Guest blog by Melissa Velez, IPP ’23 Since early 2020, the City of Allentown, in Eastern Pennsylvania, has been working on a complete zoning code rewrite. The plan has been to go from a typical Euclidian type of code to more of a form-based code. The project was stalled for a couple of years due…Continue Reading Zoning in on the Problem: Using PDIA to Build Affordable Housing in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Guest blog by Melissa Velez, IPP ’24 The experiences and learning within the Implementing Public Policy course helped me to look deeper into the problems faced within my city, gave me a step-by-step process to work through those problems with my team, and encouraged me to reflect on my personal leadership and time management skills….Continue Reading Using Zoning to Reduce the Affordable Housing Crisis in Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Guest blog by Akinderu Fatai Moruf, IPP’23 In 2019, I was privileged to assume the role of Commissioner of Housing in Lagos State, the commercial capital of Nigeria with a large population of about 23 million. I was entrusted with the pivotal task of spearheading strategic initiatives to facilitate the expansion of affordable housing. Apart…Continue Reading Expanding Affordable Housing in Lagos, Nigeria
Guest blog written by Bibek Kandel, Sansar Dewan, Pratik Kunwar, Enitan Okediji “Not everything that matters is written down, it’s all in people’s heads and minds.” This very mantra, shared by Professor Matt Andrews during our initial Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) sessions in late January 2024, resonated deeply as we, Team Maya, embarked on…Continue Reading Navigating the Ukrainian Refugee Housing Crisis in MA using PDIA
Guest blog by Joshua Amaral, LEG’23 I was fortunate to be in a very diverse group, in terms of geographic location, industry, and experience. But given this, I was especially struck by the similarities, or common threads, that ran between all of our economic growth challenges. My challenge is a fairly small one in the…Continue Reading Enabling Emerging Developers to Increase Housing Development in New Bedford, MA
Guest blog by Jason Whiteaker, LEG’23 I came into this program thinking about how the program would help me identify solutions to the growth challenges being faced by my region. Within the first two weeks my thinking had completely changed, moving away from the solution-based approach and very much focusing on identifying the problem /…Continue Reading Insufficient Housing in Western Australia
Guest blog by Nancy Cross There were several key learnings from the IPP course. First, one person does not have all the answers. I wanted to work on sheltering the unhoused because it seemed as if there were enough financial resources to provide shelter for the approximately 1500 unhoused people in the greater St. Louis area….Continue Reading Sheltering the Unhoused in the St. Louis Region
Guest blog by Eileen Cipriani It has been a great pleasure to be part of a class with so many dynamic leaders, doing such diverse and important work and to be part of such an impressive program at the Harvard Kennedy School. After listening to the problems my colleagues were trying to solve, I thought…Continue Reading Providing Quality Housing in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Guest blog by Charlie Albanese, Michael Burns, Corrinda Crossdale, Wanda Cooper, Linda Kingsley, Tammy Mayberry, Gabe Person, John Oster Our group focused on homelessness, specifically street homelessness. Our public value statement is: “We will tackle street homelessness, particularly homeless individuals residing in City encampments identified by GIS, because everyone in the community should be treated with…Continue Reading Street Homelessness in Rochester
Guest blog by Joe N. Savage Jr. It was a late Wednesday night as I sat in my room at the DoubleTree hotel. I was sitting comfortably in my desk chair feeling supported by its stern back. My Pepsi Zero was resting in a glass splattered with tiny beads of cool water. My other comfort….Continue Reading When You Dig In, You’ll Find It: PDIA Gold
