Special Issue: theoretical concerns in Australian housing and urban research

This special issue of Housing, Theory and Society brings together four papers written for a symposium that took place at the University of Tasmania to discuss the role of theory in contemporary housing and urban research. As joint convenors of the symposium we were conscious of the fact that though there is an emerging community of scholars in housing and urban studies in Australia, the opportunities for interaction are limited because of the large geographical distances between the major conurbations. We were also aware that while a large amount of empirical work has been commissioned in Australia through the auspices of the Australian Housing Research Institute, much of this research is policy focused and the opportunities for funding explicitly theoretical scholarship is limited.