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Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.

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A Sustainability Analysis of Workforce Housing Development Tools

Description
Arizona and the Phoenix metropolitan area are experiencing a housing crisis, both in terms of affordability and supply. While the number of affordable and available units has been shrinking, a separate trend has emerged that is also adding pressure to the housing market, particularly for renters—a demand for transit-oriented, walkable,…

Arizona and the Phoenix metropolitan area are experiencing a housing crisis, both in terms of affordability and supply. While the number of affordable and available units has been shrinking, a separate trend has emerged that is also adding pressure to the housing market, particularly for renters—a demand for transit-oriented, walkable, sustainable communities. As governments invest in projects and infrastructure falsely branded as sustainable, environmental gentrification often occurs resulting in displacement of current residents. Without new, moderately priced housing being built, displaced residents remain housing cost burdened. Workforce housing, priced to serve lower-middle to middle-income residents, offers a release from the pressure on the housing market, but innovative models for workforce housing development are necessary to navigate the regulatory and financial barriers in place. During a Solutions Round Table event facilitated by my client, a variety of potential tools for mitigating the housing crisis and removing barriers to workforce housing development were discussed. Based on conversations documented during the event, a robust list of workforce housing development tools was created. With the help of my client, the list was winnowed down to six tools for focused research—off-site construction, cohousing, land banks, missing middle infill models, community land trusts combined with limited equity cooperatives, and public-private partnerships. This project describes these tools and outlines best practices for developing and implementing them in the Valley. The best practices are organized to serve as guidance for the private sector and public sector separately, and for embedding health and social equity. Each tool is assessed using a simplified version of Gibson’s (2006) sustainability criteria, combined into four dimensions—environment, social, economic, and holistic. The findings from the assessment are embedded as guidance throughout the final product, a white paper, which will be delivered to Urban Land Institute (ULI) Arizona District Council Task Force for Health, Equity, and Housing Affordability, my client for this project.
ContributorsVan Horn, Elizabeth (Writer of accompanying material)
Created2020-05-26
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Podcasting to Empowering People

Description

The commonly accepted goal of sustainability, to fulfill our current needs and maintain the worlds systems so future generations can also fulfill their needs, unifies efforts efficiently and aligns people with future thinking. But the concepts related, and their applications are fairly ambiguous in guiding people to what exactly they…

The commonly accepted goal of sustainability, to fulfill our current needs and maintain the worlds systems so future generations can also fulfill their needs, unifies efforts efficiently and aligns people with future thinking. But the concepts related, and their applications are fairly ambiguous in guiding people to what exactly they can do to make choices for sustainability. Individuals choices make a difference, adding up to societal shifts that change the world for the better. In such a complex world, there is a clear need for guidance through these systems. Sustainability and Resilience (S&R) is an optimistic podcast that journeys through thought-provoking science-based sustainability challenges with a bit of comedic relief. Listeners are entertained and become empowered to know what sustainable choices are, and why they are sustainable. S&R podcast uses systems thinking to pinpoint, realistic actionable items that empower listeners with a broad-spectrum sustainability knowledge for making everyday choices. Foundational research proved, developed and formed the idea of the podcast. Recording research lead to the ability to record test episodes, gather listener feedback and update the podcast concept. The podcast was officially created with the release of the debut episode that can anyone can listen to for free on all major platforms.
ContributorsCheney, Kate (Writer of accompanying material)
Created2020-05-15