Bloomberg Center for Cities Launches Inaugural Open Call for Research Proposals on Local Government Responses to Housing Challenges in the U.S.
Shaped by leading housing experts and informed by the needs of local governments, the call seeks research to strengthen local government action on housing.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Housing is among the most urgent issues facing communities across the United States. City halls are taking action to increase housing supply, improve the quality and affordability of homes, and address housing instability and homelessness—and stronger evidence can help local leaders understand which approaches work, under what conditions, and how to put them into practice effectively.
The Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University is launching an Open Call for Research Proposals on Local Government Responses to Housing Challenges in the United States to strengthen the evidence available to local leaders confronting these challenges.
Shaped by input from leading housing experts around the country and responsive to issues local governments are confronting, the call will support rigorous research on the effectiveness of different housing policies and interventions and the conditions that shape how well they work in practice.
The call seeks proposals for research in four priority areas:
- Regulatory systems
- Strategies for housing finance
- Targeting and delivering assistance
- Building public support for local housing action
Across these areas, the Center is interested in how local governments develop, select, coordinate, adapt, implement, and assess their responses—including how they experiment with new approaches, improve established practices, and organize their work to achieve better results.
The call also seeks to strengthen understanding of what local governments can learn from approaches used elsewhere and how those lessons may need to be adapted to different local contexts.
The Housing Open Call is the first in a new series of Open Calls for Research Proposals from the Bloomberg Center for Cities, made possible by the generous support of Bloomberg Philanthropies. The series will support rigorous, practice-relevant research on urban problem-solving and innovation in local government while growing and supporting a global scholarly community dedicated to these issues.
Eligible researchers and research teams based anywhere in the world are invited to submit proposals focused on housing challenges in the United States, including research developed in partnership with local governments.The application process begins with a Letter of Interest. Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal.
Letters of Interest are due December 8, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
