Modern Housing for America

The basic shape of American federal policy in housing as in many other areas, was determined during the New Deal, but not without conflict among movements and intellectuals advocating alternative directions. One of these was "modern housing" - a set of proposals for a radical rethinking of homes and neighbourhoods. Supporters of this approach hoped that a significant proportion of American homes could be provided by a broadly targeted, noncommercial housing sector, supported by the federal government. They urged comprehensively planned neighbourhoods with generous public spaces, a range of public services, and resident participation in design and administration. While modern housing ideas failed to define the long-term thrust of federal policy, they did influence a short-lived programme of the Public Works Administration, seen in the case studies of the Carl Mackley Houses of Philadelphia and Harlem River houses of New York. The author concludes with a chapter on the long-range impact of New Deal policy on American politics and the legacy of the modern housing initiative for contemporary public policy debates.