Institutional Reform / Change

In April 2012, Living Cities asked the Urban Institute to study the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, and the HUD Regional Planning Grants specifically, as a way to understand how the federal government could break down "silos," institutional or political barriers to cooperative and collaborative efforts. The research team reviewed key documents and conducted in-person interviews with personnel at federal agencies as well as organizations leading the regional planning grant projects in five case sites. These findings suggest that federal efforts can, in fact, contribute to breaking down silos both within the federal government and at the regional level.

In April 2012, Living Cities asked the Urban Institute to study the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, and the HUD Regional Planning Grants specifically, as a way to understand how the federal government could break down "silos," institutional or political barriers to cooperative and collaborative efforts. The research team reviewed key documents and conducted in-person interviews with personnel at federal agencies as well as organizations leading the regional planning grant projects in five case sites. These findings suggest that federal efforts can, in fact, contribute to breaking down silos both within the federal government and at the regional level.

Industrialized countries typically spend 50% or more of public sector resources to fund public services at the local level including public health services, access to drinking water, local infrastructure development, and so on. In contrast, developing economies typically dedicate a much smaller share of public resources to front-line service delivery within the local public sector. In countries like Bangladesh or Egypt, only about 20% of all public sector spending trickles down to the local level for service delivery. Dr. Jamie Boex, a Senior Research Associate, discusses the ramifications of this for international development and how The Urban Institute's Local Public Sector Initiative plays a role.

In developing countries, through the process of decentralization, municipal officials are constrained by administrative and governing practices that reflect a highly centralized, command driven economic system that has left a lasting impact on the culture and behavior of municipal administrations. In order for these local governments to become efficient and responsive providers of local infrastructure and public services, individuals and the organizations in which they work have to be transformed from entities that are local administrators of centrally-mandated public functions -which in large part requires compliance with central government rules and responsiveness to instructions from the top- into high-performing local government organizations (HPLGOs) which are capable of proactively identifying and responding to local needs.

The recovery and long-term performance of U.S. housing markets unquestionably hinges on the availability and terms of financing. Yet, with the housing finance system currently undergoing profound changes, there are significant questions about what the future supply of mortgage finance will look like. Lending institutions are exercising extreme caution in their underwriting, and there are legitimate concerns that this tightening will go too far so that homeseekers and financers of multifamily rental housing will be starved of credit. This What Works framing paper highlights four critical policy challenges in the area of housing finance: mortgage lending to underserved groups; financing for the evolving rental housing market; lending in distressed neighborhoods; and the role of mortgage finance in supporting environmentally sustainable housing. This framing paper is part of a series of field-building research agendas produced under the What Works Collaborative. More information can be found on the What Works Collaborative web page