April 29, 2022
Let's talk about housing policy.
I'm currently halfway through Richard Rothstein's The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. It's an incredibly powerful summary of the U.S.'s race-based housing laws, and it's very painful to read. Beyond policies that reinforced segregation, some of the most heartbreaking actions were those that segregated already integrated communities. Some laws that broke up harmonious, vibrant neighbors were ironically intended to even "benefit" marginalized families, but ended up putting them on the fringes even further.
What might our country have looked like now without those policies? Are there policies currently in place that are causing just as much damage to our country and our people?
//
MUST-READS
South Korea to build a floating city for 12,000 people next year with U.N. backing // NBC News
An architect who mixes water and nature to build resilience // NYTimes
The biggest architecture firms are breaking into the metaverse // Architectural Record
Our urban Future may be a 'City in a Box’ // Bloomberg CityLab
Jony Ive’s design lab's ambitious climate challenge // FastCompany
The hotel industry works towards a carbon positive future // Surface Magazine
//
IDEA SPOTLIGHT
Urban Change Blockchain Protocol
Urban Change Protocol is the world’s first decentralized blockchain protocol that enables any urban community to have their own urban coins created to drive economic and social prosperity. The protocol promotes civic engagement and empowers city leaders to incentivize residents to act in a way that benefits their community: shopping locally, supporting minority- or women-owned businesses, and making sustainable choices to protect the environment.
