CU Denver Research Focuses on Solutions for Climate Change and Affordable Housing in Urban Settings

Creating climate change resiliency and affordable housing are two of society’s most pressing challenges, and a CU Denver team is exploring how to address these challenges together by leading research on transit-oriented communities (TOCs).  

TOCs are a type of urban development that blends high-density housing (such as apartments) with easy access to public transportation.  And the National Science Foundation recently awarded Professor Tanya Heikkila, PhD, and her interdisciplinary team a $1.8 million grant to study them. The research will look at how Colorado’s statewide policies are supporting TOCs, the impact of TOCs on climate resiliency and affordable housing, the barriers to creating them, and how to engage the communities that are most heavily impacted when they are created.  

“Climate change and affordable housing are highly inter-related crises,” said Heikkila, who specializes in public policy and co-leads CU Denver’s Center for Policy and Democracy. “How we design our urban communities has a tremendous impact on our ability to adapt to the warming climate. But as we plan, we need to think about equity not only in terms of outcomes, but also in the process to reach solutions. That’s why one of the grant’s goals is to provide a framework to engage communities considering TOCs.”  

What are TOCs?

TOCs are not without controversy. They can lead to gentrification, which displaces low-income residents. As property values increase, low-income groups can be priced out. Local governments may also object to statewide policies that mandate TOCs if they are perceived to interfere with local land use authority. And if not properly designed, TOCs can lead to more traffic and urban heat without an increased use in transit.

The CU Denver team’s research could have implications for Colorado and beyond. In May 2024, Governor Jared Polis signed HB24-1313, which establishes a process to define and recognize TOCs. The bill aims to increase affordable housing within TOCs and sets aside $35 million to assist communities that meet the legislative requirements by December 31, 2027.  

And while transit-oriented development planning has long been the purview of local governments, other states are also exploring statewide policies that incentivize the expansion of TOCs.  Understanding what enables states like Colorado to pass TOC-oriented legislation HB24-1313, and the effects such policies have on climate resilience and housing equity, can be critical for informing policy decisions across the U.S.

The Research

CU Denver’s central, urban location makes this research particularly relevant. The region includes 59 local governments and 78 rail transit stations and has a range of land-use mixes, housing, and TOCs. In addition to Denver, the team will study the support for and effects of TOCs in other rapidly growing urban regions.

The work will focus on:  

• Understanding what enables or constrains climate-resilient and equitable TOC housing policies. 

• Characterizing the impact TOCs have on the physical environment of a neighborhood and their impact on climate resilience and housing equity.  

• Building transformative capacity for TOC development through knowledge co-production.  

Throughout the five-year project, CU Denver researchers will hold feedback sessions and workshops with the community to inform their research approach. That community engagement will also help them interpret their findings for diverse stakeholders, including state and local policymakers, urban planners, affordable housing advocates, and housing developers.  

The team, which includes dozens of researchers, brings together the interdisciplinary expertise necessary to study this complex societal issue. In addition to Heikkila, the team includes eight faculty members in five different CU Denver departments as lead investigators:  

• Associate Professor Jody Beck, PhD, Landscape Architecture, College of Architecture and Planning   

• Assistant Professor Benjamin Crawford, PhD, Geography and Environmental Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences  

• Professor Deserai Anderson Crow, PhD, School of Public Affairs   

• Associate Professor Farnoush Banaei-Kashani, PhD, Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Design and Computing 

• Clinical Assistant Professor Robert Hobbins, PhD, Business School  

• Associate Professor Carrie Makarewicz, PhD, Urban and Regional Planning, College of Architecture and Planning 

• Professor Wesley Marshall, PhD, Civil Engineering, College of Architecture and Planning   

• Professor Austin Troy, PhD, Urban and Regional Planning, College of Architecture and Planning  

CU Denver supported the work that went into creating the successful National Science Foundation proposal via seed funding through its 2022-2023 Grand Challenges initiatives. Heikkila, the lead principal investigator (PI), brought together team members who were part of the Collaborative for Building Democratic Communities, the Community Collaboration Research Center, and Infrastructure Informatics Grand Challenges to build the interdisciplinary research team.