Community development

The community development “industry”—a network of nonprofit service providers, real estate developers, financial institutions, foundations, and government—draws on public subsidies and other financing to transform impoverished neighborhoods into better-functioning communities.

The involvement of public-private partnerships in housing programs has grown steadily since HUD’s formation in 1965. Depending on their goals, previous administrations have framed P3s as a means of either expanding or reducing the federal government’s role in housing and urban development.

The Building Healthy Neighborhoods series explores the crucial elements to build a culture of health, education and economic mobility in lower-income communities.

While links between housing deficiencies and health conditions are well substantiated, research evaluating the health benefits of specific interventions has been limited.

The link between federal housing policy and public health has been understood since the nineteenth century, when housing activists first sought to abolish slums and create healthful environments.