New Updates on PD&R Edge

PD&R Leadership:
HSI COE Grants
In the Leadership Message, Solomon Greene, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, and Sahian Valladares, Special Advisor in the Office of Policy Development and Research, discuss HUD’s recent grant awards to Hispanic-Serving Institutions to establish Centers of Excellence that will advance housing and community development research in Hispanic/Latino communities. Grantees will use this support to produce actionable research on a range of housing and community development topics and generate insights to ensure access to affordable housing and improve lives in Hispanic/Latino communities.

In Practice:
Hawaii’s First Micro-Unit Rental Community Comes to Downtown Honolulu
Nohona Hale in Honolulu is Hawaii’s first micro-unit rental community, opening in 2020 in central Hawaii’s expensive rental market. Nohona Hale has more than 100 apartments, all affordable for low- to moderate-income households. Locally owned businesses, creative workspaces, public gathering spaces, and public art line the vibrant community’s streets around Nohona Hale. The micro-unit design allowed the developer to maximize the number of apartments the development’s small lot and dense urban neighborhood could accommodate.

Trending:
HUD and the Concept of the Smart City
The “smart city” concept in urban planning encompasses operational efficiency, economic growth, transparency, participatory governance, environmental sustainability, and quality of life. Housing is one of the determinants of the viability of a smart city, making it an area in which HUD and the smart city intertwine. Exploring various concepts connected to the “smart city” paradigm, this article examines ways that certain approaches are more or less aligned with HUD’s mission to “create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities.”

PD&R at 50:
Housing Programs and Racial Segregation: The Role of Place-Based and Mobility Programs
Peter J. Mateyka, Survey Statistician in PD&R’s Housing and Demographic Analysis Division, reviews the history of PD&R’s work on HUD’s place-based and housing mobility initiatives. He discusses how this work has enhanced our understanding of the relationship between housing policy and racial segregation and advanced the affirmatively furthering fair housing mandate’s goal of reducing residential segregation.

Spotlight on PD&R Data:
HUD Administrative Data Licenses Facilitate Key Policy Insights
In administering its housing assistance programs, HUD collects extensive data on its program participants, including demographic, income, and geographic information on assisted households. Because this resource can potentially answer important policy questions, PD&R allows researchers to enter into Data License Agreements with HUD to access these restricted data. This article highlights recent work published by researchers using HUD data.

Please send your comments and suggestions to editor@huduser.gov.