Introduction: Housing and Community Building

Creating quality homes, healthy lives and an enabling housing environment for the wellbeing of neighborhood communities in managing complex urban challenges is at the center of global agendas in any city development. Accordingly, this book examines the contributory role of inclusive housing management services in safeguarding the living environment, empowering neighborhoods, building social capital, as well as promoting individual and community wellbeing and social sustainability from the perspectives of the sociology of housing. We present the emerging trends of community-based housing management practices with reference to liveability, health risk control, conflict management, delivery of quality service, technological transformation, collective engagement, neighborhood empowerment, social cohesion, community development and a case study in Hong Kong, with implications for the Greater Bay Area (GBA). (The Greater Bay AreaGreater Bay Area (GBA) refers to a region in southern China that encompasses the Pearl River Delta, including two Special Administrative Regions: Hong KongHong Kong and Macau, and nine cities in Guangdong Province, namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing. The GBA aims to promote cooperation and coordination among the cities within the region, to build a world-class bay area that drives economic development, technological innovation, cultural exchange and quality living). It aims to develop a better understanding of the driving forces and contributions of inclusive housing management practices and housing organizations in fostering social, psychological, environmental and community wellbeing as well as protecting health and safety under compact urban development.