Interpretation of Housing Needs ? a Critical Discussion

Standards for dwelling size has been and still is a central theme for discussion. In Norway this was a central policy issue in the first decades after the Second World War. In recent years, this topic has arisen again because significant parts of the population today live in dwellings that are larger than many consider "necessary". Does this mean that the occupiers have a higher "consumption of housing" than they "need", and what may be considered the "necessary" size of a dwelling to satisfy housing needs? In order to address these questions in a systematic way, we must take a closer look at the concept of need. This paper presents and critically discusses a "spatial standard tradition" which has manifested itself and continues to make itself felt in housing policy. According to this view, fundamental housing needs are considered universal and can basically be defined in physical and spatial terms. This assumption is discussed and challenged with alternative ways of interpreting needs, in particular a cultural-relativist approach and ideas of needs determination in the normative theory of welfare.