The MIT Resilient Cities Housing Initiative (RCHI) convened its inaugural symposium in Fall 2013 to identify and highlight some of the most innovative examples of planning projects and policies that address urban housing problems. What kinds of transformations have effectively addressed the housing and housing-related needs of underserved low-income people in a safe, equitable, and sustainable manner? Housing, in this context, needs to be conceptualized as an important piece of what it takes to foster a resilient city. Housing by itself cannot be “resilient” unless it also helps residents cope with the simultaneous challenges of urban violence, dysfunctional governance, economic struggle, and a changing climate. The symposium grapples with the barriers to resilient housing by engaging in a multidisciplinary approach to evaluating “success.”

Panelists included Gabriella Carolini, Miho Mazereeuw, Brent D. Ryan, Shomon Shamsuddin, Lawrence Vale, Robert Beauregard, Nicholas Dagen Bloom, Mary Comerio, Toni L. Griffin, Johann Jessen, Mark Joseph, Anuradha Mukherji, Martin Murray, Garth Myers, Robert B. Olshansky, Jota (José) Samper, and Emily Weinstein.