CHALLENGES FOR NONPROFIT HOUSING ORGANIZATIONS CREATED BY THE PRIVATE HOUSING MARKET

ABSTRACT: Community development corporations (CDCs) and other large nonprofit housing organizations are major producers of housing for low‐income households. One of the least recognized and examined set of challenges facing these groups relates to how the workings of the private housing market—both weak and strong market conditions—impact their ability to carry out their mission. After presenting examples of how housing market conditions create challenges for nonprofits, the article explores how organizational strategic planning can help the nonprofit to more explicitly focus on housing market dynamics and plan its activities taking into account these concerns. An analysis of the two major training programs for nonprofit housing organizations that were available during 2007 revealed that out of the 216 different courses offered by NeighborWorks America and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, only 8% appear to relate closely to housing market dynamics and land‐use issues and 3% relate to strategic planning. Initiatives that would assist nonprofits to both recognize the importance of the private housing market and to assist them in developing strategies for confronting market‐based challenges are presented.     

WHO BENEFITS FROM NONPROFIT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? EXAMINING THE REVENUE DISTRIBUTION OF TAX‐EXEMPT DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS AMONG U.S. CITIES

ABSTRACT: Questions surrounding the distribution of benefits have served as the focus for much research on local economic development. While nonprofit community development corporations (CDCs) emerged in the 1960s as one means of redistributing economic development benefits by targeting job training and business growth programs toward the urban poor, CDCs now represent only a portion of all nonprofit economic development organizations (NEDOs) in the United States. Newer forms of these organizations have emerged in recent years, carrying out diverse economic functions. This evolution of the nonprofit economic development subsector raises a critical question: Do nonprofit economic development activities remain concentrated today in poorer cities, or do wealthier cities also have high levels of nonprofit economic development activity? This study aggregates finance data for several types of NEDOs to the city level, for all U.S. cities with population 50,000 and over, in order to examine this question. Multivariate regression is used to estimate the effects of city‐level demographic, institutional, and fiscal explanations on the level of NEDO revenues per capita. The findings demonstrate that revenues from some types of NEDOs, such as CDCs, remain concentrated in higher‐poverty cities. However, wealthier cities have higher concentrations of revenue generated by nonprofit business assistance organizations and nonprofit real estate organizations. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for current federal and local policies related to tax‐exempt organizations.     

Harris versus Pfouts: A Third Party Note

Waste, duplication, and coordination are among the cornerstone concepts upon which the social policy of the New Federalism is being developed. The proposed Allied Services Act captures and reflects most elements of the Administration's emerging social policy. An analysis of the legislation, which is significant in that it begins to define a public responsibility for planning social welfare services, indicates several issues of concern to the planner. The legislation raises questions such as: the criteria for definition of planning area boundaries; the relationship between the quality of planning and the limits of present planning resources; the quality and availability of standards to assess services; the complex formulae by which federal, state, and local governments allocate and support services; the role of formal interest groups in the planning process; the vitality of existing private (voluntary) health and welfare planning agencies; and finally the substance of planning education. As it now stands, the legislation has more potential for improving the management of services in a narrow sense of the concept than for any significant planning for social welfare services on a systemwide basis.     

ADAPTATION OR EXTINCTION? COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT LOAN FUNDS AT A CROSSROADS

ABSTRACT: This article examines community development loan funds (CDLFs), a type of community development financial institution that provides financing and technical assistance for businesses; for‐profit and nonprofit real estate and housing developers; nonprofit organizations looking for facility or operating capital; and low‐income individuals looking for financing to purchase or rehabilitate their homes. Like many nonprofits and social enterprises, CDLFs have experienced a worsening political and economic environment since 2000, leaving many of them struggling to stay alive as the subsidized capital necessary to fund their operations largely has evaporated. The article reviews CDLF origins, structures, and current activities; discusses the field's historic sources of subsidized capital and why they have shrunk; reviews potential new sources of capital and the organizational ways that CDLFs are responding to their changed environment; and makes recommendations for CDLFs, funders, and policy makers. It is based on organizational‐level data from annual surveys of CDLFs conducted by the CDFI Data Project and the Opportunity Finance Network; on two dozen interviews with CDLF, foundation and bank officers and staff and policy makers involved with the field; on documents from individual CDLF institutions; and on contemporary press accounts.     

Negotiating risk in property-based arts economic development: Exploring the innovative but untimely development partnership between the Seattle Art Museum and Washington Mutual

Property-led arts development (PAD) is central to urban policy and planning. The demand for physical arts infrastructure runs parallel with the public call for arts nonprofits to act more entrepreneurial in shaping and re-imaging urban space. Increasingly, these groups have become active property developers negotiating the risks and rewards of land development rather than remaining passive fundraisers of bricks and mortar campaigns. This shift in organizational identity raises questions about whether the politics of urban arts development have changed. This study asks four questions: (1) how are nonprofit arts organizations becoming more entrepreneurial in property development, (2) how are nonprofit arts organizations reshaping the urban landscape through development partnerships, (3) how are nonprofit arts developers responding to the 2008 economic crash, and (4) how does PAD align with new thinking on downtown development alliances? This research explores the innovative but failed land development deal between the Seattle Art Museum and the now-defunct Washington Mutual to build a joint tower in the central business district. Their atypical private/nonprofit partnership changed Seattle’s downtown landscape through flexible ownership structures, generous planning incentives and off-budget municipal maneuvers. The lauded project turned sour when the homegrown financial institution collapsed, forcing the museum into debt with limited private or public sector solutions. While SAM overcame the immediate crisis, the case is a cautionary tale about the long-term risk of contemporary PAD. The case shows that innovative practices do not predetermine success. Further, the partnership study illuminates how contemporary arts investments reflect as well as contradict new thinking in urban politics literature about evolving patterns of influence in U.S. downtowns.     

新时代街道和社区公共服务设施规划探索——从“服务短缺”到“治理协同”的重庆实践

街道和社区是居民日常生活的基本单元和社会治理的重要平台,街道和社区级公共服务设施是城市基本公共服务的重要载体。本文从“服务补缺”和“治理协同”的视角,揭示当前基层公共服务设施规划、建设、管理中的短板与问题,探索基层社会治理单元与基层公共服务单元相耦合的公共服务设施规划路径和实施政策机制,提出通过建设街道和社区综合服务中心,构建“20分钟街道公共服务圈”和“10分钟社区生活服务圈”,弥补基层公共服务设施建设的短板,优化城市基空间组织结构,促进城市规划与社会治理的结合。     

城市规划本质的回归

城市规划应在公共政策和意识形态的领域为城市社会提供公共物品、维护公共利益、协调人际关系、保护弱势群体、谋求公平和正义;城市规划应在体现人的生存价值和社会价值方面发挥更多的作用.城市规划将从工具理性走向主体理性的全面复归.城市规划应当为联合城市中的各种力量"创造我们共同的未来"而创造条件,城市规划应当实现"四个转型".     

Does Racial Segregation Make Community‐Based Organizations More Territorial? Evidence from Newark,NJ, and Jersey City,NJ

This article contributes to research on urban nonprofit community‐based organizations (CBOs) by exploring how high racial/ethnic segregation within a city creates a context wherein CBOs become territorial. CBOs have long been recognized for their role in providing services to the urban disadvantaged. Organizations with a strong sense of territoriality typically have robust ties with their base neighborhoods, very thorough in supporting residents in those places. After interviewing 40 CBO staffers in Newark, NJ, and Jersey City, NJ, I identify three paths through which the condition of high segregation in a city leads to territorial CBOs: (1) demographically, organizations become associated with bounded, racially segregated neighborhoods; (2) politically, racially motivated political contention compels organizations to identify more closely with their base neighborhoods; and (3) financially, disadvantage concentrated along racial/ethnic lines contributes to concentrated funding efforts for the city's nonprofit sector, which in turn places greater scrutiny on where organizations situate.     

地方政府行为变迁与城市战略规划演进

由于学科背景的差异,国内学者对于城市战略规划的认识存在诸多分歧。城市战略规划是"地方的事",要准确理解城市战略规划的起源、作用及其核心理论和方法论必须从地方政府行为特征入手。改革开放以后,随着国内外社会经济形势的变迁,我国地方政府已经经历了"企业经营型政府"和"城市经营型政府"两个阶段。与之相适应,我国城市战略规划也经历了产业主导和空间主导两个阶段。在当前经济社会面临重大转型和城市政府正在朝着"治理型政府"演进的时代背景下,我国的城市战略规划要以治理理论作为核心理论,积极推进城市战略规划从"政府主导"向"多元协调"转型、从"重结果"向"重过程"转型、从"宏伟叙事"向"嘘寒问暖"转型,使战略规划不仅真正成为凝聚社会各界的共同愿景,更要成为政府实现"善治"的政策平台和重要工具。     

