Broken Cities

From Britain's 'Generation Rent' to Hong Kong's notorious 'cage homes', societies around the world are facing a housing crisis of unprecedented proportions. The social consequences have been profound, with a lack of affordable housing resulting in overcrowding, homelessness, broken families and, in many countries, a sharp decline in fertility. In Broken Cities, Deborah Potts offers a provocative new perspective on the global housing crisis. Rather than failures by governments to provide adequate low-income housing, Potts shows how the issues have resulted from the rise of free market economics, which has suppressed wages for millions of workers to levels far less than is needed for their families - compounded by the profit incentives of private developers. Potts in turn argues that the crisis needs radical solutions, including the introduction of a basic income alongside a dramatic expansion of public housing. With the world becoming increasingly urbanized, this book provides a timely and urgent account of one of the most pressing social challenges of the 21st century. Exploring the effects of the housing crisis across the global North and South, Broken Cities is a warning of the greater crises to come if these issues are not addressed.