Anthony O'Sullivan

Localism, devolution and housing policies

In this study, we examine the idea of localism in the context of housing policy and as mediated by the experience of devolution in England and Scotland. After considering arguments for adopting localism in principle, we examine the meaning and limitations of the concept when account is taken of the real nature of housing systems. This forms the basis for a consideration of the experience of localism in the context of social housing provision. We conclude that the implementation of localism by UK policy-makers has exhibited shortcomings and the emerging interpretation of localism may lead to policy dumping rather than enhanced real local autonomy.

Housing Taxation and the Economic Benefits of Homeownership

This paper re-considers the arguments for reforming housing taxation in the UK on the basis of a review of evidence on the macro- and micro-economic effects of homeownership. The paper then examines the political economy of feasible tax reform. This currently involves a context of extreme fiscal pressure and a political system wedded to the housing tax status quo. The paper concludes by suggesting elements of a strategy to progress a much-needed debate on taxation that is consistent with but goes beyond arguments recently made by Shelter and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Housing Market Task Force.

Civility, Community Cohesion and Antisocial Behaviour: Policy and Social Harmony

Intergroup conflict, whether manifest as the absence of community cohesion or as the presence of antisocial behaviour, is an issue of international concern. In the UK, confronting the reality or perceived threat of intergroup conflict is a core feature of community cohesion and antisocial behaviour policies. To varying degrees, the frameworks underpinning these policies see the absence or breakdown of community relations as a cause of social disharmony. A key challenge for policy is therefore improvement of the quality of community relations. In this paper, we consider how government has approached this challenge. We filter our analysis through the lens of civility, which proposes that the peaceful coexistence of diverse social groups rests on the existence and maintenance of intergroup empathy and mutual respect. This proposal is supported by international research evidence on the outcomes of meaningful interactions, where these are predicated on equal group status, leading to changes in group and intergroup perceptions and behaviours (the contact hypothesis). We consider the extent to which community cohesion and anti-social behaviour policies in the UK demonstrate a coherent conception of the problem of community relations, the quality of community relations to which these policies aspire and whether the strategies deployed to address community relations seek to support civility through meaningful interaction. We find that the policy debates start from different presumptions concerning the roots of social disharmony, and this is reflected in the nature of the interventions which the community cohesion and antisocial behaviour policy frameworks support. In particular, we find that the social interaction promoted through policies in the UK is not necessarily aimed at achieving social harmony through meaningful interaction based on recognition of equal group status. We also show that these policies are based on little in the way of evidence and prior knowledge.

Knowledge mobilisation and the civic academy: the nature of evidence, the roles of narrative and the potential of contribution analysis

The purpose of knowledge mobilisation (KM) can be defined as the creation and communication of evidence motivated by a desire to improve the design, delivery and consequent impact of public services. This definition also embraces the notion of the civic academy. In this article, we explore the requirements of effective KM in the light of recent contributions to the theory of knowledge (specifically regarding the nature of evidence) and of the potential roles for narrative. We consider in these contexts whether a number of recent conceptual and methodological developments offer the prospect of progress in the pursuit of effective KM.

Housing-led Regeneration and the Local Impacts of the Credit Crunch

The current recession has major implications for residential-led regeneration activity across the UK. Current funding models are breaking down and the goals of regeneration activity will, for some time, be much harder to achieve. The Government getting to grips with the big picture is a necessary condition to making future progress with regeneration. In the short term, registered social landlords have a more prominent role to play in keeping regeneration activity going, and ensuring capacity in the construction sector is not lost. Innovative thinking on funding models for property development in regeneration areas is required. However, recessions pass; regeneration remains about long-term structural change, and the residential-led approach to regeneration will survive.

Place and time in the criminology of place

This article evaluates developments in the ecological analysis of crime, which have found their most recent expression in a Criminology of Place. We argue that theoretical and methodological deficiencies are evident in the Criminology of Place and associated literatures with respect to their underlying treatment of place, time and causation. Big Data holds promise for helping address these shortfalls, but dangers also. The successful advance of the Criminology of Place requires elevating the why question to equal status with those of where and what in the analysis of crime. Ultimately, the paper positions the progress towards and prospects for a multi-scalar and time sensitive theoretical and empirical model of the Criminology of Place.

Evidence and the antisocial behaviour policy cycle

Context conditions the nature of policy development. The relationship between evidence and policy is similarly conditioned in terms of the types of evidence deployed to address specific policy matters. This raises a number of interesting questions: how are different types of evidence best classified? Are there systematic linkages between context and evidence type? Do different forms of evidence hold greater sway at different points of the policy cycle? Antisocial behaviour (ASB) policy - and the way in which ASB policy in Scotland and England has diverged over time - offers a good vehicle for exploring these propositions and their implications. Language: en