HUD’s Sustainable Communities Initiative: An Emerging Model of Place-Based Federal Policy and Collaborative Capacity Building

Lauren C. Heberle
Brandon McReynolds
Steve Sizemore
University of Louisville

Joseph Schilling
Urban Institute

The U.S. government generally operates under specialized policy and program silos, making it a challenge to holistically address complex policy issues across agencies and departments. With the launch of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities (PSC) in 2009, an interagency initiative involving the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the federal government sought to promote and infuse principles and practices of sustainable community development, through new levels of federal interagency collaboration and a portfolio of planning grants and capacity-building assistance for regional and local governments. HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities served as the hub for the interagency collaboration with its signature Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI).