Becoming sustainable : creating urban affordable housing in Phoenix, AZ

Abstract

The population of Arizona has increased rapidly in the past two decades and faces an extreme shortage of urban affordable housing to accommodate for this population growth. There are several challenges facing the implementation of affordable housing in Downtown Phoenix including low-density development, high land costs, transportation issues, the current property tax structure, and infrastructure and environmental concerns. The City of Phoenix lacks the necessary policies and programs to encourage sustainable high-density development within the urban area. There are a large number of vacant parcels in the City which have either been passed over by previous development projects, or land which remains to be used from the demolition of older buildings. With the growing need for affordable housing, it is necessary to explore the opportunity to use the vacant land within the City of Phoenix for high-density infill development to include affordable housing. How can affordable housing contribute to making Phoenix a more sustainable city? High-density development creates affordability by increasing the number of housing units available in a given area. High-density is a necessary element in the transformation towards a more sustainable city not only by increasing affordability but also in connection with access to transportation and employment and efficient use of existing infrastructure. The opportunity for an increase in affordable housing within the larger sustainable development goals of urban Phoenix creates the need for an exploration of the relationship between high-density infill housing development and sustainability.