Housing & Community Development (CD) Advising Pathway

Matthew Gebhardt (lead), Aaron Golub, Norene Hough, Moriah McSharry McGrath, Yu Xiao, Marisa Zapata

Summary: 

Housing & Community Development planners address issues related to uneven urban and social development. Community Development (CD) planning seeks to improve the physical, environmental, social, and economic conditions of communities through the empowerment and capacity building of the people who are part of those communities. This may include a wide range of activities such as neighborhood revitalization, affordable housing, accountable economic development, community organizing, sustainable development, transportation justice, and advocacy for anti-poverty initiatives.   CD planners work in diverse settings, from the public sector, to grassroots and community‐based organizations, to community development corporations, to international development organizations. Housing planners may work for affordable housing organizations or city agencies. They are on the front lines of addressing our city, region, state and nations’s crisis in affordable housing, especially for low-income residents.

Housing & CD planning require an understanding of the historical processes that have resulted in uneven development both within and between places and people (e.g. federal housing policy since the New Deal), as well as the community activism that led to the development of the CD “industry”. CD planners develop a theoretical and practical analysis of structures of race/class/gender/ethnicity/sexuality, social and political history and ideologies, and the economy and political economy. 

Knowledge of CD theory, policy, politics, and practice is essential for those seeking to work in the field. An understanding of community-based organizational theory, practice, and management is important for those who plan to work in the nonprofit sector. Housing & CD planning practice also requires acquiring skills for: assessing the equity impacts of systems, policies and programs; generating inclusive engagement; and for organizing; as well as policy and technical skills. Relevant technical skills include social demography, housing finance, labor market analysis, community organizing, organizational management, accounting, policy analysis, and fundraising, among others.

Where Housing & CD planners work:

Foundational knowledge and skills:

Recommended sequencing (Please Check Course Projection Guide):

Additional knowledge and skills relevant to the pathway: