As the final part of a three-volume study, this review focuses on housing as an instrument of environmental change with particular emphasis on socioeconomic rather than physical dimensions. Three literature orientations relating to the effectiveness of intervention in the lives of the poor are used for review. They are (1) literature that is planning-oriented and concerned with the impact of urban renewal and redevelopment on central city communities, (2) literature that analyzes the low-income public housing programs in the United States by concentrating on the social goals, and (3) sociological and anthropological research literature concerning Oscar Lewis'"culture of poverty" concept. The impact of the housing environemnt is analyzed along several dimensions: child and family health, intellectual and achievement state in both child and parent, family interaction patterns, neighborhood and organizational participation, and juvenile delinquency. Each dimension is treated in a separate chapter. In addition, chapter 1 places specific aspects of environmental change in a broader cultural context of poverty, and the conculsion summarizes the findings of the chapters both individually and together. (Author/ND)