Smart Growth and Housing Affordability

This bibliography focuses on the dynamic relationships between housing affordability for the low- and moderate-income (LMI) population and smart growth management and planning practices. Smart growth advocates generally seek to promote greater housing affordability and diversity. However, compact development, a goal of smart growth, curbs land development and poses significant challenges to promoting affordability. Housing markets can be affected by smart growth-related planning practices, ranging from growth management policies to various urban design tools such as transit-oriented development and urban infill. The review concludes by emphasizing several important social, administrative, and economic issues facing a successful integration of smart growth and affordable housing goals, and discusses possible solutions for maintaining affordability.