On crowding – or, how to measure a housing program

Crowding is a key index for housing adequacy, and by extension for determining government investment and measuring program success. In remote communities in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT), reducing crowding is central to contemporary government policy for addressing Indigenous disadvantage. This article examines the work that the crowding measure does in remote housing governance: framing the policy problem, directing public funds, and delimiting the scope of intervention. Engaging with but also moving beyond critiques of crowding calculations, this article interrogates crowding in relation to larger challenges concerning the designation, collection, and operationalisation of data. It argues that while it is important to interrogate the methods for calculating certain measures and to reflect on whether the prioritisation of those measures is appropriate, it is also necessary to examine measurement’s effects in constituting the field of intervention, and how the field of intervention is impacted by distinct policy arrangements. The article questions whether a good housing program is one that meets its self-identified performance goals, or whether program evaluations might also account for policy limitations, measurement compromises, and material constraints.