Land Matters

Rising rents are straining family budgets now more than ever, says NYU professor Ingrid Gould Ellen, co-author of the Lincoln Institute report "Through the Roof" – and the pandemic has both revealed and exacerbated the affordability crisis. Local governments should establish comprehensive plans to create more housing, she says, but action at the state and federal level will help as well.

In the first of the year's shows marking the 75th anniversary of the Lincoln Institute, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben breaks down the actions of the incoming Biden administration to confront the climate crisis, from rejoining the Paris accord to halting the Keystone XL pipeline. Land use and land policy, he says, are critical components as the planet readies for inevitable impacts such as rising seas, which is expected to trigger massive migration.

As the world prepares to bid farewell to 2020, taking stock of an unprecedented year involves both understanding the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic and looking ahead to what the future may hold. New York Times reporter Emily Badger and author Diana Lind reflect on the prospects for cities, housing, and transportation in the times ahead.

Recently reelected Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego reflects on a supercharged election season – and how, among other changes, Phoenix is becoming a more sustainable, and more urban, place. The nation's fifth-largest metropolis is battling COVID, stepping up measures to conserve water, and providing new housing and transit options for its growing population.

With revenues down and pandemic-related expenditures up, state and local governments are facing a fiscal meltdown this fall and beyond. Experts from the Lincoln Institute talk about the options, including layoffs and cuts in services, and explain how leaving cities and states to struggle on their own might actually worsen a recession.

To make sense of the current discussion of affordable housing in cities or in suburbs, it is necessary to understand the history of discrimination that has been part and parcel of US housing policy and programs, says Lisa Rice, president of the National Fair Housing Alliance.

The coronavirus pandemic and growing outrage about racial injustice have underscored the centrality of healthy, well-located, and affordable housing in society. Author Kim Vermeer and smart growth advocate Andre Leroux assess efforts to create more housing options to address longstanding economic and racial disparities.

For Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, the coronavirus crisis began in earnest when California Governor Gavin Newsom asked to allow sick passengers to disembark from the Crown Princess cruise ship, in the West Oakland port area. And life as mayor of this Bay Area city of 435,000 has not been the same since. Schaaf oversaw a successful lockdown, placed the homeless in vacant hotel rooms, and closed sections of streets to vehicular traffic to encourage biking and walking. Now she is focused on making Oakland more sustainable and equitable than before the pandemic struck.

The coronavirus pandemic has utterly changed virtually all aspects of urban life, both now and for the foreseeable future. Cities like Detroit – before the crisis, arguably on the brink of a rebound -- now must make a wide range of adjustments in programs and initiatives in their quest for equitable regeneration. The long recovery ahead will move from near-term responses to a more holistic re-imagining of how communities function, according to two leaders at the Lincoln Institute's Center for Community Investment.

Financing urban infrastructure and promoting decent, affordable housing were both big topics at the United Nations global cities summit, the World Urban Forum, recently held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Architect and urban planner Claudio Acioly helps explain the worldwide effort to improve conditions in fast-growing cities in the developing world, where one of four people live in slums.