Chapter One: IntroductionThe Scope of this bookStructure of the bookSupplementary bibliography Chapter Two - Are southern housing systems different? IntroductionTenure patterns in southern EuropeCountries of homeownersOne home in two houses: high proportion of secondary homesHousing access, family cycles and residential mobilityProduction and promotion of housingConclusions Chapter Three: Urbanisation and housing systems in southern EuropeIntroductionThe articulation between urbanisation and industrialisation: the pivotal role of housingDemographic patterns, family housingSimilarity and difference in south European housing processes and urban patterns Chapter Four: Welfare systems in southern EuropeIntroductionWelfare systems and institutional complexesWelfare regimes, welfare states and welfare activitiesEsping-Andersen and welfare regimesWelfare regimes: groups of countries or idea-typical constructApplying the concept of welfare regimes to housingCastles and families of nationsSetting the south in a European contextIs there a separate southern welfare system? Civil administration, informal markets and familialismThe southern European welfare system Chapter Five: Family and housingFamily and socio-economic developmentRegional specificity in family and housing structures and practicesThe place of the family in the southern development model and welfare systemDemographic parameters and trendsHousehold cycles and housingFamily solidarity contextualised or the circumstantial role of the familyFamily strategies for housing: North and southAggressive and defensive housing strategiesNew condition and changing context for family solidarityConclusion: Family solidarity, housing and social cohesion Chapter Six: Public action in housingConceptsIdeologies, political systems and conceptions of public actionDistinctive features of public action in housing in southern EuropeConclusions: Public action versus state action Chapter seven: ConclusionsThe distinctiveness of southern E