Скачать или смотреть Adopting a Comparative Social Policy Approach to understanding shifts in Social Housing

ISPP Seminar Series, 2 October 2025

Presenter:
Professor Deirdre Howard-Wagner (The Australian National University)
Chair:
Professor Almudena Sevilla (Department of Social Policy, LSE)

Presentation Title:
From Public Good to Residual Function: Adopting a Comparative Social Policy Approach to understanding shifts in Social Housing.

Abstract:
This paper traces the transformation of social housing from a universal public good to a residual safety net, adopting a comparative social policy lens to examine Canberra alongside international cases. In the postwar period, public housing
in Canberra was integrated into urban planning to support working families and foster social cohesion. Since the 1980s, however, neoliberal reforms have reshaped it into a narrowly targeted system reserved for those deemed to be in greatest need. More recent
policy shifts have led to the relocation of low-income households to peripheral suburbs with limited access to services, contributing to growing spatial inequality and rising homelessness. These changes have also resulted in shrinking housing stock, increasingly
restrictive eligibility criteria, the stigmatisation of tenants, and the peripheralisation of disadvantage.

Comparative insights highlight that this trajectory is not inevitable. Paris employs planning obligations to embed social housing as a core element of urban life, while Vienna continues to invest in large-scale, mixed-income housing integrated into the city
fabric. These models demonstrate how universalist approaches can maintain housing as a collective good, foster social integration, and prevent displacement.

By situating Canberra within both international and Indigenous policy contexts, the analysis shows how the shift from universalism to residual provision is not only a product of neoliberal governance logics but also of deeper state practices of managing populations,
disciplining urban space, and legitimising inequality. Residualisation, expressed through relocation, displacement, and the peripheralisation of disadvantage, reflects the intersection of market rationalities, administrative routines, and shifting urban property
regimes. At the same time, comparative models in Paris and Vienna demonstrate how alternative policy traditions can sustain social housing as a collective good, offering pathways toward more inclusive and systemic housing futures.

Presenter Bio:
Associate Professor Deirdre Howard-Wagner is a sociologist specialising in Indigenous policy, race and whiteness studies, socio-legal studies, and social policy. She currently serves as the Social Policy, Participation, and Inclusion Program
Lead, as well as the Research Lead at the POLIS Centre for Social Policy Research. Previously, she was the Director of Research at the Centre for Indigenous Policy Research, both of which are part of the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian
National University. Professor Howard-Wagner has contributed to the understanding of inequality and disadvantage as critical issues in Australian social policy. Her research examines the intersection of disadvantage with structural and social determinants
of inequality, focusing on areas such as child protection, family violence, criminal justice, disability, and housing.