Interest in the living arrangements of the urban unattached.

Abstract

A historical study of expert and lay interest in and attention to a social problem leads to the hypothesis that a felt need on the part of a significant proportion of the population does not necessarily give rise to collective interest in meeting it. The need for adequate living arrangements for unattached people in cities, including their requirements for housing and also for eating, recreation, and clothing care, is studied as it is expressed in investigations, pamphlets, newspaper stories, laws, actual building projects. A secondary hypothesis is that interest in a problem is a major factor in its solution.