In The Rural Housing Crisis: Analytical Dimensions and Emblematic Issues, Stefan Kordel (Geography, Friedrich Alexander University, Germany) and Matthias Naumann (Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development, Germany) argue that while much attention has been paid to the housing crisis in urban regions, the crisis of sustainable housing availability in rural settings is both relevant to wider debates in housing studies and crucial for successful political action to address the need for just and inclusive housing.

This digest summarizes recent research evaluating why mobile homes are prevelant in some communities but not other. Economic precarity is the most significant factor, but other influences also exist, including year-round temperatures, labor force participation, unemployment, and employment in natural resource industries.

This event summary reflects on the first event in our Land & Water program series, with Dr. Bessire sharing his work on the personal and emotional dimensions of aquifer depletion in southwestern Kansas.