New York, NY – A new report by Regional Plan Association (RPA) titled “Housing as a Framework for Health Equity” offers new insights and highlights opportunities toward the advancement of health equity through the lens of housing. Today’s report is the third installment of a series of reports focused on health equity created in partnership with the Healthy Regions Planning Exchange, which brings together practitioners, planners, advocates and community leaders from various U.S. regions to address issue areas within health equity.
The report comes at a crucial time as millions of Americans are facing varying degrees of housing insecurity. From 2021-2022, 40.6 million households were cost-burdened, spending over 30 percent of their income on housing, with an additional 582,000 homeless and without shelter. This report provides a clearly defined rubric of the variables that suggest the level of housing insecurity based on the cost, consistency, conditions, and context of such housing, and aims to offer various regions a reference point for their planning, policies, and practices to address today’s housing challenges and needs.
“Housing’s impact on a person’s quality of life cannot be overstated, and our work with the Healthy Regions Planning Exchange not only highlights the progress being done, but provides a workable, concrete rubric in which other regions can learn from,” said Vanessa Barrios, Manager, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Initiatives at Regional Plan Association. “We’re proud to release our third report analyzing the possibilities of health equity, especially as advocates work towards affordable, safe, thriving communities and solutions that scale.”
In addition to providing the framework, RPA’s report also investigates housing policy and insecurity within various regions, including New Orleans and Minneapolis-St. Paul. RPA analyzes the impacts of racially discriminatory zoning policy, such as in New Orleans where in 2017 eviction rates in some predominantly Black neighborhoods were nearly double the average renter eviction rate, and climate disasters that disproportionately affect people of color and low-income households. Through this analysis, RPA assesses how New Orleans advocates are reversing these impacts and responding to the need for equitable, clean, safe, resilient housing.
Additionally, in the Twin Cities, RPA assesses the threat of displacement and exclusionary practices on immigrant communities and people of color. RPA outlines the consequences of redlining practices, from barring people of color from public green spaces and parks to prioritizing these neighborhoods as sites for toxic facilities. Today, while Minneapolis continues increased housing development to address affordable housing shortages, RPA highlights a number of programs and organizations considering culturally responsive housing practices.
Finally, RPA highlights opportunities to scale programs for health equity through housing. The report recognizes organizing efforts from advocates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; Multnomah County, Oregon; and the New York City Metro Region.
This report follows two additional RPA and Healthy Regions Planning Exchange reports, titled “Investing in Infrastructure for Healthy Communities” and “Pathways to Health Equity.”
“For several years, Operation Restoration has supported women in Louisiana impacted by the criminal legal system by creating affordable housing opportunities and connecting formerly incarcerated women with housing resources,” said Dolfinette Martin, Housing Specialist, Operation Restoration. “We envision a community in which all women and girls have immediate access to secure, safe and affordable housing – whether as renters or homeowners – while acquiring resources needed to obtain and sustain housing. To accomplish this, we must continue advocating for equitable federal spending to combat the displacement of people of color out of their lifelong communities. Housing is not only a human right – housing is also healthcare and should be treated as such. As we promote community health and fight to ensure affordable housing remains accessible, we encourage all housing providers to address the systemic racial discrimination that currently exists while using individuals’ lived experiences to drive policy change.”
“As a partner in RPA’s Healthy Regions Planning exchange, the Metropolitan Planning Council is pleased to contribute to the Housing as a Framework for Health Equity report,” said Kendra Freeman Jackson, Vice President of Programs & Strategic Impact at the Metropolitan Planning Council in Chicago, Illinois. “Safe and healthy housing is a human right. To ensure that right is realized for everyone we need policy solutions at the local and national level that will address historic disparities and drive equitable outcomes. At MPC we are pursuing this through learning with communities of practice like the Healthy Regions Planning Exchange and leading bold initiatives including our Zoning and Land Use Assessment, a multi-year project to ensure equity, sustainability and public health for Chiago’s land use and zoning practices. We applaud RPA’s effort to convene national leaders to center critical issues of health and housing and provide the space of collaborative problem-solving.”
