Across the US, Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people continue to experience high rates of housing insecurity, a reality fueled by a history of discriminatory practices and racist housing policies such as redlining. To remedy these and other inequities, a growing number of advocates, organizers, policymakers, and researchers are calling for a structural overhaul of the country’s housing system. They aim to dismantle the factors that contribute to housing instability, so that everyone—regardless of their race, income, gender identity, disability, and/or sexuality—can live in a safe, affordable home.

What they seek is housing justice, a relatively new concept rooted in rectifying historical and systemic drivers of housing insecurity, achieving racial equity in housing, and creating upward mobility for all people.

The Urban Institute Housing Justice Hub endeavors to better understand this growing field by drawing on Urban’s deep expertise in housing research and policy, racial equity analytics, and strategic advising on cross-sector housing solutions. As we learn more, our team is creating and sharing data tools and analyses to inspire research, policy solutions, and advocacy. Equipped with these evidence-informed insights, policymakers and community partners can strengthen how they design, implement, and monitor policies and programs to achieve housing justice for all.

Our definition of housing justice:
Ensuring everyone has affordable housing that promotes health, well-being, and upward mobility by confronting historical and ongoing harms and disparities caused by structural racism and other systems of oppression.