Housing Affordability: Top-Down Design and Spontaneous Order

City governments tend to provide necessary infrastructure like roads, sewers, and electricity grids. They also enact regulations and other policies designed to affect the quality and density of buildings. But what's the ideal balance between government planning and de-centralized decision making when it comes to affordable housing? What can cities that rely less on planning teach us about the right role for government in improving housing affordability and development overall? Alain Bertaud of NYU joins us on this episode to discuss how solutions to creating more affordable housing can arise spontaneously and independent of top-down design.