Drawing together a wide range of literature, this original book combines social theory with elements from the built environment disciplines to provide insight into how and why we build places and dwell in spaces that are at once contradictory, confining, liberating and illuminating. This groundbreaking book deals with topical issues, which are helpfully divided into two parts. The first presents a conceptual framework examining how the built environment derives from a variety of influences: structural, institutional, textual, and action-orientated. Using illustrated case study examples, the second part covers new build schemes, including urban villages, gated communities, foyers, retirement homes and televillages, as well as refurbishment projects, such as mental hospitals and tower blocks. Multidisciplinary in its focus, "Housing Transformations" will appeal to academics, students and professionals in the fields of housing, planning, architecture and urban design, as well as to social scientists with an interest in housing.