Privatization, commodification and transformation in Japanese housing: Ephemeral house - eternal home

The space and place of the Japanese home holds an iconic status in both foreign and indigenous understandings of Japanese life. The architectural forms and bounded spaces of Japanese houses have historically been embedded in social practices that integrate individuals with hierarchical orders of space and social relations moving outwards from...

Building regulatory enforcement regimes: Comparative analysis of private sector involvement in the enforcement of public building regulations

It is often assumed that traditional regulatory regimes centered on governmental action will benefit from greater private sector involvement. And, under the catchy phrase "from government to governance" globally a wide variety of hybrid forms of governance has emerged. However, little empirical insight exists in the actual effects of such...

Dislodging the welfare state?: Housing and privatization in four European nations