Affordable Housing Roundtable

Agustina Rodriguez Biasone

Program Coordinator, Development of Human Potential, Ministry of Human Development and Habitat, City of Buenos Aires, Argentina 

Diane Davis, Ph.D

Professor, Regional Planning and Urbanism, Havard Graduate School of Design, USA

Salvador Herrera

CEO, founding partner, Urbanistica, Mexico

Tenzin Jamtsho

Director of Administration and Finance at Druk Gyalpo's Institute (formerly the Royal Academy), Bhutan

Nicolas Maggio

President & CEO, Foro de Vivienda Sustentabilidad y Energía, Argentina 

Bishwapriya Sanyal, Ph.D (Host)

Professor, Director of MIT SPURS/Humphrey Program, USA

Jing Zhang, AICP

Chair, APA International Division

The Context of Housing Issues 

Housing issues are impacted, among other things, by the following: 

• Supporting infrastructure - energy grid, water, and roads. 

• Community amenities - schools and recreational facilities.  

• Political willingness - data collection through voter registration (Mexico)

• Climate change exacerbates the housing crisis, particularly affecting low-income families.

Informal Housing / Existing Housing Improvements

• Buenos Aires is a prosperous city, but it has many informal settlements spreading throughout the urban area. The city has been developing a legal framework to improve housing ownership and build supporting infrastructure. Many residents participated in the process. 

• Improving obsolete housing in Mexico includes improving safety and secure home ownership.  

• To understand the housing issue in a region, we need to identify houses that need to be improved and identify houses that need to be built. It might be more profitable for developers to build new houses, but it is more economically and environmentally responsible to improve existing housing. Government investment in existing housing stocks improves social equity and the local economy - hiring locals. 

The Impact of Land Conservation

Bhutan faces a housing affordability crisis, particularly due to limited land availability (strict government control) and limited housing options. High-interest-rate loans also make capital inaccessible. Many Bhutanese choose to move out of the country to better housing options. 

Rent or Own

Owning a house should not be considered as a default option. For many, housing ownership is a way to ensure financial security (maybe two houses). However, many young people tend to favor renting for its flexibility. Policies should consider the dynamics of the renting and the buying market. 

Immigrant Workers Impact

Many individuals work abroad and remit money to their home countries, enabling their families to purchase homes of their choice. This “artificially” boosts the housing market, impacting local workers. 

Needs vs Demand

They are different. Housing needs are a minimum requirement for a space to live. Housing demand involves people’s desire and buying power. 

Affordable Housing in Rural / Small Town Areas in the U.S. 

Many focuses have been on urban housing issues. For small towns, the housing issues often involve the lack of, or the inadequacy of, development ordinances, land banking/speculation, and land assessment. 

Short-term Home Stay

Businesses, like Airbnb, often lead to higher rental prices and reduced availability of long-term housing for local residents. Affluent families may gentrify neighborhoods through their housing investment.  

Intersection Housing

Building a house on top of an intersection. The idea is to use the airspace above intersections owned by the public. There are a lot of intersections. The challenges include ownership, access, cost, and structure layout (utility and sewage). An example is the Gate Tower Building in Osaka, Japan.

We will hold the second in-person meet-up during the NPC24 in Minneapolis. 

• The event will be informal and likely be held in a publicly accessible place. If APA has a problem with using a convention center. We can make it in a hotel lobby. 

• The event will likely be held on Sunday or Monday (Sunday preferred). 

• The event will not be advertised by APA because it is too late to submit an event application. However, division members will be informed and the information will be shared through APA Engage, during the session/presentation and the reception. 

• We will continue designing the framework to conceptualize the affordable housing issue including all the contributing factors. One way to design the framework is to start from/with the building itself. 

The project is an open-access repository for those interested in exploring affordable housing, offering diverse viewpoints and practical solutions.