Ep 144: The 3 Lefts of Urbanism

Housing Wrap up Show! I explore once again the underlying issues in our built environment and how radical reforms and how markets and capitalism cannot provide a way forward weather the concern is climate, rent, or density. In the 2nd Half I cover reactions from each of the 3 lefts in terms of government built housing, Real estate coops, and general anarchist practice. I discuss strategies in building community ownership and end with a the work of two visionary architects.

Sources

The Market is infested with Zombie companies
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/5/26/zombie-companies-in-a-zombie-economy
Climate Change and the built environment; the reforms don’t match the scale of the issue
https://www.brookings.edu/research/we-cant-beat-the-climate-crisis-without-rethinking-land-use/
There is enough housing, its that most can’t afford it; rent is too high
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-building-more-homes-cant-solve-the-housing-affordability-problem-for-the-millions-who-need-it-most-11637164508
School District Builds public housing stock for workers
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article240057533.html
Revisit of the Real Estate Coop in Practice
https://www.shareable.net/real-estate-cooperative-activists-changing-oakland/
Anarchist values practiced in Urbanism
https://www.fastcompany.com/90716271/anarchist-architecture-could-help-cities-rebuild-after-covid-heres-how
Overview of Colin Ward’s Book on the subject
https://libcom.org/article/housing-anarchist-approach-colin-ward
Overview of the work of Chrisopher Alexander; RIP
https://www.pps.org/article/calexander
Chicago’s Ind Tenant Union; a model and resource for others
https://www.autonomoustenantsunion.org/