Thursday 17 July 2008

ENHR Working Group - Home Ownership and Globalisation Conference Building on home ownership: housing policies and social strategies

The OTB Institute, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands on Novermber 13th and 14th 2008

Final Conference Call

The final call for abstracts for those wishing to participate in the conference 'Building on Home Ownership: Housing Policies and Social Strategies' has now been extended to July 25th. Please see below or the website for details.

In the last decade home ownership rates and housing markets have advanced rapidly in most developed societies. A driving force has been intensified economic globalization following market deregulation and advancements in mortgage finance. Demographic shifts towards a more elderly population are also driving realignments in welfare policy. Under these conditions, many governments have looked to the increasing housing wealth of homeowners as a means to offset welfare and pension obligations. There is also evidence that households themselves are looking to housing property investment as a means to enhance economic self-reliance and manage an environment of growing insecurity. Access to housing markets, for households, and facilitating entry into owner-occupation, for governments, have become social, economic and political priorities. At the same time, housing markets have been squeezed by pressures of affordability and credit availability. Recent downturns in the global credit market have revealed vulnerabilities derived from the previous era of house-price over-inflation, market deregulation and financial internationalization. The next period of housing market globalization will arguably be dominated by increasing government concern with the situation of homeowners and the further promotion of home ownership under unfavorable market conditions.

The restructuring of housing systems with the rapid growth of housing wealth and mortgage liabilities, and the dynamic restructuring of global finance are forging new relationship among individuals, the state and housing markets. Access to, and the affordability of, home ownership are issues at the heart of housing policies and social strategies across societies. The focus of the conference is the identification and explanation of these features and shifts in local and international contexts. The conference aims to bring together developing theories and new empirical research on home ownership and housing systems in various contexts. The plenary sessions will include presentations by leading researchers who will address these critical issues in housing and society. The parallel workshop sessions will provide a forum for current research and ideas on various aspects of home ownership. All sessions aim to facilitate dialogue between researchers, policy makers and others concerned with housing issues.

Participation is free of charge. Travel and accommodation costs are at one's own expense. If you want to submit a proposal for a paper presentation, please send an abstract to Eveline Vogels (e-mail: E.M.Vogels@TUDelft.nl).

Please note that abstracts should be no longer than 300 words and submitted by Friday the 25th of July 2008. We will inform you as soon as possible if your proposal is accepted or if the maximum amount of participants had been reached. The final papers must be submitted before October 31st 2008.

For further information please contact:Eveline VogelsOTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility StudiesPO Box 50302600 GA DelftThe NetherlandsTel.: +31 (0)15 - 278 3560E-mail: E.M.Vogels@TUDelft.nl

No comments: