2022 Spring Issue - 26

developments
" I would describe the
challenge as a delicate
balancing act between
a number of important
factors-demand,
affordability, design, and
functionality, as well. "
-FARON A. HILL, CHAIRMAN,
ULI FOUNDATION
can bring a sort of rational view
on how to work with the existing
dynamic and make it better. I think
when you think about the work
that Christopher's Advisory Services
panel did in Northwest Washington,
D.C., a couple of years ago, I think
they had some very practical but
effective ways to address the issue
that Mayor Muriel Bowser asked us
to address.
Kavanagh: [ULI has opportunities
in] sharing best practices in
Europe, some of the debates taking
place here, and the discussions
on what's happening in modern
methods of construction, including
global technologies we're seeing. I
think it's encouraging that there's
a general perception that Europe is
very focused on ESG [environmental,
social, and governance factors],
including the provision of social
infrastructure. We need to create
sustainable communities for people
to live, work, and play in.
Wickremage: At ULI, we are a
neutral observer, with the ability to
aggregate information from all four
corners of the world about ways
in which other cities have tackled
attainable housing effectively,
and educate our members, who
sometimes tend to be local in their
perspective. We can educate our
members on the importance of
housing attainability and why that
issue should be important to them,
even if it doesn't directly impact
their network. ULI can help with
that and do it with a voice that's
not coming from a developer or a
group that's trying to create more
affordable housing. It's really an
unbiased, objective voice focused
on creating healthy cities.
ULI's global governing trustees have been
working on finding ways for the Institute
to help communities address the lack of
housing that is attainable.
How do we go about getting
members to fully engage and
utilize the tools that are coming
out of our work and these
conversations versus just having
it sit on a shelf?
Ptomey: I think the key is our
district council network in the U.S.
We work very hard to engage them
in everything that we're doing at
the [Terwilliger] Center. That's our
primary channel for pushing out
our research reports, instead of
just putting them up on the website
and issuing a press release.
We try to have local panels where
we present the findings, and then
bring local expertise to the table to
discuss that and make it relevant
to what's going on locally. I think
that's what we need to be doing
as we're building out our housing
resource hub, as our new campaign
26
URBAN LAND
SPRING 2022
is coming forward with reports and
recommendations in different cities.
We need to collect these on a
platform that a member can access
easily and find relevant information.
We also need to engage
at the district council level and
talk directly with members about
the information that's being put
out there and also find out what
kind of information they need to
advance their work. Then we make
sure that the hub is reflecting that.
I think we have a couple of great
avenues to deepening the work
with district councils right now with
our TAP [technical assistance panel]
programs.
Khoo: We don't have to reinvent
the wheel in Asia Pacific. We could
look at what has been done successfully
in the U.S. with the district
councils. And I think we haven't yet
had a conference that is dedicated
solely to housing. That's something
we could think about.
What personal insights do you
see yourselves as bringing to
the conversation on housing
affordability, and what roles will
you in the housing subgroup play
to advance this ULI priority?
Hill: The perspective I bring is that
of an investor and capital allocator,
and my contribution will be
to look for creative ideas, capital
solutions, ways in which we can
drive not only housing attainability,
but affordable housing as well. One
thing I've mentioned to Christopher
is a new program that I'm part of
which is centered around shared
equity in housing.
Khoo: I'm more from the urban
planning and public policy side of
things. I've been very in touch with
SHUTTERSTOCK
2022 Spring Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2022 Spring Issue
