Anchoring Equitable Development: Anchor Institute-Led Models of Housing and Community Development to Strengthen Institutions and Communities

In April 2014, a convening of national housing equity experts was hosted in Jacksonville, Florida by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. The convening's purpose was to gain insight from national stakeholders on affordable housing and equitable development challenges and opportunities in Jacksonville. From this two-day engagement, a number of major challenges and opportunities facing Jacksonville's housing development were clearly identified. Two of these findings directly inform this research effort.First, to meet the needs of Jacksonville's marginalized communities, an intentional focus on equity must stay at the forefront of community housing and development strategies. Second, if equity-focused development efforts are better aligned with health and/or educational stakeholders, affordable housing and equitable development could blossom in Jacksonville.Stable and affordable housing is essential to educational success and positive health outcomes for families and for communities. While the linkage between housing and educational and health outcomes is clear, educational and health stakeholders have not traditionally been deeply engaged in meeting housing need. Emerging initiatives across the country are countering this disengagement, demonstrating the important role that anchor institutions can play in supporting local housing needs. Community anchor institutions, such as educational entities (particularly higher education) and health care organizations can be powerful institutional resources to support equitable housing and community development. Throughout the nation, successful anchor institute-led housing interventions have been transformational in addressing community housing needs and community revitalization. These efforts have been most effective when equity goals are integrated into the design and implementation of anchor institute-led housing efforts.The following report provides select case studies with a strong social equity focus and comparability to Jacksonville. We identify lessons learned and summarize models which can be equally transformative in Jacksonville from these case studies. We also draw upon recent research and scholarship, and our own interviews with experts and practitioners. The goal of providing these lessons learned and model practices is to help inform, and potentially engage, various anchor institutes in Jacksonville -- organizations with resources that could help meet community housing needs and support equitable community development. This could help strengthen social, educational, economic and health outcomes for all of Jacksonville, including its most vulnerable residents

Addressing housing needs in minimising the problems of post conflict housing reconstruction

Depleted human and social capital, displacement of people, destruction of property, weakened institutions and ruined economy are some of the legacies of conflicts. Within this context, post conflict reconstruction contributes to overcome the legacies of conflict through reactivating the development process that has been disrupted by the conflict. Among the post conflict reconstruction interventions, post conflict housing reconstruction is paramount important as it contributes to development and peace through restoring the economic and social life of conflict affected people. Despite the importance, the success of post conflict housing reconstruction is hindered by a number of problems such as lack of strategies to address the unique challenges faced by vulnerable households, lack of involvement of local people, lack of use of local building material and technology, lack of local economic development, lack of community linkages, lack of cultural and local consideration, overlooked socio-economic conditions of occupants, standardised housing models, housing models imported from different cultures, lack of beneficiary consultation, poor performance of agencies, bribery and corruptions and lack of post occupancy evaluation. If not properly managed, these issues lead to hinder the success of post conflict housing reconstruction and its contribution to the development and peace. This paper argues that lack of concern on housing needs has directly or indirectly given rise for most of these issues through a comprehensive literature review on post conflict housing reconstruction and housing needs. The paper establishes the link between the problems of housing reconstruction and lack of addressing housing needs. Accordingly, it concludes that adequate housing measures provide a general guideline in addressing housing needs and addressing such needs leads to minimise the problems of post conflict housing reconstruction

Study protocol: developing a decision system for inclusive housing: applying a systematic, mixed-method quasi-experimental design

Background Identifying the housing preferences of people with complex disabilities is a much needed, but under-developed area of practice and scholarship. Despite the recognition that housing is a social determinant of health and quality of life, there is an absence of empirical methodologies that can practically and systematically involve consumers in this complex service delivery and housing design market. A rigorous process for making effective and consistent development decisions is needed to ensure resources are used effectively and the needs of consumers with complex disability are properly met. Methods/Design This 3-year project aims to identify how the public and private housing market in Australia can better respond to the needs of people with complex disabilities whilst simultaneously achieving key corporate objectives. First, using the Customer Relationship Management framework, qualitative (Nominal Group Technique) and quantitative (Discrete Choice Experiment) methods will be used to quantify the housing preferences of consumers and their carers. A systematic mixed-method, quasi-experimental design will then be used to quantify the development priorities of other key stakeholders (e.g., architects, developers, Government housing services etc.) in relation to inclusive housing for people with complex disabilities. Stakeholders randomly assigned to Group 1 (experimental group) will participate in a series of focus groups employing Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) methodology. Stakeholders randomly assigned to Group 2 (control group) will participate in focus groups employing existing decision making processes to inclusive housing development (e.g., Risk, Opportunity, Cost, Benefit considerations). Using comparative stakeholder analysis, this research design will enable the AHP methodology (a proposed tool to guide inclusive housing development decisions) to be tested. Discussion It is anticipated that the findings of this study will enable stakeholders to incorporate consumer housing preferences into commercial decisions. Housing designers and developers will benefit from the creation of a parsimonious set of consumer-led housing preferences by which to make informed investments in future housing and contribute to future housing policy. The research design has not been applied in the Australian research context or elsewhere, and will provide a much needed blueprint for market investment to develop viable, consumer directed inclusive housing options for people with complex disability

Decision-making process framework at the planning phase of housing development project

