Ivan Illich called the study and sharing of technologies to improve subsistence (food, water, shelter, etc.) done outside the paradigms of industry and progress for "counterfoil research". For example, how to build homes good for both humans and planet without incurring debt. 
In economies not yet fully lost to progress, on the edges, in the third world, or abandoned by progress (the rust belt, the ranch, the wetlands, the dead malls), counterfoil research is especially important in bringing a sense of resilience and optimism to ordinary people.
Counterfoil research is a way for un-industrialized countries to exponentially increase quality of life without falling into the traps of industrialization, and it is a way for us in Progressive societies to step outside of the commodity economy and reconnect with the real world.
So which way? A progressive future where everything is provided for us (no matter if we want it, or if it is even good for us), or a future where we take an active part in our own lives, outside of commodities and machines? In short: Homes, or Housing?
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