Leland S. Burns

Resource Allocation to Housing Investment: A Comparative International Study

The position of the housing sector in various stages of economic development has long been a controversial issue in both the literature and the conduct of public policy. This is especially true for the role of housing investment in developing nations. The subject has been discussed at three levels. First, housing specialists and urban planners have engaged in a debate with economists about the optimal allocation of scarce resources to residential construction. Second, an attempt has been made to formulate and test a normative theory of housing investment on the assumption of indirect benefits of improved housing. Third, some writers have postulated stages of housing development geared to stages of economic growth. As will be seen, none of these approaches has produced even moderately conclusive results. Meanwhile, government action to influence the volume and composition of residential building has become nearly universal throughout the Free World, not to speak of the more complete planning of output allocations in socialist countries. This is in sharp contrast to the earlier growth phases of the now advanced nations when the unbridled market mechanism was the sole arbiter of relative resource use for housing. Strangely, research to date has bypassed any comprehensive and systematic examination of the actual shares of residential construction in the total output of countries at various levels of development. Nor has any effort been made to identify and measure the principal determinants of intercountry variance in resource allocation to housing. An exploration of these two subjects is the main purpose of this article. The analysis is prefaced by a brief review of the previous approaches to defining the role of housing in economic development.

Natural Resource Endowment and Regional Economic Growth

We are concerned in this chapter with the relationship between the natural resources within the various parts, or regions, of a country and what might be called the geography of national economic expansion.

Puerto Rico’s Economic Future

The concentration on the development of productive resources and industries through collective action is a relatively recent phenomenon in Puerto Rico and is a reflection of the growing awareness in the island of the nature of the basic social and economic problems, coupled with the growth of democratic institutions and social and political responsibility.

The metropolitan hierarchy of occupations: An economic interpretation of central place theory

Abstract The usefulness of central place theory, as a general explanation of the spatial distribution of activities in a system of cities and of the spatial ordering of urban places within that system, clearly relies on economic phenomena. Christallers original formulation of the theory was similarly economic in basis, yet economic phenomena have been ignored in subsequent empirical testing of the theory. These tests, chiefly by geographers, have relied on population size as the chief, if not sole, determinant. This paper demonstrates that an economic explanation is a necessary component of the general theory of central places. Moreover, explicit economic variables not only alter the ordering of activities based strictly on demographic size, but generally offer a more powerful explanation of ordering.

Big Business in the Big City Corporate Headquarters in the CBD

The case for the metropolitan central business district (CBD) rests, in essence, on its strength as an activity center for the generation and exchange of information. It is a &dquo;machine for producing, processing, and trading specialized intelligence&dquo; (Hall, 1966: 239). Over recent history, the flight to the suburbs has left behind those activities which require, and pay for, the unique central sites where information is traded most actively and efficiently. Despite the technological advances which have speeded up and cheapened communications, the CBD is still

The Evolution of Planning Education

It is difficult to come to grips with the major issues involved in American planning education unless they are viewed within the context of what is happening in planning practice, as well as within society at large. Also, to understand the current situation, we must see it against the background of what has happened during the past few decades and what the near future seems to hold. To develop a meaningful picture of the state of the art of planning education, I have found it helpful to sketch out the relationship of planning education to two key contextual elements: (1) major social trends and governmental programs, and (2) planning practice, over a reasonably long period of time—from 1940 to the present (1974) and projected forward fifteen years.

The Decline of the Metropolitan Economy

This paper identifies certain forces underlying the recent declines of population and income in US metropolitan areas relative to the remainder of the nation. Determinants specifically examined are income, unemployment rate, occupational mix, age of the population, and climate. A disaggregation of the sample shows that the determinants of change differ markedly between areas experiencing relative growth and decline of per-capita income and population. The finding argues for selective regional or metropolitan development policy.

Hope for the homeless in the US: Lessons from the Third World

Abstract The scale of homelessness in the US is vast, and present policies aimed at solutions are severely lacking. Since there are obvious similarities between the homeless of the US and the developing world (they are poor and often unemployed or underemployed), the author suggests that the US could learn from Third World housing policies. The self-help schemes favoured in these countries are proving cost-efficient and also draw upon the considerable resources of the homeless themselves. It is quite probable that such schemes could prove effective in parts of the developed world too.

Long‐term prospects for US housing markets: Fewer units, greater investment

Abstract Demographic factors that stimulated robust housing markets in past decades will weaken the future demand for new residential construction. The baby boom generation will reach middle‐age, well past the age of entry into the market. Changing social factors, such as marriage and divorce rates and womens labour force participation, will also have an effect on future housing demand. Four major trends, analysed in the paper, will increase demand for quality and increased investment per dwelling unit, thus offsetting the declining demand for new units. First, the baby boom generation will reach their peak lifetime earning period in the years ahead and their discretionary incomes will be large. Second, largely as the result of a benevolent public policy, the elderly have gained substantially in affluence, enabling them to live independently and to upgrade their physical housing standards. Third, it is expected that household technology will be increasingly demanded as time costs rise. Finally, the ‘serv...

Lagging Sectors and Regions of the American Economy

The problem of low incomes has a number of facets: (1) the economically disadvantaged groups in our society; (2) the low-income industries; (3) the low-income regions; and (4) the national costs arising from the underemployment of part of the labor force. Each of these adds something to the total picture and each involves some special policy issues. Also, while these various elements—group, industry, region, and nation—are interrelated, they are significant in themselves. The most severe difficulties arise when all these are compounded, as in the case of isolated agricultural regions with limited resources, worked-out land, small farms, and a majority of Negro farmers.