IMPLEMENTING URBAN HOUSING REHABILITATION PROGRAMS: A COMPARISON OF THE FEDERAL AND STATE EXPERIENCES1

Recent changes in federal housing rehabilitation policy have shifted the emphasis from single-family to multi-family units and from direct federal delivery of housing services to state and local administration. To discover the implications of this shift, this study compares the implementation of a state home improvement loan program with the financing and administration approach adopted by the federal Section 312 and Community Development Block Grant loan programs prior to 1983. A survey of borrowers who participated in the state and federal rehabilitation loan programs reveals that both types of programs assist the “incumbent up grader,” both increased the value of property, both achieved high levels of borrower satisfaction, and both concentrated on the single-family unit. Differences, however, did arise between the federal and state programs in that the state program borrowers were encouraged to conduct preventive maintenance, while the federal programs advanced social goals of serving a greater number of low-income homeowners with larger loan amounts at lower interest rates. This comparison study does not support the federal withdrawal from providing direct single-family rehabilitation loans because it can supplement the bond-market orientation of the state approach with a social targeting function.     

城市规划70年的回顾与展望

新中国成立以来城市规划发展的70年,是规划工作因应国家战略,为社会主义建设提供配套服务和有力支撑,成就卓著的70年;是规划观念不断更新和调整,积极响应社会经济发展的根本诉求,与时俱进的70年;是规划类型不断拓展,积累相当丰富的实践经验,开拓进取的70年;是规划法律法规体系逐步建立,技术标准规范日趋完善,有法可依的70年;是规划技术方法不断进步,新技术广泛应用,日新月异的70年;是规划前辈艰苦探路,几代规划人前仆后继、拼搏奉献,书写传奇的70年;也是经历过坎坷与挫折,关键时刻挺身而出、迎难而上,可歌可泣的70年。展望未来,广大城市规划工作者应当切实提升对接和服务于国家重大战略的专业能力。     

上海城市社区的发展与规划研究

上海的社区建设大体经历三个发展阶段:开展社区服务,创建文明社区,推行"两级政府,三级管理"新体制.上海的社区建设、规划多以"街道"为地域单元,社区规划的内容比较广泛.随着建设国际化大都市的迅速推进,上海的社区建设规划将纳入国民经济发展计划和城市总体规划;包括人文社会科学和规划、建筑、艺术等学科在内的广大科学工作者应积极参与规划工作.     

上海城市社区的发展与规划研究

上海的社区建设大体经历三个发展阶段 :开展社区服务 ,创建文明社区 ,推行“两级政府 ,三级管理”新体制。上海的社区建设、规划多以“街道”为地域单元 ,社区规划的内容比较广泛。随着建设国际化大都市的迅速推进 ,上海的社区建设规划将纳入国民经济发展计划和城市总体规划 ;包括人文社会科学和规划、建筑、艺术等学科在内的广大科学工作者应积极参与规划工作。     

CHALLENGING THE THIRD SECTOR HOUSING APPROACH: The Impact of Federal Policies (1980–1996)

ABSTRACT: Recent third sector housing research contends that community-based housing organizations can successfully balance social and financial objectives by simultaneously involving and building communities while developing and managing long-term affordable housing. This article analyzes the impact of the federal housing policies of the 1980s and 1990s on the ability of community-based housing organizations to meet this “double bottom line” (Bratt et al, 1994). It builds upon Salomon's (1989; 1993) thesis that an increased commercialization and marketization of the nonprofit sector occurred in response to the post-1980 federal social policies by arguing further that such a commercialization threatens the nonprofits' ability to prioritize standards of participation, neighborhood control, community building, and long-term affordability. I argue that federal housing policies need to be more closely allied with these standards in order to ensure their long-term viability.     

Federal Policies to Increase the Mobility of the Elderly and the Handicapped

This article analyzes federal transportation programs and policies aimed at improving the mobility of the elderly and the handicapped. Major transportation programs are found both in the social and human service network and in the transportation planning community. The article considers the actual funding approaches and policy requirements of both sets of programs and identifies the conflicts between program areas and internal to the transportation service community.

The article concludes that although much responsibility may be returned to the states, the federal government will still have a strong role to play. The U.S. Department of Transportation's conflicting policy stances have sent very mixed messages to the social service network about the amount of responsibility transit systems must accept for the transportation needs of clients, especially specific groups like the non-handicapped elderly or the mentally retarded. Therefore DOT must clarify its program and policy directives in order to end the confusion and to allow cooperative and coordinated efforts involving the funds and resources of both program arenas. The social and human service network must act in a positive manner at both the national and state levels to ensure that local agencies receiving transportation funds become involved in cooperative endeavors with other agencies and with transit systems at the local level.     

