Strategies, Outcomes and the Potential for Civil Society in Democratizing Urban Development

Abstract

To bring democracy to a city is to move toward the ideal of the inclusive city-a particular challenge in a world where housing costs and demand for housing are both on the rise, and both factors in the problems of housing affordability and displacement. The notion of an inclusive city entails not only housing interventions, but also the inclusion of civil society in official decision-making. 'Democratizing Urban Development: Community Organizations for Housing across the United States and Brazil' focuses on both issues by examining how community organizations seek to influence public decision-making on housing matters, as well as what impacts they have on housing policy in particular, and urban development in general. The book presents a holistic and dynamic framework that helps assess how civil society organizations (CSOs)-or, more specifically, community organizations-operate in order to influence official decision-making. With its comparative case study approach, the book leverages case study methodology to provide rich detail and competent analyses covering four selected cases.