From Rhetoric to Reality: The Impact and Effectiveness of New Forms of Public and Private Housing on Community Building

Author: Barbara A. Sherry

Dissertation School: University of Illinois at Chicago

Pages: 22

Publication Date: 01/2001

Availability:
Available from the HUD USER Helpdesk P.O. Box 23268 Washington, DC 20026-3268 Toll Free: 1-800-245-2691 Fax: 1-202-708-9981 Email: oup@oup.org

Access Number: 5017

Abstract:

The 1980s and 1990s have seen the growth of new forms of housing, both public and private, that have been portrayed by their promoters as having the ability to build communities and increase social capital. The movement that has attracted the most attention is New Urbanism, which makes explicit claims that physical design can improve or build community. In recent years New Urbanist developments have proliferated in the United States and Canada, in both the private and the public housing sectors. In my dissertation, I study what effect New Urbanist developments have upon community building, both in the private housing market and in public housing's HOPE VI projects. I will examine the following questions:

• What are the specific claims that have been made concerning community building for New Urbanist developments, and by whom have these claims been made?
• Which other groups or constituencies have adopted these claims, and in what if any ways have the claims been modified?
• Are different claims made as to the effect of New Urbanist designs for public housing and for private housing?
• What is the reality? Have the community building goals been achieved, or is there evidence that they might be achieved? Do public and private New Urbanist housing developments differ in terms of success?
• What are the public policy implications of an increasing number of New Urbanist developments on both public and private housing?

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