Housing Development and Discrimination

Housing provides a necessary foundation for physical and social life. This course begins with an examination of the early history of urban housing development and patterns, then goes on to consider the rise of large scale suburban developments and the market and societal forces behind this movement. The discussion includes the role of the government in facilitating housing construction through low-cost loans to developers, mortgage insurance to borrowers and tax credits to builders and grants to local governments. The course then goes on to consider how those development decisions and governmental involvement might have resulted in the exclusion of groups from housing. The course then examines the laws and regulations aimed at ensuring housing availability without discrimination. Coverage includes not only discrimination in the private sale and purchase of housing, but also that resulting from practices by local governments, such as exclusionary zoning and the unequal provision of municipal services. Gentrification and other contemporary issues like the proliferation of gated communities will also be considered.