This report examines the spatial characteristics of tax credit housing within the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) for the years 2007 through 2009. The report analyzes tax-credit affordable housing sites in an attempt to determine the effects that geographically based program guidelines have on the distribution of LIHTC developments, and low-income communities throughout the area. Moreover, the report suggests recommendations for the clarification of program goals and objectives, the improvement of project application review procedures, and the revision of existing rules and development incentives. / text

Brownfield redevelopment is called upon to remedy damaged ecological, economic, and social conditions due to contamination from prior land use(s). It can be utilized as a means for revitalizing low-income neighborhoods and communities of color that have suffered from years of economic disinvestment and a polluted environment. Critics of brownfield redevelopment in low-income neighborhoods argue that this form of revitalization can backfire when property values and rental prices rise and existing residents are pushed out. The City of Oakland has demonstrated a form of inclusionary brownfield redevelopment that incorporates housing that is affordable to existing residents in the area and thus avoiding the form of exclusionary housing witnessed in other cases of brownfield redevelopment in central cities. This report builds on the hypothesis that inclusionary brownfield redevelopments in Oakland can serve as a model approach for other cities in preventing displacement of lower income, residents of color through gentrification. / text

Lack of access to adequate housing in Mexico City's urban core and sprawling settlement patterns have led to numerous social and environmental issues. Current development patterns sharpen social fragmentation and segregation, create imbalances in the provision of infrastructure and services, and encourage human occupation of high-risk and environmentally susceptible areas. Furthermore, expansive urbanization has become increasingly expensive, both at the individual and collective level. This has happened because private interests often overshadow public ones; economic growth rather than equitable and sustainable development has been the mark of success. Thus, commercial uses have displaced residential uses, particularly low-income housing, to remote areas of the metropolitan region. Local government efforts, albeit significant in comparison to other parts of the country, have been unable to adequately address this issue. Government inefficiency, lack of inter-institutional coordination, corruption, and lack of resources, among other factors, have hindered the success of housing and densification projects. The present research evaluates recent densification efforts and their goals to increase housing access and repopulate the urban core. Some of the individual benefits enjoyed by residents of densification projects, such as access to infrastructure and services, as well as some of the difficulties experienced by them in the process of obtaining government credits and access to housing are also identified. The conclusion is that only the rigorous integration of environmental and social planning agendas and the renegotiation of concepts of spatial justice will lead to more effective policies and housing programs, and a just, accessible, and sustainable city, region and country. / text

Low- and moderate-income Americans rely on affordable housing. It is clear that affordable rental housing is needed, but much of what is getting built, especially in the high-growth West and South, gives rise to negative externalities based on the large number of units in the projects. This report looks at objections to large apartment complexes and makes the case for smaller-scale multifamily developments, studies how housing policy in the US has disadvantaged multifamily development, and investigates barriers to small-scale developments relating to mortgage markets, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and the models of nonprofit affordable housing providers. / text

The current study uses a combination of quantitative and spatial analysis to examine the impact of affordable housing administered by the Texas Department of Housing Affairs on the neighborhood crime rate, in Dallas, Texas. Pre and post construction period analysis, for duration of five years from 2000 to 2004 provided an in-depth view on the direct impact of affordable housing at the neighborhood level. The crime rates were measured alongside with the sociodemographic characteristics of the area to see any association between the two. The findings suggest that the affordable housing were mostly located in areas with higher concentration of minority population and low median household income. The results of this study showed negligible increase in crime rates but a through analysis could provide an in-depth analysis of the issue. / text

As the demand for center city living in the US has grown, housing has been used to revitalize neighborhoods and contribute to the tax base of the city. I investigate the ways that change, fostered and shaped in part by federal and local housing and planning policies, affects low income neighborhoods undergoing redevelopment at the level of “community.” To study these issues I study the Washington, DC neighborhoods of Columbia Heights: In less than ten years, this neighborhood was transformed by planning and housing policies from a primarily low-income, isolated neighborhood to a truly mixed income neighborhood housing residents of varied ethnicities and income levels. Using an ethnographic approach, I interviewed residents, policy makers, agency staff, advocates, and housing developers; conducted archival research on planning documents, newspapers, blogs, neighborhood list-servs, and public hearing proceedings; and observed - both directly and as a participant – in public parks, commercial establishments, public hearings, community, tenant and organizational meetings, and at rallies and town halls. My findings suggest that the District of Columbia, neighborhood groups, housing advocates, and developers instituted some of the best practices in urban planning and housing policy, which led to a mixed income neighborhood with a focus on dense, mixed-use and multi-modal transit oriented development. However, in spite of – or perhaps because of – dramatic changes in the concentration of poverty, through the combination of the preservation of existing affordable housing and the addition of higher income new residents, low income residents’ sense of community, political power and access to amenities changed significantly. Moreover, the focus on place and physical amenities that has been a hallmark of large scale redevelopment has implicitly devalued less tangible elements of neighborhood life related to use-value, community cohesion, and culture. Further, the implied benefits of mixed income communities for low income households, combined with the narrative of urban decline and rebirth that echoes across American cities have combined to justify the social, political and physical displacement of existing residents. / text

