Governing urban inequality: political and institutional challenges in housing policy

Housing policy has become a defining political issue across both developed and emerging economies, revealing deep tensions between market forces, state intervention, and social equity. From the perspective of political science, housing reflects broader questions about the role of the state, the distribution of resources, and the capacity of institutions to mediate competing interests in urban environments. Rising housing costs, shortages, and spatial segregation expose the interplay between economic restructuring, regulatory regimes, and political priorities. Comparative studies have shown that while some welfare states have maintained robust systems of social housing and regulation, others have shifted toward market-oriented or financialized models of governance, leading to uneven outcomes. Yet, despite growing scholarly attention, there is insufficient understanding of how power relations, institutional arrangements, and political ideologies shape the evolution and effectiveness of housing policies. There is a pressing need to analyze housing not just as a technical or economic issue, but as a political domain where policy choices reflect contestations over justice, citizenship, and the right to the city.This Research Topic aims to explore housing policy through the lens of political science, focusing on how institutions, actors, and governance structures shape policy outcomes and urban inequalities. It seeks to interrogate the political and institutional underpinnings of housing systems and to assess how competing policy paradigms—such as neoliberal market reliance versus redistributive state intervention—affect access, affordability, and inclusion. The Research Topic also encourages examination of how political coalitions, local governments, and transnational networks influence housing governance, and how empirical evidence can inform more equitable policymaking. By fostering dialogue between scholars of political economy, urban studies, and public policy, this initiative aims to deepen theoretical and empirical understanding of the politics driving contemporary housing inequality.This Research Topic encompasses the study of housing as a political and institutional process, focusing on the governance, regulation, and distributional politics underlying urban development and social inequality. It seeks contributions that employ comparative, theoretical, or empirical approaches to illuminate political and policy dynamics in different contexts.To gather further insights in this field, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- The political economy of housing and urban inequality- Governance and institutional capacity in housing policy implementation- The role of ideology and party politics in shaping housing policy agendas- Comparative analyses of housing regimes and welfare state transformations- Power relations between state, market, and civil society actors in housing systems- Housing as a site of citizenship, rights, and political mobilization- Transnational policy diffusion and the global politics of housing affordability Topic editors: Jhon Valdiglesias, Carlos Aquino, Ting Cao Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80766/governing-urban-inequality-political-and-institutional-challenges-in-housing-policy