The Father of the House: An Interview With Tom Uren

Tom Uren was the Minister for Urban and Regional Development in the Whitlam government, and Minister for Local Government and Administrative Services in the first and second Hawke governments. After the July 1987 election, he decided he no longer wanted a ministerial position and now is an active backbencher in the third Hawke government. He has been a prinicpal architect behind serveral significant changes in intergovernment relations in his periods in office. He was Australia's first federal minister for local government. He has long been an advocate for regional cooperation amongst local councils, and an enhanced role for local government in providing services. Local government now has guaranteed funding from the federal level. As the minister for DURD he led the most profound review of the commonwealth's role in urban and regional planning. Growth centres, National Heritage, improved urban infrastructure and social equity became key elements of urban and regional planning in the 1970s.     

MANDATED EXPERTISE: CONSULTANTS AND LOCAL CAPACITY-BUILDING

The article looks at the delivery process in capacity-building assistance. Specifically, federal and state mandated requirements that local governments use certain types of professional expertise, or be denied funding, are examined in the land use policy area. The assumption that both expertise and efficiency can be transferred to local governments from other public-sector organizations or the private-sector consulting firms is analyzed by drawing on findings from a case study of planning professionals and their clients in a six-county region of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Findings about the criteria used by local officials in obtaining expert assista are used to develop guidelines both for local government planning efforts, and for federal and state agencies that attempt to build local capacity for effective land-use management. These guidelines offer procedural and structural changes for assisting local governments in carrying out their land-use planning responsibilities. Suggestions can also be applied to other policy areas.     

Guidelines for effective workplace HIV/AIDS intervention management by construction firms

Construction firms have an important role in combating HIV/AIDS in the South African construction industry. The HIV/AIDS intervention management practices of 12 construction firms in Cape Town are examined through interviews and documents. From thematic analysis, five themes emerged: construction firms’ perceptions of HIV/AIDS as a threat to the firm; construction firm interventions; barriers to the success of interventions; the role of service providers; and state-led interventions. A tension exists in managing HIV/AIDS interventions as firms are concerned with productivity and profit maximization, but are becoming more engaged with corporate social responsibility and a higher duty of care towards employees. Interventions should extend beyond awareness and prevention campaigns to include testing and treatment programmes. A guideline checklist for such interventions is proposed. Partnering with specialized service providers is recommended, as well as engaging closely with public sector services. Firms successfully managing their HIV/AIDS response should share their experience with others struggling to respond. Employee issues of stigma and reluctance to disclose need to be addressed. Attention should be paid to the employment structure of the construction industry and to the needs of the informal sector.     

社会资本视角下的城市规划社会过程研究

在快速建设的大背景下,我国城市规划的社会过程被长期忽视,来自社会学理论下的审视更是稀缺。引入社会资本视角,讨论社会主体及其社会资本在城市规划社会过程中的重要性,根据"信任-网络-规范"结构对社会资本进行分类,发现我国传统型社会资本存量丰富,现代公民型社会资本缺乏。通过构建社会资本、社会过程、城市规划三者的逻辑关系组织,进而提出了"社会过程预测—社会资本需求与存量分析—社会过程重塑"的分析框架。基于此框架,对我国城市总体规划进行了简要分析,认为针对社会资本需求的特殊性,需要引入社会资本分析框架对不同类型的具体规划行动进行分析,提升社会资本的使用率,完善规划的社会过程并营造公民型社会资本,为我国城市规划社会过程的改进提供参考。     

THE ROLES OF NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS IN URBAN SERVICE DELIVERY

It is important that students of urban life develop an understanding of the dynamics by which community associations influence the quality and quantity of public services available in their neighborhoods. Employing collective goods theory to analyze the activities of neighborhood organizations suggests that their efforts to influence public services may usefully be conceptualized in terms of three primary roles. Community associations act as consumers' cooperatives seeking to secure public services from other organizations, as alternative producers of desired services, and as organizers of citizens' coproductive efforts whereby service levels are determined through the joint efforts of neighborhood residents and public service personnel. The three roles differ significantly in the effectiveness and efficiency with which citizens can employ them to secure services, and require different resources from the community associations. The design of governmental arrangements for service delivery are closely related to the availability and effectiveness of the three strategies and must be considered as part of any effort to enhance citizens', role in public service delivery.