Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities

The mission of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Initiative is to provide educational resources for leaders in government, non-profit organizations and the community to help create innovative, community-engaged, and globally informed solutions to the housing and urban challenges facing North Carolina and beyond.

The Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Initiative (AH+SC) focuses on strategies, models and best practices for affordable housing and economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable communities and urban environments. Faculty and graduate students engage in research and community-based service-learning projects that address contemporary housing and development challenges. The results are tangible and applicable solutions for our community partners and the public, including educational materials, symposia and workshops, publications and best practices and prototypes.

Projects, programs, and research conducted by the AH+SC address significant and timely issues and have included: resilient housing along coastal North Carolina, affordable housing for NC State students, supportive veteran housing, affordable artist housing, cohousing, backyard cottages, single family, missing middle and multifamily affordable housing, and neighborhood revitalization and regional sustainable development. Building on this foundation, new projects also explore urbanism and participatory urban design in national and international contexts, examining how community-driven processes, informal practices, and adaptive forms of housing and public space contribute to sustainable and equitable urban futures.

Overall Goals

To respond to evolving challenges, including housing affordability, social equity, and rapid urbanization issues that demand innovative design, policy, and participatory approaches.
To provide the community with resources regarding the project’s background and issues, and applicable national and international models, so that they can participate in planning its future in an informed manner.
To provide the sponsor with viable strategies for the project, deliverables for fundraising and further development, and a foundation for subsequent professional services.
To expand the initiative’s reach through research and teaching that engage diverse urban contexts, both within and outside North Carolina, emphasizing participatory design, community agency, and globally comparative understandings of affordable housing and sustainable urbanism.

Faculty

Thomas Barrie, FAIA, DPACSA is a Professor of Architecture at North Carolina State University and has focused on affordable housing and urban design for most of his teaching career. Professor Barrie is committed to broadening the scope and audience of architecture through research, extension and community-based design studios. His work focuses on educating future leaders of the profession while engaging the public in critical issues regarding the built environment.

Sana Ahrar is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at North Carolina State University. Her work examines housing, urban transformation, and the social and spatial dimensions of the built environment, with a focus on sustainable and community-centered development. Her current research explores informal urbanism, particularly how middle-class communities in the Global South navigate formal and informal housing markets and how community-driven practices shape urban environments.