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The new book Dual Cities: Social Housing in London + New York (RIBA Publishing, 2025) offers a practical guide to the past, present, and future of housing through essays and commentary from experts on both sides of the Atlantic, seeking to demystify current policy, delivery mechanisms, and ways of working. As both cities grapple with ongoing housing crises, fuelled by escalating prices, aging stock, and a scarcity of genuinely affordable homes, they are united by a pressing need to develop long term housing solutions and address social equity. The book’s 22 case studies (10 from London and 12 from New York City) are paired for the first time alongside a wealth of testimony and research, offering a roadmap for a broad coalition of housing planners, advocates, and campaigners to carry lessons learned into the future.

Co-chaired by Brian Loughlin, AIA, APA, Principal, Magnusson Architecture and Planning, and Nicole Vlado, AIA, NOMA, the AIANY Housing Committee selected the current case studies, essays, and historic precedents representing New York City, while Karakusevic Carson Architects curated the London-based contributions. Dual Cities showcases best practices in parallel, demonstrating how the cities have learned from each other and providing valuable lessons in creating more resilient cities and improved quality of life through better social and affordable housing. From improved industrial dwellings in Bethnal Green to garden suburbs in Brooklyn and Queens, block dwellings in Hackney and towers-in-the-park in Harlem, both cities have embraced new thinking and adapted techniques and typologies to deliver high-quality residential design at scale.

Many of the New York projects represented are all-electric, support energy generation, and incorporate active design principles and trauma-informed design. Several of them have been supported by NYSERDA’s Buildings of Excellence Awards, which funds resilient multifamily housing projects across New York State. Additional common themes are aging in place; daylight; the pedestrian experience; health, wellbeing, and social connectivity; and the consideration of an inclusive and active urban community. In addition to the case studies, the book includes a side-by-side comparison of New York and London in numbers such as dwellings, population, demographics, and cost of housing; a housing events and policy timeline spanning 1810–2027; 15 essays; and a glossary of key housing terms in both localities.

Dual Cities was conceived in conjunction with an ongoing partnership between the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 2022, AIA New York and the Center for Architecture hosted the conference Public Housing, Practice, and Design: New York + London, which brought together developers, policymakers, and elected officials alongside architects, planners, and designers to explore new approaches and solutions to the housing crises in both cities. In addition to supporting the content development of this book, the conference grew into a landmark Mutual Recognition Agreement endorsed by RIBA and AIA in 2023, which supports architects seeking to practice on both sides of the Atlantic by fostering opportunities for collaboration and shared resources.

“The century-old American tradition of looking to European cities for social housing exemplars dates back to Catherine Bauer’s seminal text ‘Modern Housing.’ Too often, differences rather than similarities are emphasized and ‘We could never do that here’ is frequently the takeaway,” Loughlin says. “What makes Dual Cities a unique addition to this discourse is the broad lens through which a relative context is established, recognizing not only the different shapes that housing takes, but the various populations it serves, and the many disciplines required to produce it with quality. This depth of comparison is meant to make the lessons to be learned from each city’s approaches to social housing easier to identify, affecting a far richer set of takeaways.”

“For many years we have shared observations and frustrations about the current state of social housing and felt the need for a greater trans-Atlantic dialogue,” says Paul Karakusevic, Founding Partner, Karakusevic Carson Architects. “This book offers a platform for that; to observe, analyze, and understand two urban cultures in tandem through projects, testimony and research brought together for the first time. It’s a critical time for social housing and we hope it will be of vital use to architects, planners, advocates and campaigners in both London and New York.”

Susanne Schindler, Research Fellow at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, says, “A book that does what few do: span the divide between an architectural view of housing, which delights in to-scale, well-drawn plans of historic and contemporary buildings, and a policy-maker’s view, often trained on unit counts and required subsidies. In its side-by-side analysis of London and New York City, Dual Cities provides a solid, well-designed, and at once sobering and inspiring reference on what it takes to design, develop, and maintain affordable housing in two of the world’s most expensive cities.”

The book includes projects by the following firms, many of which represent AIA New York members: Adam Khan Architects, Alexander Gorlin Architects, Al-Jawad Pike, Archio, Bernheimer Architects, COOKFOX Architects, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, Dattner Architects, ESKW/Architects, FXCollaborative, Karakusevic Carson Architects, MæArchitects , Magnusson Architecture and Planning (MAP), Mary Duggan Architects, Peterson Rich Office (PRO), Redtop Architects, Stephen Taylor Architects, Witherford Watson Mann Architects and WXY.

The featured essays are by Abigail Batchelor, Vicki Been, John Boughton, Patrice Derrington, Alex Ely, Helen Garett, Moses Gates, Will Gomberg, Lois Innes, Karen Kubey, Matthew Lasner, Brian Loughlin, David Madden, James Rodriguez, and Kath Scanlon.

 Dual Cities – Social Housing in London + New York is available to buy now from RIBA Bookshop online. Official launch events will be announced this summer in both London and New York.

About the Contributors

Paul Karakusevic (co-author/editor)
Paul is founder of Karakusevic Carson Architects. Over the past 20+ years, he has worked with residents and local government bodies in the UK and abroad to improve the design and delivery of social housing. Previous publications include Social Housing – Definitions and Design Exemplars, published by RIBA, Public Housing Works in 2021 and Retrofit Social Housing: A practical guide for local authorities & registered providers of social housing in 2023.

Mike Althorpe (co-author/editor)
Mike is an urban historian and researcher at Karakusevic Carson Architects. In 2021 he co-authored Public Housing Works and in 2019 co-authored Revolutionary Low Rise: Informing London’s Suburban Densification. While public programs lead at the RIBA, he produced the exhibitions ‘The Brits Who Built The Modern World’ and ‘Mackintosh.’ He is an independent curator of walks and tours and is a member of the RIBA Research Development Group.

Karakusevic Carson Architects (co-publisher/editor)
Karakusevic Carson are award-winning architects and urban designers at the forefront of public housing design and major civic projects in the UK and internationally. Formed almost two decades ago to raise the standard of social housing after almost 40 years of neglect, the studio works with the public sector and communities to create equitable and liveable homes and neighbourhoods that reflect civic need.

 Alexander Boxill (publication design)
Alexander Boxill is a multi-award-winning design consultancy founded in 1994 based in London. Clients include: the Victoria & Albert Museum, Hayward Gallery, Icon magazine, Architectural Review, Thames & Hudson, Laurence King Publishing and Phaidon. Co-founder Violetta Boxill, a graduate of the RCA, served as Chair of the Editorial Design Organisation and numerous major design awards juries and has written on design for leading publications.

AIA New York (co-publisher/editor)
Established in 1857, AIA New York is the founding chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), serving as the collective voice of nearly 5,000 licensed architects, allied professionals, students, and design enthusiasts. The Center for Architecture, inaugurated in 2003 as AIANY’s cultural institution, engages local and international audiences with the value, impact, and wonder of architecture. Together, both organizations advance the value and practice of architecture to promote just and sustainable communities.

RIBA Publishing (publisher)
As the leading global publisher of architecture books, RIBA Publishing aspires to inquire, inform and delight. Seeking out the intelligence that enables architects and designers to do their jobs better, publications support students of all ages in their studies and help clients to make informed decisions, while responding to a wider cultural appetite for architectural knowledge.

CREDITS

Co-authored/edited by Paul Karakusevic and Mike Althorpe
Published by RIBA Publishing
Supported by AIA New York Chapter
Design by Alexander Boxill
Images © Karakusevic Carson Architects