Policy Dialogues #23: Policymaking for Housing, Health and Equity

Housing is a fundamental determinant of health, yet millions of people around the world – especially those in low-income communities – live in substandard, overcrowded, or unaffordable housing conditions that are damaging to their physical and mental health. Global political and economic developments of recent years have led to a rise in gentrification, involving a steep increase in property and rental prices and the displacement of working-class communities, particularly in urban centres across the world. Such processes have exacerbated social inequalities and contributed to preexisting health inequities.

To explore these pressing issues at the intersection of housing, poverty, and health, the JHU-UPF Public Policy Center presents the 23rd Policy Dialogues session. This online seminar will examine how inadequate or precarious housing contributes to a range of physical and mental health issues, from respiratory diseases to stress-related illnesses, while also considering how housing policies can address these challenges and create more equal and healthy societies. Focusing on the cases of the United States and Spain, it will explore proposals for housing policies that prioritize both affordability and health outcomes, ensuring that less affluent populations have access to safe, secure, and healthy living environments.

Keynote speaker: Craig Pollack (Johns Hopkins University). Dr. Pollack is the Katey Ayers Endowed Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the School of Nursing. He is an internal medicine physician who conducts research at the intersection of housing and health to inform policies that help individuals and families live in safe and affordable homes.

Discussant: Josep Maria Caroz (Universitat Pompeu Fabra). Josep Maria is a predoctoral researcher at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. His research focuses on housing precariousness, equity and health, with an emphasis on housing policy in Catalonia.

This seminar will involve a presentation by Dr. Craig Pollack, followed by a discussion with Josep Maria Caroz. After the discussion, the floor will be opened to the public for a Q&A session.

This Policy Dialogue will be held online via zoom. Registration is necessary to receive the meeting link.

More about Policy Dialogues: The space to discuss and explore pressing policy issues

Policy Dialogues (#policydialogues) is the Center’s series of transdisciplinary, open and collaborative seminars that aims to explore the most pressing policy questions and social issues of our time. It consists of public interactive discussions on various social and policy issues, with presentations from invited experts such as academics, activists and public figures. The Policy Dialogues series intends to make knowledge around policymaking and its impacts on people’s quality of life and wellbeing more accessible and interdisciplinary, emphasising transformational policy proposals and social change. Policy Dialogues encourages dialogue between participants of all backgrounds, recognising all experiences and points of view as useful for democratic knowledge construction and for informing policymaking processes.