Experts warned that U.S. cities may be failing in their approach to dealing with 'what is widely regarded as a housing-affordability crisis' if current housebuilding strategies do not change.Amid a historic housing supply shortage, a new working paper by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies posits that continuing to build more homes in the suburbs in the hope this will bring down hosing costs in cities may not be effective.
The authors of this new paper instead advocate for a more targeted approach.They said that since the effects of suburban housebuilding are little felt by urban dwellers, any house-building should be focused in the areas it is particularly needed.'New suburban housing supply has little effect on urban housing affordability or on the welfare of low-income urban households,' they wrote.