Housing Studies

Optional Courses

The choice of optional courses within the Housing Studies Programme is dependent on the route of study you choose.  There are three routes of study; Housing Services and Delivery (HSD), Housing Development and Regeneration (HD&R), Housing Policy and Analysis (HPA).

Regenerating Cities: Strategies and Evaluation (HD&R route)

This course provides an overview of the development, delivery and impact of regeneration strategies. It explores the challenges of achieving effective regeneration in UK cities in the context of global change and competition, while also considering experiences in North American and Europe. It focuses on strategies at the city, regional and area levels, rather than on those for neighbourhoods. The course also provides an introduction to the issues involved in assessing the effectiveness of regeneration.

Sustainable Housing Development (HPA route and compulsory for HD&R route)

The aim of this course is to evaluate what is meant by sustainable housing development and explore the process by which it is most likely to be delivered. The course therefore seeks to integrate consideration of a range of housing design, development and management issues, with an equal emphasis given to private and social housing.

Community Participation in Neighbourhood Regeneration (HSD and HD&R) 

This course provides an introduction to one of the central tenets of contemporary urban policy: that sustainable neighbourhood regeneration depends on engaging the local community in the process of change. The purpose of this course is to examine key concepts and issues relating to empowerment, community participation and civic engagement. It will explore the policy context and theoretical rationales of community and participation, study the nature of contemporary community participation relating to regeneration at a local neighbourhood level and critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches to participation as a means of facilitating local community development. The course will also stress the importance of evaluating the processes of community participation.

Crime, Community and Safety A (HSD route)

This course aims to promote understanding of the manifestation, causes and consequences of youth crime and disorder (antisocial behaviour) in residential communities.

Crime, Community and Safety B (HSD route)

The course aims to stimulate awareness of community safety strategies designed to confront and ameliorate youth crime and disorder (antisocial behaviour) in residential communities.

Designing Places (HD&R route)

This module aims to provide an introduction to Urban Design as the process of making places for people. It aims to develop an appreciation of the importance and process of design in creating high quality places and enhancing the public realm.

Evaluation for Public Policy (all routes)

The aim of this course is to introduce participants to different approaches to the evaluation of public policies and programmes, the strengths and weaknesses of each and to provide an understanding of why different approaches may be more or less suitable in different circumstances. The course will not make participants into expert evaluation practitioners, but it should help them to be more informed users and commissioners of evaluations.

Community Planning and Partnership (HD&R route and HPA route)

Community Planning is a central plank of contemporary governance arrangements in Scotland in which the aim is to promote more joined up, strategic working between public agencies working at local government and more local spatial scales. A broadly equivalent approach is in place in England - Local Strategic Partnerships. Both are part of attempts to 'reform' and 'modernise' local government and the public sector more generally, and in particular, to sharpen the focus on delivering tangible 'outcomes' from public services. The course explores the experience of community planning within the wider context of the long history of partnership working and joined up government. It aims to help participants develop a critical understanding of the potential of community planning - and of partnership and joined up government - to deliver real change in the design and delivery of public policy. 

Re-making Urban Neighbourhoods (HSD route and HD&R route)

Urban neighbourhoods are constantly being made and re-made in an ongoing process of urban development and change. The focus of this course is on the neighbourhoods which seem to fare worst out of this process: neighbourhoods of concentrated disadvantage. The aim of this course is to provide an overview of current debates and policies concerned with the re-making of such neighbourhoods. It offers a contemporary take on an age old phenomenon, pointing to the range of ways in which poor neighbourhoods can be re-made: physically, socially and economically.

Researching and Evidencing the Policy Process (HPA route)

This course provides an introduction to research and its relationship to policy. The course will examine the current shift towards evidence-based policy and will look at the important factors that need to be considered when assessing research quality and relevance. Qualitative and quantitative methods will be covered considering their strengths and weaknesses and appropriate usage rather than how to use these techniques. The course will also cover the process of commissioning research including writing research specifications. Consideration will also be given to how research is then used to inform and influence policy. In an attempt to close the policy circle the course will also consider how policy is evaluated. The course is aimed at: those who in the course of their job might be expected to understand and use research findings; those responsible for commissioning research, and those who might be carrying out research which is intended to influence policy.

Financing Housing Provision and Services (compulsory for HSD route and optional for HD&R and HPA)

This course will give students a clear understanding of the financial regimes affecting different tenures and the way finance is used by government as a policy tool to direct services to the type of provision they deem appropriate. The course will also consider development finance in a variety of contexts as well as standard social housing services and standards.