Cityscape Sections

The Symposium is a collection of articles constituting original interdisciplinary contributions to knowledge on a common theme related to HUD’s mission. They are selected by a guest editor and often are accompanied by expert commentary from around the world.

Contact: Cityscape@hud.gov

The Point of Contention is a set of disagreements on a topic within HUD’s mission on which scholars can have a civil disagreement.

Contact: Cityscape@hud.gov

Refereed Papers are unsolicited contributions to knowledge on a topic within HUD’s mission. Refereed papers that appear in Cityscape have undergone a thorough and timely double-blind review by highly qualified referees. The managing editor reviews submitted manuscripts or outlines of proposed papers to determine their suitability for inclusion in this section.

Contact: Cityscape@hud.gov

Departments are specialized introductions to topics with which our readers may wish to become familiar.

Affordable Design – Winning entries in juried design competitions sponsored or co-sponsored by HUD

This department seeks to identity and develop new, forward-looking planning and design solutions for expanding or preserving affordable housing. This department also reports on design competitions and their winners. Professional jurors determine the outcome of these competitions.

Data Shop – New and relatively unknown datasets, and new techniques for using well-known datasets

Data Shop presents short articles or notes on the uses of data in housing and urban research. Through this department, PD&R introduces readers to new and overlooked data sources and to improved techniques in using well-known data. The emphasis is on sources and methods that analysts can use in their own work. Researchers often run into knotty data problems involving data interpretation or manipulation that must be solved before a project can proceed, but they seldom get to focus in detail on the solutions to such problems. Contact: DataShop@hud.gov

Evaluation Tradecraft – Innovations in data collection and analysis for program evaluation

Evaluation Tradecraft presents short articles about the art of evaluation in housing and urban research. Through this department of Cityscape, PD&R presents developments in the art of evaluation that might not be described in detail in published evaluations. Researchers often describe what they did and what their results were, but they might not give readers a step-by-step guide for implementing their methods. This department pulls back the curtain and shows readers exactly how program evaluation is done.

Foreign Exchange – Urban policy initiatives from abroad that may be of interest to local policy makers

Foreign Exchange reports on what HUD’s International and Philanthropic Affairs Division (IPAD) has learned about new departures in housing and development policy in cities and suburbs throughout the world that might have value if applied in U.S. communities.

Graphic Detail – The use of maps or other visualization techniques as tools of social science

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) organize and clarify the patterns of human activities on the Earth’s surface and their interaction with each other. GIS data, in the form of maps, can quickly and powerfully convey relationships to policymakers and the public. This department of Cityscape includes maps that convey important housing or community development policy issues or solutions.

Impact – Benefit-cost analyses for new HUD rules

A regulatory impact analysis must accompany every economically significant federal rule or regulation. PD&R performs this analysis for all HUD rules. An impact analysis is a forecast of the annual benefits and costs accruing to all parties, including the taxpayers, from a given regulation. Modeling these benefits and costs involves use of past research findings, application of economic principles, empirical investigation, and professional judgment.

Industrial Revolution – Innovations in building technology not yet fully adopted in the U.S. market

Every home that is built is a representation of compromises made between different and often competing goals: comfort, convenience, durability, energy consumption, maintenance, construction costs, appearance, strength, community acceptance, and resale value. Consumers and developers tend to make tradeoffs among these goals with incomplete information which increases risks and slows the process of innovation in the housing industry. The slowing of innovation, in turn, negatively affects productivity, quality, performance, and value. This department features a few promising improvements to the U.S. housing stock, illustrating how advancements in housing technologies can play a vital role in transforming the industry in important ways.

Policy Briefs – Neutral review of controversies deserving further research

The Policy Briefs department summarizes a change or trend in national policy that may have escaped the attention of researchers. The purpose is to stimulate the analysis of policy in the field while the policy is being implemented and thereafter.

Practicum – Means of delivering technical assistance within HUD’s mission areas

Spatial Analysis and Methods (SpAM) – Novel methods in spatial analysis

SpAM presents short articles on the use of spatial statistical techniques for housing or urban development research. Through this department of Cityscape, PD&R introduces readers to the use of emerging spatial data analysis methods or techniques for measuring geographic relationships in research data. Researchers increasingly use these new techniques to enhance their understanding of urban patterns but often do not have access to short demonstration articles for applied guidance.

Department contacts: Contact either the department editor listed in the header paragraph for the department in each issue, or Cityscape@hud.gov.