As this issue heads to press, we are less than a month from the country’s divisive presidential election; Hurricane Milton has made a devastating landfall in an already storm-battered Florida; and New York’s Mayor Eric Adams faces indictment on federal charges as many around him resign.
For each of these history-making moments, the nation’s housing crisis is a backdrop in some respect. The two presidential candidates have made very different proposals for how to solve the issue, and any possible solutions promise to be bureaucratic and slow. Political power shifts also have implications for the resources our cities are given to remediate and plan for natural disasters related to climate change—something we are reminded of every time warming seas give rise to another massive storm.
Moreover, just over a year ago, Mayor Adams unveiled City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, a proposed amendment to the city’s 1961 zoning code that could adjust current regulations and pave the way for more housing. As Bill Millard writes in his report on this issue (see page 22), “The plan will shape citywide housing policy in ways that extend beyond the current administration. It’s an outcome that proponents are not taking for granted.” Today, it remains to be seen how turmoil surrounding the mayoral indictment might affect this initiative in the long term, but the City Planning Commission voted to approve the proposal in late September, with a City Council hearing planned for late October and a final City Council vote by the end of the year.
On a more positive note, architects can be, and are, at the center of local and national conversations about how to make our cities more livable, and how to connect residents to essential services, amenities, housing, and each other. When the editors and Oculus committee members conceived this issue, we wanted to look beyond the city’s need for more housing units, which has been well established. Often left out of the conversation are the issues tangential to housing; especially in urban areas, there are a host of other concerns and elements that make cities actually livable, and not just tolerable, for their inhabitants.
The city is capable of change, however slow. This is the work and conversation we seek to represent with this issue, in our reported pieces, in Q&As with three leaders in evolving areas of urbanism, and in an expanded op-ed section, in which professionals weigh in on issues related to housing, health, and built environment stewardship that they are confronting in their work. In this way, we hope to expand our conversation of housing past the deficit of units to the ways in which architects are joining, and sometimes winning, the fight to create more abundant, well-designed housing that also meets community needs for education, health, and equity. We hope you will continue to join us in this conversation.
Work to Watch
A number of fellowships and cohorts are bringing together promising researchers and interdisciplinary professionals to tackle issues of health, climate, housing, and equity in the built environment. Here are some we’ll be watching in the year ahead:
2024 Cohort for the Academy for Public Scholarship on the Built Environment: CLIMATE ACTION: This opportunity is for architecture faculty, whose research intersects with climate action or climate justice, and is intended to help them impact conversations that affect everyone.
“Big Swings” Fellowship: This year’s fellowship from the Urban Design Forum seeks to build solidarity between leaders in New York and other cities taking “big swings” at their housing crises.
The 2025 Loeb Fellows: These visionary practitioners and activists are transforming public spaces and urban infrastructure, rectifying health and environmental injustices, addressing housing needs, and preserving cultural, natural, and architectural heritage.
