Housing/Futures? The Challenge from Environmentalism

Housing studies have much to contribute to the debate about sustainable futures and yet there has been a lack of critical engagement with environmentalism. This paper sets out to show how the environmental debate can be enhanced by three traditional perspectives found within housing studies; these are: neo-classical economics, Weberian sociology and Marxism. It is suggested that housing researchers have begun to incorporate environmental issues into housing analysis, but we need to go further and engage in the environmental debate through the development of an eco-sensitive housing concept. The paper is a contribution towards an environmental understanding of the housing process.