This speech was given by Professor Ray Forrest at the 2011 annual meeting of the Taiwan Housing Society held at Dong Hwa University in Taiwan. It focuses on the development of social housing from a global perspective. The address commences by first clarifying the terms ”social housing” and ”public housing”, to be followed by a theoretical review of the development of social housing that shows how social housing is related to society at large due to its social and economic impact. The neoliberal development of social housing is also addressed and so are its impacts. It is argued that social housing still can play a critical role under the current economic turmoil.