Best management practices in U.S. public housing

Abstract

Traditional public housing management in the United States focuses almost entirely on physical plant maintenance and financial management, even though public housing residents’ needs extend far beyond bricks and mortar. Crime, socioeconomic disparity, deteriorating physical conditions, and the absence of any linkages to other communities require a new approach to management and a revised allocation of resources.

Resident involvement, increased reliance on public and private assistance, provision of supportive services, and a restructuring of the existing socioeconomic mix of public housing developments and their neighborhoods must be instituted and incorporated into planning for public housing communities.

Keywords:

• Low‐income housing
• Management
• Services