Puzzling Out the Housing Crisis
Land Matters
Highlights from the Lincoln Institute’s Journalists Forum: Innovations in Affordability reveal emerging solutions to the extraordinary challenge of the housing crisis—reforming statewide zoning to increase supply, outmaneuvering institutional investors, shifting the property tax to a land value tax, and changing the home financing system.
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COP28 and the Future of the Planet
Land Matters
An assessment of what was accomplished at the recent COP28 climate summit in Dubai, including more prominence for the critical issue of land use and cities, by four members of the Lincoln Institute staff who were there
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Paige Cognetti and the Reinvention of Scranton
Land Matters
Mayor Paige Cognetti is guiding the postindustrial reinvention of Scranton, a coal-mining crossroads in northeastern Pennsylvania that is President Biden’s hometown—and has gained notoriety as the setting for the TV comedy series “The Office.”
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Water in the West
Land Matters
Jim Holway, who retired as director of the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy this summer, reflects on decades of trying to solve the puzzle of sustainable water resources in the West, and looks to what the future may hold.
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Summer of Smoke and Swelter
Land Matters
Record-breaking heat, out-of-control wildfires, and eye-stinging smoke have made the impacts of climate change inescapable for millions of people this summer. Containing the destructive fires is mostly a matter of land use management, says Canadian science journalist Ed Struzik.
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Staying Calm and Planning On
Land Matters
The job of the urban planner is getting tougher these days, as cities confront climate change and a shortage of affordable housing, amid increasingly divided constituencies. Veteran journalist Josh Stephens shares insights from his interviews for the book Planners Across America.
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Leading by Example
Land Matters
The former President and First Lady of Costa Rica, taking a year in the United States after being in power from 2018 to 2022, reflect on their home country’s record of leading by example on climate, from rainforest conservation to electric buses.
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Housing and hope in Cincinnati
Land Matters
As a relatively affordable city protected from some of the worst effects of climate change, Cincinnati is poised for growth. In the this episode of the Land Matters podcast, Mayor Aftab Pureval reflects on the challenges he is confronting—including fending off predatory real estate investors—and discusses how the city can grow thoughtfully and equitably. For links and resources related to this episode, please visit our show notes at Not yet live (ETA Monday afternoon)
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Orchestrating Impact
Land Matters
Three scholars retiring from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy – Armando Carbonell, who led programs in urban planning and land conservation; Daphne Kenyon, an economist studying the property tax and municipal finance; and Martim Smolka, director of the Latin America program – share thoughts on what it takes for a nonprofit organization to have real-world impact.
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Confronting extreme heat in Africa
Land Matters
The mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Yvonne Aki-Sawyer, explains her appointment of Africa’s first chief heat officer, fighting climate change with land use planning and planting a million trees, and an overhaul of the property tax system to ensure fiscal sustainability.
info_outlineEpisode 3: Water Meets Land
As the global water crisis intensifies, the Colorado River Basin is poised to become a model for how to bring together stakeholders representing agriculture, urban areas, and the natural environment. In this episode, we’ve put together highlights and takeaways from the 2019 Journalists Forum (#WaterMeetsLand) – including the importance of considering the central role of land use in the management of a dwindling resource. For more: https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/articles/water-planning