The Affordable City

The shortage of federal funds in the 1980s forced municipalities to develop new strategies not only for promoting affordable housing but for preserving the affordability of any housing produced using the dollars or powers of the public. This collection of original essays, written by experts with hands-on policy experience, explores a promising alternative to housing programs that subsidize either public ownership or private, for-profit ownership: third sector housing.

In his comprehensive introduction, editor John Emmeus Davis distinguishes three characteristics of third sector housing: it is privately owned, socially oriented, and price-restricted. Much of it is being produced by nonprofit, community-based organizations with municipal support, but many cities have also used mechanisms like linkage and inclusionary zoning to force for-profit developers into providing housing with lasting affordability.

The ten essays comprising The Affordable City examine the benefits, struggles, and political risks involved in moving toward this private, nonmarket approach to affordable housing. The authors, all social activists, offer new insights into the current debates over the privatization of public services and the future of public innovation.