A push for social housing tackles affordability and supply across the U.S.
Affordable housing has historically been limited to low-income households, but new initiatives aim both for “permanent affordability” of properties and to serve more people.
In February, Seattle became the newest city to pursue mixed-income social housing, when voters approved a high-earner payroll tax for a development authority to build and maintain housing for a range of incomes. This adds to the success of Montgomery County, Maryland: Since 2021, it has been able to offer 30% of homes at below market rate through long-term public investment and low-interest loans.
Why We Wrote This
In our progress roundup, planners and governments are going big to address big problems. More places in the U.S. are taking a “permanent affordability” approach to housing, and in Copenhagen, a costly but comprehensive strategy is preparing the city for more floods.
In the past five years, voters and legislatures in cities like Atlanta and Chicago approved funds for mixed-income housing, and states like Rhode Island and Massachusetts funded pilots.
“Seattle’s voters showed that in light of a severe affordability crisis, a new role for the public sector and a new, dedicated fiscal revenue stream for housing were not only necessary, but possible,” writes urban historian Susanne Schindler.
Source: The Conversation
Copenhagen’s comprehensive “sponge city” plan serves as a model for other urban areas
Building upon strategies of flood adaptation pioneered in China, the Danish capital’s Cloudburst Management Plan combines surface-level green space, such as wetlands, with vast underground infrastructure to soak up, store, and slowly release stormwater.
Planners unveiled the new system in 2012, a year after a storm pelted the city with 5 inches of rain in two hours. Now, the city is implementing 300 flood defenses, including a 5-acre renovation of the University of Copenhagen’s southern campus, parks with underground reservoirs, and “water highways” to funnel water to the harbor where needed.
Much work remains to better fortify Copenhagen against the kind of storm it faced in 2011. One study said that the frequency of 100-year floods will double for 40% of the globe by 2050. The Danish Meteorological Institute estimates the low-lying country will receive 55% more rain in winter by 2100. But with its rain retention features, Copenhagen’s system also provides benefits during times of drought.
Sources: Yale Environment 360, Climatic Change
Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court struck down a colonial-era law criminalizing same-sex relations
St. Lucia joins three other former anglophone countries that have decriminalized LGBTQ+ conduct in the past few years. Similar laws remain on the books in five Caribbean nations.
Although St. Lucia’s statute was not enforced, the court found that it stigmatized LGBTQ+ people in a way that could encourage “public humiliation, vilification and even physical attacks” and violate “the dignity of certain categories of citizens.”
Activists have hailed the decision as a win for civil liberties. “We’re not asking anyone to change their beliefs,” a group wrote in a statement to The Guardian. “These laws were outdated and violated the basic human rights of LGBTQ+ people.”
Sources: Human Rights Watch, The Guardian, Outright International
Seeds of the Egusi melon, a Nigerian staple food, flew with NASA
Part of a research mission studying the suitability of various foods in space, the seeds joined other culturally meaningful crops, including Armenian pomegranate and Pakistani wheat, so scientists can learn how low-gravity conditions affect seed characteristics such as genetic stability and lipid composition.
Temidayo Oniosun, a Nigerian scientist and businessman, chose Egusi seeds because of their prevalence and significance in West African cuisine. “People are realizing that space is not something that is in the abstract, especially Nigerians and Africans generally,” he said. “… For the first time, something that they connect to, something they eat almost every day is journeying through space.”
The project follows the inauguration of the Africa Space Agency in April, which seeks to coordinate spacefaring efforts among the 55 members of the African Union.
Sources: Forbes, Bloomsbury Intelligence and Security Institute
Tajikistan decriminalized “liking” social media posts critical of the government
The move overturns a 2018 law to control online interactions deemed by officials to justify violence and terrorism.
More than 1,500 Tajik citizens have been imprisoned for likes, comments, and reposts under the law that imposed a sentence of up to 15 years.
Dmitry Azarov/Kommersant Photo/Sipa/AP
Tajikistan has drawn attention for detaining activists and journalists. But in 2023, a man without obvious political ties posted a video that led to his arrest and a five-year sentence. In the video, which received a million views, Shahboz Sharifbek accused authorities of forcibly taking his brother to enlist in the army. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Mr. Sharifbek “warns that officials’ mistreatment of people, violation of their civic rights, and poverty ‘can push young people toward extremism and terrorism.’”
President Emomali Rahmon, who has been in office since 1994, was critical of some applications of the law last October. The legislature took it up in April, and Mr. Rahmon signed the new law in May.
Sources: Fix the News, The Times of Central Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
