Chapter Abstracts

Housing is more than shelter from the elements, it anchors individual and societal development. Even though the right to housing is accepted in principle, the United States has a housing crisis; in terms of i) housing supply (shortage), ii)  housing affordability (high housing costs for buyers and renters), and iii) homelessness (lack of basic shelter options). Tackling this enormous set of problems requires innovative thinking. This framing chapter argues that understanding the complex geographies of housing creates new opportunities to solve problems at the local/neighborhood scale where these housing crises are experienced by the public. The chapter addresses historical approaches to housing provision, considering societal attitudes, demographic shifts, and government policies. The chapter concludes by introducing the concept of spatial scale and multi-scalar analyses using Geographic Information Science (GIS) principles to elucidate housing issues.

This chapter is targeted towards GIS professionals to serve as a concise overview about housing. We will discuss the historic evolution of the private and public housing sectors. In the 18th century, the United States determined that home ownership was an important pathway to economic success. Over the centuries and decades, federal policies and societal attitudes have consistently reinforced this ideal. Residential segregation has shaped how settlement patterns developed during the 20th century, abetted by racialized land use and zoning policies promulgated by the State. The chapter will discuss both urban and suburban morphologies (e.g., the grid and the cul-de-sac, the relationships between jobs and housing) and housing typologies (single family and multi-family units as well as apartments and condominiums). We will also discuss housing finance which has been influenced by the economy, including the recent crises in subprime lending and foreclosure, and the Great Recession. We will also discuss public housing, tracing its history from public housing, housing choice vouchers (formerly Section 8), HOPE VI, to RAD The chapter will also discuss housing policy and design innovations that address environmental and economic challenges, for example transit-oriented developments, complete streets, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), manufactured and tiny homes, and co-housing, and then discuss emerging trends of alternative home ownership. 

Chapter Three of this book delves into the topic of housing typologies, expanding readers’ understanding beyond the rudimentary binary classification of owner-occupied versus renter-occupied housing. The chapter explores the architectural distinctions that become significant in the production and management of housing and discusses a range of housing typologies by function, including single-family housing, multi-family housing, and institutional living quarters. From a planning perspective, the chapter breaks down each of these housing types into categories based on the density of the housing. The chapter also discusses newer physical planning and policy innovations in the housing sector, such as the use of manufactured homes, conversions of homes, and the Rental Assistance Demonstration program. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion about geographical data and the use of geospatial indicators to understand land use planning implications associated with housing.

This book follows proper GIS management procedures, where the task is to identify the research question to develop a conceptual model, which in turn determines the kind of data we are looking for to answer the research question (Lineberger & Dittman 2011, Ramasubramanian & Albrecht 2018). The chapter begins with a discussion of different types of data sources. Once we have the data, we can identify the appropriate GIS methods of Chapter 5. In addition to just knowing where to look for data, we need to understand how they may be transformed and how to link across those datasets. The concepts discussed in the previous chapters determine how we should organize our data forming a database schema. Even in these data-rich days of the 21st century, data quality is a major problem that needs to be accounted for. In addition, every GIS for Housing project needs to deal with the question of scale and the variable nature of regional boundaries. We end this chapter with an outlook onto unconventional data sources.

GIS is about more than just a piece of software. There are some foundational concepts that underlie all GIS, regardless of manufacturer or application area, which are covered in the first section. One of the main attractions of working with GIS is its visuality (the map) and in section two, we discuss its ability to explore spatial phenomena through the map interface as well as to use maps as an easy-to-use communication tool. GIS functionality is a function of the data model underlying our housing data, and in section three, we present two most common ones: the feature and the field-based representation of spatial phenomena. The data model determines what kind of operations we can apply to our data and section four introduces a small but powerful set of GIS operations, the application of which is illustrated in section five.

This the most technical chapter in this book. Novices are urged to use a companion GIS textbook such as Albrecht (2007) and a planning methods book e.g., Ramasubramanian and Albrecht (2018) to extract value from this chapter. Chapter Six moves from the realm of using GIS to understand housing issues to considering the complex policy questions that preoccupy housing specialists and urban planners. Progressive housing activists and policymakers are consumed by addressing the housing supply crisis discussed in Chapter One by increasing residential densities. The authors discuss how GIS can support framing these policy conversations. Each section tackles complex challenges where multiple layers of data and evidence are linked to produce a coherent narrative to advocate for a particular set of policies. In this chapter, GIS maps are recognized as services that create just-in-time analyses for end users. GIS is also more robustly integrated with 3-D modeling and visualization, requiring advanced technical skills. The latest investments in GIS for housing use digital twins - where digital models of the urban environment are created in great detail to allow the testing of different scenarios or options. These technological advances push the boundaries of what is possible using GIS, and support future-oriented planning and decision making.

This concludes our book. We remind readers that GI technologies and applications facilitate academic inquiry but more importantly allow for a range of stakeholders to examine housing questions in relation to other city development challenges such as addressing infrastructure or transportation needs. Since housing is central to the lives of everyday people and housing challenges are experienced at the neighborhood scale, we have argued about the value and need for housing analyses to be conducted and communicated at the neighborhood/sub-city scale. We encourage educators in the design and planning professions to integrate policy and planning conversations - to further encourage professionals working in the built environment sector to work collaboratively to address housing production/supply challenges. We encourage bold thinking and forward-looking solutions to address the enduring housing crises in America to create sustainable and humane living alternatives for future generations.