The Phoenix Strategy for Updating Housing Stock: Preventing Neighborhood Deterioration and Promoting Sustainable Development

Abstract

The Phoenix Strategy is a way to encourage and facilitate significant user-controlled improvements in existing housing, improvements that make old houses more like new ones. The strategy is based on an analysis of relevant experience in several countries, most notably Israel, and relies on public facilitation and private management and financing. It has worked well in low- to high-density residential areas with moderate- and middle-income households. It has benefitted the residents, the neighborhoods, and the public treasury, and contributed to environmental goals. This article suggests how the Phoenix Strategy may be used as a powerful tool to prevent or halt neighborhood deterioration and to promote sustainable urban development.