Municipal Dreams
The Rise and Fall of Council Housing
«The book celebrates an era during which dreams of shelter and security for all-not just those who could afford to purchase it-were in large part made a reality, and asks us if we oughtn't to consider reviving that dream before it gets destroyed completely . There couldn't be a better time for this book.»
Lynsey Hanley, Guardian
A narrative history of council housing--from slums to the Grenfell Tower
Urgent, timely and compelling, Municipal Dreams brilliantly brings the national story of housing to life.
In this landmark reappraisal of council housing, historian John Boughton presents an alternative history of Britain.
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A narrative history of council housing--from slums to the Grenfell Tower
Urgent, timely and compelling, Municipal Dreams brilliantly brings the national story of housing to life.
In this landmark reappraisal of council housing, historian John Boughton presents an alternative history of Britain. Rooted in the ambition to end slum living, and the ideals of those who would build a new society, Municipal Dreams looks at how the state's duty to house its people decently became central to our politics. The book makes it clear why that legacy and its promise should be defended.
Traversing the nation in this comprehensive social, political and architectural history of council housing, Boughton offers a tour of some of the best and most remarkable of our housing estates--some happily ordinary, some judged notorious. He asks us to understand their complex story and to rethink our prejudices.
His accounts include extraordinary planners and architects who wished to elevate working men and women through design; the competing ideologies that have promoted state housing and condemned it; the economic factors that have always constrained our housing ideals; the crisis wrought by Right to Buy; and the evolving controversies around regeneration. Boughton shows how losing the dream of good housing has weakened our community and hurt its most vulnerable--as was seen most catastrophically in the fire at Grenfell Tower.
Urgent, timely and compelling, Municipal Dreams brilliantly brings the national story of housing to life.
In this landmark reappraisal of council housing, historian John Boughton presents an alternative history of Britain. Rooted in the ambition to end slum living, and the ideals of those who would build a new society, Municipal Dreams looks at how the state's duty to house its people decently became central to our politics. The book makes it clear why that legacy and its promise should be defended.
Traversing the nation in this comprehensive social, political and architectural history of council housing, Boughton offers a tour of some of the best and most remarkable of our housing estates--some happily ordinary, some judged notorious. He asks us to understand their complex story and to rethink our prejudices.
His accounts include extraordinary planners and architects who wished to elevate working men and women through design; the competing ideologies that have promoted state housing and condemned it; the economic factors that have always constrained our housing ideals; the crisis wrought by Right to Buy; and the evolving controversies around regeneration. Boughton shows how losing the dream of good housing has weakened our community and hurt its most vulnerable--as was seen most catastrophically in the fire at Grenfell Tower.
Detaljer
- Forlag
- Verso Books
- Innbinding
- Paperback
- Språk
- Engelsk
- Sider
- 336
- ISBN
- 9781784787400
- Utgivelsesår
- 2019
- Format
- 20 x 13 cm
Anmeldelser
«The book celebrates an era during which dreams of shelter and security for all-not just those who could afford to purchase it-were in large part made a reality, and asks us if we oughtn't to consider reviving that dream before it gets destroyed completely . There couldn't be a better time for this book.»
Lynsey Hanley, Guardian
«Required reading . provides a comprehensive history of Britain's council estates [that] challenges the well-worn narrative.»
Anna Minton, Prospect
«This serious, heartfelt book makes a convincing case that publicly provided homes have to be at least part of the response to the dysfunctional state that British housing has now attained.»
Rowan Moore, Observer
«A fine survey of an astonishing achievement.»
Ed Heathcote, Financial Times
«Despite the crowded field, Boughton's book has quickly established itself as a landmark text in the reevaluation of the legacy of council housing, a sober, thorough work that reminds us of some of the most significant achievements of Britain's postwar 'social democratic moment.»
Gareth Millington, Public Books
«Boughton's book works as a gazetteer of public achievement-from Arts and Crafts cottages to modernist monuments to ordinary streets, from Hammersmith to Hull-and a nuanced but polemical tale of how the municipal idea was destroyed, revealing the caricatures and pseudo-history that were used to convince us that the places built to swindle us were better than the places we built for ourselves to live in.»
Owen Hatherley, author of A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain
«Follows the epic story of British council and social housing, from its Victorian origins to Twentieth Century estates, the right to buy and the Grenfell fire. While every page is rich with fascinating detail, Boughton also tells the grand narrative of how modern housing was created for millions, and how that dream has been cynically and carelessly undermined. This is an inspiring read and a necessary corrective to the myths that seek to destroy one of the most important struggles of our times - the drive for decent housing for all.»
John Grinrod, author of <i>Outskirts</i>
«A well-written, humane and even-handed appraisal of the successes and failures of municipal and national housing programmes from the 1890s to the present.»
Blueprint
«A deeply informed account of the ways in which local and national governments in the U.K. have or have not sought to provide affordable housing for their citizens.»
Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, Favourite Nonfiction Books of 2019