Acknowledgments; Contents; 1 Critical Background: Social Housing and Its Development During the Decades; Abstract; 1.1 Social Housing: Which Definition in the European Area?; 1.2 Social Housing Development: Trends and Phases; 1.2.1 Early Developments in Housing Systems; 1.2.2 The Post-war Period and Heyday of Social Housing; 1.2.3 The Social Housing Crisis and Comparative Housing Studies; 1.2.4 Convergence Perspective and Neo-Liberal Hegemony; 1.2.5 Divergence Perspective and Welfare Regimes; 1.2.6 From Neo-Liberal Turn to World Financial Crisis; References.

2 Housing Policies in Italy: From Social Housing to Neo-LiberalismAbstract; 2.1 Setting the Context: Early Laws and Norms (1900-1940); 2.2 Post World War II Reconstruction Phase (1945-1967); 2.3 Persistence of the Housing Need and Protesting Movements (1967-1978); 2.4 Efforts to Regulate the Housing Market and Neo-Liberal Phase (1978-1990); 2.5 Socio-Economic Changes and Integrated Urban Programmes (1990-2000); 2.6 Recent Years and the Financial Crisis (2000-Today); References; 3 The City of Turin: Case Study of Innovative Housing Policies in the Last Decade; Abstract.

3.1 Housing Conditions in Turin: Demand, Supply and Policies3.2 Housing Policies of Turin: A Plurality of Plans, Initiatives, Actors, and Funding; 3.3 Turin Practices: Specificities and Limits; 3.4 Social Housing Practices in the Light of Social Innovation; References; 4 Social Housing and Social Innovation: Remarks for Future Policies and Practices; Abstract; 4.1 Strengths and Limitations of Social Housing in Italy; 4.2 Social Innovation: A Reflection on Its Operational Character According to Italian Social Housing Practice; References.