Lessons Americans can learn from the housing and urban
development experiences of Asian nations is the theme of
the symposium in the most recent issue of Cityscape. The
symposium, guest-edited by Alven Lam, focuses on
development successes and failures related to housing in
Singapore; land takings in the United States, China, and
Vietnam; and volunteerism and community involvement in
third world housing. Links to the individual articles of
the symposium are:
o Reinventing Highrise Housing in Singapore, Belinda Yuen
o Land Takings in the Private Interest: Comparisons of
Urban Land Development Controversies in the United
States, China, and Vietnam, Annette M. Kim
o Enabling the Voluntary Sector in Third World Housing,
Sukumar Ganapati
Refereed papers include articles by Philip J. Cook on
Crime Control in the City; by Jordan Dentz, Isabelina
Nahmens, and Michael Mullens on Applying Lean Production
in Factory Homebuilding; and by Sumit Agarwal and
Souphala Chomsisengphet on the Role of Personal
Bankruptcy Exemptions Laws on Mortgage Availability.
Other contributions to this issue include a policy brief
by John Comeau that describes recent changes to
Conforming Loan Limits; A Note on Data Preparation
Procedures for a Nationwide Analysis of Urban Form and
Settlement Patterns by Robert N. Renner, Selma Lewis,
John I. Carruthers, and Gerrit-Jan Knaap; an exploration
by Mike Blanford on Insulating Concrete Forms as an
alternative to foundation and above- grade walls; and a
discussion by Alastair McFarlane, Edward Szymanoski, and
Kurt Usowski on The Impact of the HOPE for Homeowners
Program Rule.
A link to the complete issue of Cityscape is available
at www.huduser.org/periodicals/cityscpe/vol11num1/index.html.
Past issues are also available for downloading, free of
charge, at www.huduser.org/periodicals/cityscape.html.
Printed copies are available for a nominal charge by
calling HUD USER at 800-245-2691, option 1.
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