Land Matters

The coronavirus pandemic has utterly changed virtually all aspects of urban life, both now and for the foreseeable future. Cities like Detroit – before the crisis, arguably on the brink of a rebound -- now must make a wide range of adjustments in programs and initiatives in their quest for equitable regeneration. The long recovery ahead will move from near-term responses to a more holistic re-imag...

Financing urban infrastructure and promoting decent, affordable housing were both big topics at the United Nations global cities summit, the World Urban Forum, recently held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Architect and urban planner Claudio Acioly helps explain the worldwide effort to improve conditions in fast-growing cities in the developing world, where one of four people live in slums.

The new year is a time to set goals for the future. But what happens when an entire planet tries to make a common pledge? Economist and Lincoln Institute President George W. "Mac" McCarthy takes stock of an impressive roster of global agreements, from the ozone-repairing Montreal Protocol to the Paris climate accord and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals , in the spotlight at the Wor...

A classic post-industrial city on the brink of bankruptcy, Hartford, Connecticut has overhauled its zoning and turned abandoned factories into craft breweries and makers spaces. Can the city be just as creative in replacing a crumbling 1960s-era highway through downtown? Planning commissioner Sara Bronin talks about the cutting-edge urban planning practices she hopes will put the city back on the...

Cities around the world are hard at work on traffic congestion. Boston has established multi-modal street layouts and special drop-off zones for Uber and Lyft in high-volume areas such as around Fenway Park, for example. But the task is about to get more complex, with the advent of driverless vehicles, delivery robots, and AI-enabled trackless trams -- all of which will require a more wholesale tr...

Climate change can seem like an insurmountable challenge. But many tools and policies to decarbonize the economy and build resilience are readily available, says Billy Fleming, director of The McHarg Center and one of the editors of the new Lincoln Institute book Design with Nature Now . The green and blue infrastructure systems detailed in the book are proven solutions that need only be implement...

Minneapolis may seem like an unlikely place for the start of a revolution. But as City Councilor Lisa Bender explains, the Midwestern city has passed some of the most progressive housing policies and zoning reforms in the country. The measures, including banning single-family-only zoning, are based on one important idea: that when local government changes the rules of the game to allow more buildi...

Slums have been a feature of cities for centuries, and accelerating global urbanization has led to an unprecedented number of people living in substandard conditions. Cities have responded with a range of policies including eviction and relocation. But some suggest that cities should stop thinking of slums as a problem to be solved. In this episode, the Lincoln Institute's Enrique Silva and Theres...

Episode 3: Water Meets Land As the global water crisis intensifies, the Colorado River Basin is poised to become a model for how to bring together stakeholders representing agriculture, urban areas, and the natural environment. In this episode, we've put together highlights and takeaways from the 2019 Journalists Forum (#WaterMeetsLand) – including the importance of considering the central role of...

Those in the "Yes in My Backyard" or YIMBY movement have a simple goal: increase the supply of housing in cities across the US, and sky-high prices should come down. But they face a growing backlash from neighborhood activists fearful of gentrification and displacement. In California, a bill to fast-track more height and density near transit stations was derailed, even with a provision to require...

Tax increment financing is one of the most widely used – and least understood – public finance mechanisms in the U.S. today. David Merriman, author of the Lincoln Institute report Improving TIF for Economic Development , talks about what communities can do to avoid the pitfalls. For further reading, see also The Hidden Costs of TIF   in Land Lines.