Description | Syllabi

This course will explore a range of issues relating to U.S. housing and community development policy, including the role housing plays in building and strengthening neighborhoods and communities. Topics to be covered are the structure of housing and related financial markets; the economic and social bases for government to intervene in these markets; and the relative merits and demerits of the different tools available to intervene in these markets including: subsidization, both directly and through the tax system; regulation of financial institutions, e.g. the Community Reinvestment Act; FHA/Ginnie Mae and government sponsored enterprises; zoning; and regulation of lands and rents. The course will also examine the role of the legal system to enforce laws and regulations and set the agenda for housing and community development policy.

Prerequisites:CORE-GP.1022 or URPL-GP.2660