Home is where one always wants to return; there, I can feel calm and confident. I can invite my friends there and have a pleasant time with them. During the classroom discussions, there was a lot of disagreement among students about the term “home” because it was impossible to find a universal explanation for the concept. However, for me, home is a place of relaxation and comfort, a space filled with harmony. I cannot imagine that quarrels or conflicts occur in such a place because then the essence of the concept of home is lost. Indeed, especially when people live with families in the same space in real life, such situations cannot be avoided, but then it can be judged that such a place will no longer be considered a home in its true sense. A famous phrase, “my home is my fortress,” conveys how I define the term home. This saying means that, first of all, a home is a safe space where people feel free and secure.
When it is mentioned about a house, what is meant is its dimensions, location. Its former tenants are remembered, and its cost is discussed. There is no soulfulness in this concept; instead, this term describes objective reality, physical properties, and practical necessity. A house can become a home for a person, but this is not always the case. The lack of comfort inside the place or a hostile atmosphere makes it uncomfortable for people to be in such a place (Ortiz et al., 2017). Residence refers to traveling or short stops on the way somewhere. People do not associate this word with comfort or the feeling of being close to their loved ones. Therefore, according to their meaning, “home” and “residence” concepts are not synonymic.
The first houses were not built for centuries, but it is not easy to consider such structures as houses since they were logs or large bones of relic animals covered with skins. Temporary homes served people only as long as they did not move in search of food to another area. The Stone Age was marked by the construction of stone and wooden buildings, which sometimes could accommodate a whole family. The desire of people to live in large communities led to the appearance of the first multi-story buildings, but their disadvantage was that they did not protect people from the cold and wind.
The dwelling became permanent as the tribes moved from hunting to agriculture and cattle breeding. This process means that people no longer roamed after the herds of animals but began to tame them and graze them near the house. In ancient times, buildings were mobile and did not fully correspond to the modern understanding of a house. However, the development of agriculture made it necessary to change people’s way of life to a more static one. Since the Stone Age, people begin to care more about how their home is arranged, since now they were forced to stay within a specific area for years.
The need to streamline the planning and improvement of the growing areas of cities required centralized regulation of housing construction. Based on the norms and rules of urban planning of the previous time, a strict system of residential development requirements was developed. The houses were grouped by zones, by the number of stories and materials. Such differentiation was connected with the strengthening of class stratification. Accordingly, starting from the 18-19th century, the house for people became an indicator of status and wealth. The phenomenon when there is a significant differentiation of housing among the townspeople, depending on their belonging to a particular social group, also occurs in the modern world, in particular in China (Wang & Zhang, 2020). The aggravation of differences between the level of income of different groups of people influenced the difference in housing structures.
For modern people, such aspects of a house as its location, its history, and to what extent it is made with care for the ecological component become extremely important. Many are ditching huge and chic homes in favor of cozy but cleverly organized spaces. Houses are a manifestation of culture, and the latter differs from state to state (Koertch, 2018). Indeed, people with different cultural backgrounds have different perceptions of what a house is and what it should be. Such differences are explained by people’s values from other countries, their attitude to coziness and comfort. The recent coronavirus pandemic has also impacted the way people choose their homes (Tinson & Clair, 2020). In particular, for many, it became apparent the need to pay attention to how the place of their future or current residence affects their health and well-being.
The priority direction in implementing the housing policy is to form appropriate conditions that make it possible to increase housing affordability for citizens. Such a process directly affects the country’s demographic indicators and the growth of its population. Housing affordability is a complex, multifaceted indicator that reflects the progress of market reforms in the housing sector and their social orientation. Still, it is also associated with the general course of socio-economic processes in society. Speaking about housing affordability, it is necessary to consider the possibility of its purchase for subsequent residence. Simultaneously with the acquisition, it becomes necessary to maintain this housing, bearing the related costs, including tax deductions, various types of insurance, utility bills, and some others.
In international practice, housing affordability means the possibility of purchasing housing for low-income citizens. The main influence on housing affordability is exerted by the ratio of the cost of housing, the cost of the loan, and the household’s total income. In the modern world, particular importance is attached to the personal area. That is why every other family would prefer to own their private home without sharing the space with their neighbors. The increase in consumer demand due to the development of bank lending will create an affordable housing market, which became vital in recent years, given the population growth rate (Galster & Lee, 2020). The importance of providing everyone with decent living conditions is evident. A private house allows one to embody all ideas and create internal content of the house.
In the design of my home, the key aspects would be spaciousness, harmony, and safety. I am convinced that the interior of a house should meet the lifestyle of its owner as much as possible. In my opinion, my home must reflect my values, interests, and lifestyle. Therefore, firstly, I will pick a security system or install an alarm in advance. Secondly, it will be essential for me to make sure that the house’s interior is made in the same style and there are no flashy details. There will not be a lot of furniture in my place to not occupy a lot of space.
References
Galster, G., & Lee, K. (2020). Housing affordability: A framing, synthesis of research and policy, and future directions. International Journal of Urban Sciences, 25(2), 1-52.
Koertch, M. (2018). Who built the first house? And what even is a house?FiveThirtyEight.
Ortiz, M., Kurvers, S., & Bluyssen, P. (2017). A review of comfort, health, and energy use: Understanding daily energy use and wellbeing for the development of a new approach to study comfort.Energy and Buildings, 152, 323-335.
Tinson, A., & Clair, A. (2020). Better housing is crucial for our health and the COVID-19 recovery. The Health Foundation.
Wang, F., & Zhang, C. (2020). Housing differentiation and subjective social status of Chinese urban homeowners: Evidence from CLDS.Housing Studies, 36(4), 1-25.