Luanda, Angola has brushed past Tokyo and London to be the world's most expensive city, and slums cover much of the city's prime real estate.
"Luanda recently snatched the title of 'most expensive' away from better-known capitals such as London, Oslo and Tokyo, according to a number of international surveys. The tide of petrodollars surging into the once sleepy port has created a property boom like no other. Luanda is squeezed into a little patch of seafront land, and developers have their eyes on every bit of it that is not presently clad in scaffolding.
But they have a problem: Much of the prime land in the city is covered by musseques, informal settlements that grew up when millions of Angolans poured into Luanda seeking safety during the country's three-decade civil war. Today, the land they occupy is worth billions of dollars as the country's economy grows by more than 20 per cent a year on the strength of vast oil reserves and virgin diamond mines.
Yet some people here say there is a solution that would work for everybody: Give slum dwellers...title to their land. Then the next resort developer or condominium project that comes through will have to buy it, putting money into the pockets of the evicted squatters instead of driving them penniless off the only real asset they have."
FULL STORY: Land of the state, home of the poor

Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.

Research: Walkability Linked to Improved Public Health
A study reveals that the density of city blocks is a significant factor in communities’ walkability and, subsequently, improved public health outcomes for residents.

Report Outlines Strategies for Resilient Wildfire Recovery in LA
Project Recovery offers a roadmap for rebuilding more sustainable and climate-resilient communities after wildfires and other disasters.

New Executive Order Renews Attack on Public Lands
An order issued late last week pushes for increased mineral extraction on federally owned public lands.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Florida Atlantic University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Piedmont, CA
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland