Originally published in 1979. Phenomena such as high levels of unemployment, decaying and vandalised council estates, poor educational achievements by schoolchildren and the population decline in inner cities are just some of the problems challenged by this important work. The contributors from such diverse fields as economics, geography, public administration, social policy and sociology investigate the specific areas where the problematic conditions of unemployment and housing tend to predominate. This title will be of particular interest to students of the social sciences.