Slums and Housing

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Unique in that for the first time it puts the problem of housing in the perspective of history, economics, sociology, and political science, this volume deals in a broad way with the origin of slums and with devices for social control and prevention through legislation and constructive measures. The first two sections consider the history of housing in New York City and contemporary conditions; later sections discuss the means of bringing the causative factors of slums under social control, the prevention of future slums, the elimination of present slums, the rebuilding of slum areas, and the bearing of federal legislation and practice upon local housing policy. Although the illustrative material is largely drawn from New York City, references are made to housing in all parts of the world wherever pertinent. A most valuable feature is the lengthy appendix by I. N. Phelps Stokes, which deals with the development of tenement house plans in New York City, analyzes the many architectural competition programmes for tenement houses between 1879 and 1934, and copes in an original manner with the contemporary problem of block and sub-block units.