The limits of housing revitalization as a platform for improving residents’ economic well-being: lessons from the U.S.

Abstract

ABSTRACTThirty years ago, the United States faced a crisis with its public housing stock. This paper reviews what the evidence shows about the successes and failures of 20 years of public housing transformation, especially on what these efforts have meant for the residents who have endured both distressed public housing and the stresses of forced relocation for redevelopment initiatives. I focus on the ways that policy-makers have tried to use these efforts as a catalyst for improving residents' lives and trying to help them move toward self-sufficiency, and describe some of the innovative efforts to use housing as a platform for offering supportive services. Finally, I argue that current policy shifts are setting the stage for a new crisis in US public housing that has the potential to do real harm to the residents who depend on it to be able to afford safe and stable homes.