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Expanding Climate Resilient and Equitable Housing


Overview

CU Denver building with Rocky Mountains in the distance

Creating climate change resiliency and affordable housing are two of society’s most pressing challenges. Our interdisciplinary research team is exploring how to address these challenges together by studying transit-oriented communities (TOCs).  TOCs are designed for dense housing and support multiple modes of sustainable transportation. Through this design they can support climate resilience by reducing urban sprawl and reliance on autos. They can also support greater housing equity through expanding the supply of affordable housing in accessible locations. This project examines how statewide policies in the US are supporting TOCs, the impact of TOCs on climate resiliency and affordable housing, the barriers to creating them, and how to engage the communities that are most heavily impacted in decisions about TOC development.  

The research will occur over 5 years, through a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems (DISES) Program.


Project Goals

The overarching goal of this research project is to assess how can decision makers simultaneously promote greater climate resilience and housing equity through TOCs. This research involves three main aims over the next 5 years:

This research will provide evidence to policymakers and interested communities on the urban designs and policies that can support climate-resilient and equitable TOC development. It will also create tools to support policy learning and adaptive policy designs.


Team

Jody Beck


Jody Beck, PhD

Landscape Architecture
College of Architecture and Planning 
(Senior Personnel)

Ben Crawford


Benjamin Crawford, PhD

Geography and Environmental Sciences
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
(co- Principal Investigator)

Deserai Crow


Deserai Anderson Crow, PhD

School of Public Affairs
(Senior Personnel)

Farnoush Banaei-Kashani


Farnoush Banaei-Kashani, PhD

Computer Science and Engineering
College of Engineering, Design and Computing
(Senior Personnel)

Tanya Heikkila


Tanya Heikkila, PhD

School of Public Affairs
(Principal Investigator)

Robert Hobbins


Robert Hobbins, PhD

Business School
(Senior Personnel)

Carrie Makarewicz


Carrie Makarewicz, PhD

Urban and Regional Planning
College of Architecture and Planning
(co- Principal Investigator)

Wes Marshall


Wesley Marshall, PhD

Civil Engineering
College of Architecture and Planning 
(co- Principal Investigator)

Austin Troy


Austin Troy, PhD

Urban and Regional Planning
College of Architecture and Planning 
(co- Principal Investigator)

Emma Scheetz


Emma Scheetz, SPA

School of Public Affairs

Carrie Tremblatt


Carrie Tremblatt

Civil Engineering
North Dakota State University


Advisory Board

A complete list of the advisory board members will be listed in the Spring of 2025.


Data and Products

The data collection for the Governance Aim is being conducted in collaboration with the NYU Furman Center to help develop their Housing Solution Lab’s policy tracker. Updates on this stage of the data collection will be available in 2025.


Contact

Work with us or reach out with questions.

Prof. Tanya Heikkila, Principal Investigator
Email: tanya.heikkila@ucdenver.edu

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