ancient cities

Then from 1981 to 2004, poverty deconcentration
programs in public housing nationally provided
tenants with Section 8 vouchers that allowed
them to rent housing in other neighborhoods. In
this process, many units of public housing were
removed through HOPE VI programs to create
mixed-income development. HOPE VI and Section
8 programs offer higher quality housing for public
housing tenants, but at the cost of the overall
quantity of subsidized units. Instead of giving the
lowest-income tenants priority for subsidized units,
the late 1990s and 2000s saw an increase in subsidies
that do not calculate a household’s rent based
on income but instead charge a below-market rate
for moderate-income households. The Low Income
Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) for example, subsidies
households earning between 80 and 110 percent
of Area Median Income (AMI). Essentially,
through such discounted programs, localities can
satisfy housing affordability quotas without providing
decent affordable housing to those who
need subsidized housing the most.
Since 2000, the dominant affordable housing
policy has been the push for low-income homeownership.
Simultaneously during this past decade,
there has been a steep rise in predatory subprime
loans to low-income households. The result has
been a record number of foreclosures and owneroccupied
vacancies. Middle- and low-income homeowners
and renters are both hit hard from
owner-occupied and rental housing evictions.
Demand for rental housing has increased because
homeowners and would-be homeowners turn to
the rental market for housing needs at the same
time foreclosed rental properties remain vacant,
cutting into the supply of rental housing. The
credit crunch also prevents development of affordable
housing, and otherwise qualified buyers cannot
get financing.
These three housing policies over the past
century—high-rise public housing, rental vouchers,
and low-income homeownership—have
failed because nothing was done to address the
underlying problem of a lack of affordable housing
or to create successful economic and workforce
development programs. Homeownership is
not the end goal and is not appropriate for all
households. Decent affordable housing (as stated
in the 1939 housing act) should be a right for all
households and can be a reality with a housing
Women and the City
965
policy that creates choice in tenure and decommodifies
shelter.
Safety Issues for Women
In the second part of the twentieth century, urban
efforts on crime prevention have focused on the
public sphere through traditional responses such
as policing, surveillance systems, or the proliferation
of gated communities. Since the 1980s, the
“broken windows” theory, which asserts that stopping
small crimes will reduce major crime, has
influenced policing strategies across the United
States. The problem of these initiatives is that they
have focused on crime, not on violence, and do not
include a gender perspective. Crime refers to acts
that are illegal; what constitutes a crime depends on
the definition, context, and nation where the activity
takes place. Many strategies have focused on
preventing crime such as drug dealing, homicide,
prostitution, robbery, and youth gangs, among others.
Crime prevention in the public space excludes
other types of violence, and above all, violence
within the private space.
Since the 1970s, feminist initiatives have worked
to make gender violence a public issue and to
make public and private spaces safer. Also in the
1980s, new approaches to women’s safety in the
city started to take place in countries such as
Canada and the United Kingdom and later in other
countries of Europe and in Latin America and
Africa. These approaches focus on community
safety and violence prevention, preventing all forms
of crime, violence, and insecurity. Incorporating a
gender analysis in community safety recognizes
that women and men often have different definitions
of violence and what can be done about it. In
different cities of Canada, women’s organizations
and local governments have conducted women’s
safety audits. The goal of these audits was to organize
a group of women to identify unsafe places in
the city and give recommendations to improve
these places (e.g., METRAC, Femmes et Villes,
South Africa, Bogotá).
Feminists have advocated for including violence
against women issues in municipal agendas. Local
governments can prevent and respond to violence
against women in different ways. Municipalities
can integrate women’s safety concerns into the
physical design of cities, parks, and recreation