The End of "Public" Housing? Policy Frameworks and Implementation on HUD's 50th Anniversary

Federal housing policies under the Obama Administration espouse the value and necessity of private and third sector actors in the production and preservation of affordable housing. The FY 2010-2015 HUD Strategic Plan included a new mission statement to “create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality, affordable homes for all” with five specific goals intended to guide the both the transformation of HUD as an agency, as well as the revitalization of communities. This plan describes the evolution of HUD from a large, centralized government bureaucracy to a customer-center organization that uses “The New Business Model” of data-driven performance. What do HUD’s past policy implementation processes demonstrate about public-private governance arrangements? How are the inherited HUD policies (such as HOPE VI) faring in particular cities and neighborhoods, and for particular special populations of tenants? And, what do we make of the past five years of HUD’s new policies, such as the Choice Neighborhood Initiative and the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, that require leveraging private actors and funding to maintain and redevelop public and assisted housing stock? This panel weaves HUD policy implementation for particular places and populations with the next iteration of HUD’s policy framework in order to show the continued evolution of policy design and implementation, calling into question the future of public housing.