Every housing development project needs to go through several procedures which consist of a decision-making process. By practising the decision-making process since the planning phase, the relevant decision-maker is assisted in analysing and organising all issues arise such as the problem in identification and selection of a suitable contractor for housing development. However, the decisions are made without knowing precisely what will happen in the future. The research’s primary purpose is to develop a process model for decision-making at Malaysia’s housing development planning phase. This study also examines the decision-making process practised among Malaysian private housing developers at the planning phase and classifies four main aspects of decision-making: methods, tools, criteria and information. The study then discovers whether the four main aspects (methods, tools, criteria and information) are strongly related to the decision making process. This study comprises the development of a theoretical framework by integrating the models that have been developed by numerous authors and researchers on the subject of decision making. Besides, 67 private housing developers have been chosen as respondents for a questionnaire survey in this study. The descriptive statistical analysis and the correlated analysis are conducted employing the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results of this study show different findings for every four main aspects studied. However, it still answers the research objectives, and the relationship between the four main aspects of the decision-making process is accepted. This study is useful because it serves as a guide for private housing developers and governments in decision making at the planning phase of housing development. Moreover, this study provides a new process framework for decision making at the planning phase of housing development in Malaysia and assists housing developers and governments to make better predictions before proceeding to the construction phase

Mayoral views on housing production: do planning goals match reality?

Mayoral Views on Housing Production: Do Planning Goals Match Reality? evaluates mayoral priorities relative to actual need. Based on our analysis, even the most ambitious mayors are not prioritizing sufficient development necessary to meet the demand for housing and to address the affordability crisis. The authors recommend reforming local zoning codes and reducing regulatory barriers to the construction of multifamily housing to help address this shortfall.Citi Community Development and The Rockefeller Foundatio

Metropolitan Growth Policies and New Housing Supply: Evidence from Australia\u27s Capital Cities

This paper empirically examines the relationship between house price change, metropolitan growth policies, and new housing supply in Australia\u27s five major capital cities. Our hypothesis suggests capital cities with tighter regulations on new development will have fewer housing starts and price elasticities than those in less- regulated markets. The empirical procedure used in this paper utilises the Urban Growth Model of Housing Supply developed in Mayer and Somerville (2000a and 2000b) and employed in Zabel and Patterson (2006) by using quarterly data on housing approvals and house prices from 1996-2010. Data on metropolitan growth policies in Australia is borrowed from Hamnett and Kellett (2007). Preliminary findings indicate that new housing supply in Australian capital cities is elastic to housing price changes, as a one per cent increase in prices leads to an approximately 4-6 per cent increase in housing approvals over five quarters. While this indicates a properly functioning housing market, the estimated elasticity is about a third of other developed countries, such as the United States. Furthermore, the use of established growth policies, such as urban growth boundaries and urban consolidation, appears to have a greater impact on new housing approvals than adoption of new-style growth policies, such as development corporations and infrastructure levies. However, both types of policies decrease new housing supply

Affordable and quality housing through the low cost housing provision in Malaysia

Housing is a major concern for all people in every corner of the world as the wellbeing of a country is reflected in its people enjoying a certain standard of living. Residential and neighbourhood satisfaction is an important indicator of housing quality and condition, which affects individuals quality of life. The factors, which determine their satisfaction, are essential inputs in monitoring the success of housing policies. Housing provision for all in any country is very crucial in order to ensure socialeconomic stability and to promote national development. Therefore the Malaysian government under its 5 year National Plan has introduced the low, medium and high cost housing categories. The housing policy in Malaysia is to provide Malaysians of all income levels, particularly the low-income groups, accessibility to adequate, affordable and quality shelter. It provides direction to housing development in the country which should emphasis human settlement of better quality of life, national integration and unity. This paper will discuss the general scenario of housing in Malaysia particularly the low cost housing

Managing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction in Sri Lanka: gaps versus recommendations

Addressing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction leads to successful housing reconstruction. As part of a study of investigating how the housing needs can be effectively addressed in post conflict housing reconstruction, this paper identifies the gaps in managing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction within the context of Sri Lanka and presents the recommendations to minimise such gaps. Data was collected through un-structured interviews conducted with 37 participants, comprising policy makers, practitioners, academics and beneficiaries who engaged in post conflict housing reconstruction in Sri Lanka. Gaps were mainly found in conflict sensitivity, measures related to physical housing, performance of implementing agencies, policy and practice issues. On the job training, application of ‘do no harm’ principles, enhanced beneficiary participation, enhanced accountability, effective monitoring, enhanced knowledge sharing, adequate drinking water facilities, irrigation development and initiatives for material manufacturing were suggested as recommendations to minimise these gaps. Identification of gaps in managing housing needs in post conflict housing reconstruction and recommendations to minimise them inform policy makers to address the housing needs effectively through incorporating these aspects into the related policies. This in turn enhances the sustainability in housing development after conflicts

Upper Sioux Indian Community Trip Report: Assessment of Mold and Moisture Conditions

Paul Francisco from the Building Research Council (BRC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Robert Nemeth from Magna Systems, Inc. conducted a site visit at the Upper Sioux Indian Community Housing Department (USICHD) on April21-23, 2004. The USICHD administers the housing program for the Upper Sioux Indian Community. The site visit provided technical assistance to the housing department in assessing mold and moisture conditions in housing units. This report summarizes activities and issues addressed while on site. A detailed analysis of findings and recommendations is found in PART II: Upper Sioux Indian Community Housing Department Technical Housing Assessment Report: Examining Mold and Moisture Conditions of Homes for the Upper Sioux Indian Community.U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Native American Program