Affordable housing model in Finland and South Korea: Current situations and new concept solutions

Abstract

'Housing' is a mandatory product for living, and one of the biggest assets for families. Many of the families are not able to possess their own houses, because they are extremely expensive especially for low-income families.

After the Second World War, most of the countries have to deal with shortage of housing due to destructions and rapid urbanization. Especially, Finland and South Korea are good examples to observe both western and eastern world, how they manage to overcome the housing problems in post war society with limited resources. 'Affordable housing' has been a world-wide issue, but there are not enough studies to resolve current housing problems. Therefore, in this thesis, new concept models of affordable housing is discussed. Affordable housing is another name of economic sustainability of housing. But, housing is a comprehensive product which also gives comfort, security, and many other advantages rather than economic side only. Consequently, the research consists of three aspects of sustainability: environmental, economic, and social sustainability of housing.

The paper consists of three main parts. First, theoretical reviews give clear meanings of basic terms and being academic backgrounds to research affordable housing market. Second, six case studies of Finland and South Korea analyse sustainable housing models in different supporting levels. Third, new concept solutions combine the applicable solutions based on theoretical reviews and case studies, which are to resolve current and future housing problems.