Sam Bowman, an economist and editor of Works in Progress, dives into the housing crisis in developed countries, emphasizing the powerful grip of NIMBYism. He presents innovative solutions like street votes to empower local residents and discusses property tax distribution's significant role. Sam argues that overcoming NIMBY opposition requires rethinking incentives and highlights the surprising local support for nuclear power. He also touches on the intersection of technology in public health, especially concerning obesity and food choices.
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NIMBY Concerns
NIMBYs often have legitimate reasons to oppose development, like increased noise or decreased quality of life.
Pro-housing advocates need to address these concerns, not just label NIMBYs as selfish.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Street Votes
Implement street votes: let residents decide on design and density rules for their street.
This allows residents to capture the value uplift from increased density.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Estate Regeneration
London's estate regeneration projects, where residents vote on redevelopment plans, show high approval rates.
This indicates a demand for better housing when residents have agency.
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Economist and editor of Works in ProgressSam Bowman isn’t content to just condemn the Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) mentality behind rich countries' construction stagnation. He wants to actually get a tonne of stuff built, and by that standard the strategy of attacking ‘NIMBYs’ has been an abject failure. They are too politically powerful, and if you try to crush them, sooner or later they crush you.
So Sam lays out three alternative strategies in our full interview with him — including highlights like:
Rich countries have a crisis of underconstruction (00:00:19)
The UK builds shockingly little because of its planning permission system (00:04:57)
Overcoming NIMBYism means fixing incentives (00:07:21)
NIMBYs aren't wrong: they are often harmed by development (00:10:44)
Street votes give existing residents a say (00:16:29)
It's essential to define in advance who gets a say (00:24:37)
Property tax distribution might be the most important policy you've never heard of (00:28:55)
Using aesthetics to get buy-in for new construction (00:35:48)
Locals actually really like having nuclear power plants nearby (00:44:14)
It can be really useful to let old and new institutions coexist for a while (00:48:27)
Ozempic and living in the decade that we conquered obesity (00:53:05)
Northern latitudes still need nuclear power (00:55:30)
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Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong
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