Can Cities Attract Affordable Housing for Economic Development? The Roles of Growth Management Policies and Urban Political Institutions

Abstract

While economic development and affordable housing are two important goals for city governments, pursuing both values is challenging due to their conflicting policy nature that is not easily harmonized. Cities inherently focus on economic development policies and tend to pay less attention to redistribution policies such as affordable housing. In this study, we examine why cities pursue both economic development and affordable housing simultaneously in spite of the challenge of balancing two contrasting goals. More specifically, we investigate the influence of state growth management policies and urban political institutions on whether cities support affordable housing to promote their key interest of economic development. Results indicate that state growth management policies are a critical factor that assists city governments attempting to pursue affordable housing and economic development simultaneously, while form of government is not significant.