The IRR Applied to Housing: Governing Densification for Socially Sustainable Housing Development

The central goal of this book is not just to make the claim about densification leading to social exclusionSocialsocial exclusion and gentrificationGentrification in housing, but rather to explain—with the help of the IRRInstitutional Resource Regime (IRR) framework analytical frameworkAnalytical framework (see Chapter 2 ) —what local governance mechanismsGovernancegovernance mechanisms at play are responsible for this development and to identify the reasons behind this complex situation. To accomplish this aim, three theoretical blocks were identified that help to understand densification from a neoinstitutional and actor-centered perspective: social sustainabilitySocialsocial sustainability in housing (dependent variable), institutionsInstitutions (independent variable), and actors’ use strategies (intermediary variable (see Chapter 2 for theoretical basis). At the end of Chapter 3, five research hypotheses are presented, which address all the main dimensions needed to cover the main research question in a convincing manner.