Housing and Community Development Policy Research (HCDPR) carries out transdisciplinary research projects pursuant to underserved communities of color that emphasize the relationship between housing and community development policies and programs and an equitable response to climate change. The theory of change (click on theory of change) undergirding these research endeavors contends policy learning derives from policy analysis, convenings, and debate among stakeholders and decision makers around experiences that drives the ways institutions behave and change due to changing macro-economic, political and social systems.
Operationalizing this theory of change requires an examination of the relationship between practices and programs and the racial landscape in which they are implemented to reveal the disparate impacts that apparently race-neutral policies and programs can have, for cities in Florida, Texas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The researchers have defined these areas of focus to capture key gaps in understanding the mechanisms producing racially or group disparate outcomes, linking policy research to cities in a Texas and Gulf Coast-Caribbean geography. Policy research encompassing Texas and Gulf Coast-Caribbean cities in the context of climate mitigation, equity and green building allows for site-specific evidence building about federal, regional, or local support for housing or for regulation of development and equitable investment in the built environment, and comparative analysis and data collection across sites. Furthermore, analyzing these relationships advantages greater breadth and depth in understanding about the theory of change undergirding HCDPR’s work.