some ideas on where we might be going. As, right across the country, villages expand to the size of towns, housing estates spread into the hinterlands, and one-off housing fills the spaces in between, questions about how we live, how we should be living, and how we would like to live have never been more urgent." "Based on a conference organised by the National Sculpture Factory in Cork in May of 2007, des/IRE is a thought-provoking, response to one of contemporary Ireland's most serious issues."--BOOK JACKET.

"The extent to which a gap can be identified between the social and market rental sectors in six countries in north-west Europe (England, Flanders (Belgium), France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands) is the central issue in this book." -- Book cover.

Despite dealing with housing as one of the core issues of individuals' well-being and life situation, Cathal O'Connell's subject matter -- and approach -- is oriented towards an issue that is going far beyond the question of well-being, living standards and redistribution issues. Housing, or more generally, accommodation is a fundamental expression -- and building block -- of societies, and as such it has to be understood as core issue of socialisation, i.e. of the mode in which a society builds up its own identity and integrity. Thus, the lesson from O'Connell's systematically researched, deeply and in details informed work is reaching far beyond national housing issues. And it is in this sense that they are an important contribution to explain as well some of the general challenges of European integration.

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 constellations 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 epicentre of the global housing market crisis. The second thematic consideration focuses on housing rights within the European human rights architecture, 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. This topical book will be valuable to those who are interested in law, housing rights and human rights, policy-making and globalization.