In the last decade we have witnessed the strengthening of an international network of higher education all over the world. The need to educate and develop our contemporary society is a machine in continuous work and progress. Being a student is a condition that makes individuals, enriches culture and often crosses boundaries. Students are a necessary piece in the capitalist economy, which makes them a valuable and essential resource in order to sustain its markets. Therefore, countries and institutions compete to hold more and more students within their society but what are the consequences of the internationalisation of higher education (and its market(s) that is taking place on a global scale? The globalisation and internationalisation of education promote a migration of students always on the rise. In some cities such as Umeå, it implies consequent urban growth, the need to develop facilities, services and accommodations. Such patterns of immigration make students actors in the real estate market of the country they move to but they do not always find adequate conditions for their integration. The current economic crisis has debilitated many markets including that of real estate, and in that context, the thesis explores alternative ways of approaching affordable accommodation for students, as well as a different understanding of urban planning that aims at enabling diverse coexistences of students and other inhabitants and the progressive transformation and hybridisation of otherwise very homogenous areas of the city.

Denna rapport ger en bild av vilka olika saker byggherrar i Sverige använder sig av idag för att öka den sociala hållbarheten. De projekt som studerats är Bygga om Dialogen i Malmö, Älvstaden i Göteborg, Vivalla i Örebro och föreningen Byggemenskap. Genom att intervjua en person från varje område studeras likheter och skillnader i hur man arbetat med den sociala hållbarheten vid byggnation. I Malmö och Örebro studeras arbetet med att öka den sociala hållbarheten vid renoveringsobjekt, hur får de hela områden som länge haft ett dåligt rykte att bli socialt hållbara där stort fokus ligger på att anställa långtidsarbetslösa. I Göteborg och i föreningen Byggemenskap fokuserar man på att föra in den sociala hållbarheten vid nybyggnation och hur vi kan bygga hyresrätter som har en lägre hyra än nybyggda lägenheter i dagsläget har. / This report gives a picture of different things a developer in Sweden can use to increase the social sustainability. The studied parts are Bygga om Dialogen in Malmö, Älvstaden in Gothenburg, Vivalla in Örebro and association Byggemenskap. By interviewing one person from each area similarities and differences were studied to compare their work with social sustainability. In Malmö and Örebro their work is to increase the social sustainability for restoration objects and how to get whole areas that have long had a bad reputation to become socially sustainable with the main focus being on hiring long-term unemployed people, in Gothenburg and within the association Byggemeskap, the focus is to increase the social sustainability at new housing estates and how we can build new tenancies with a lower rent then apartments have today.

This practicum examines the role of secondary dwelling units (secondary suites), as employed by the City of Edmonton, in the implementation of affordable housing policy. It seeks to understand the context in which the City‘s secondary dwelling unit program was developed, the various components of the program, and the impacts of the program. A review of the literature on this topic, a review of key City documents, a review of permit and grant allocation data, a key informant interview, as well as a survey of targeted neighbourhood residents were used to inform this study. Results from the study suggest that while that the program has made a significant contribution to the creation of affordable housing stock in the city and is generally supported by residents, details of the program may not be well understood by the public. Finally, possible future directions for the program and for research are suggested.

Improving access to affordable housing is often approached through efforts to increase the supply of such housing, as the need to make better use of existing resources and coordinating the efforts of housing providers is often overlooked. A central housing registry in Winnipeg would be one approach to improving coordination and better access for low-income households to affordable housing. This study explores different examples of housing registries that exist in Canada and the United States. It provides insight into the benefits and challenges of housing registries through web searches and a survey. A focus group was also used to gain insight on the local context for developing a central housing registry. This research will increase the awareness of the benefits of a central housing registry and provides recommendations on how to approach the development and implementation of a central housing registry.