HOUSING ENVIRONMENTS RESEARCH GROUP

    at The Center for Human Environments
     City University of New York
     Graduate Center
 

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    More on HERG:

    Evaluation

    HERG has worked with community organizations, technical assistance groups and coalitions to document and evaluate their programs. HERG's aim in evaluation is to involve the actors in defining goals and benchmarks, and to help them incorporate evaluation into their regular operations. HERG also performs independent evaluations of government housing programs and policies. In both kinds of evaluations, documentation and measurement are designed to capture not only outcomes but the processes that lead to those outcomes. Our evaluations are accompanied by work with program providers and residents to develop new approaches to problems.

    HERG has evaluated programs including:

    • Homeownership education services provided to low-income buyers by a national network of nonprofit agencies
    • A program to promote the use of digital-age technology as a tool to manage tenant-owned co-ops
    • New York City programs to dispose of housing acquired through tax foreclosure
    • A partnership of US and Russian housing and community development organizations

    Geographic Information Systems and Urban Issues

    HERG researchers were "early adopters" of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to facilitate an ecologically sound understanding of housing and community phenomena.

    HERG projects using GIS have included:

    • Studying crime in low income housing
    • Helping community residents target neighborhood improvement efforts
    • Understanding the overlapping spatial distribution of housing programs and the consequences of this geography

    Policy Analysis

    In addition to program evaluation, HERG engages in housing policy analysis. HERG's conception of policy analysis takes into account the ecology and social organization of the housing and neighborhoods involved, as well as the broader context.

    Topics of HERG's policy analyses have included:

    • Women and Housing
    • New York City's Housing Programs
    • Housing Policy and Welfare Reform
    • Design and Planning

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