Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. Working in cities and communities across the US, HUD is supporting green infrastructure projects through two main channels, the Office of Community Planning and Development and the Office of Sustainable Housing Communities.
What is green infrastructure at HUD?
This agency does not specifically define green infrastructure, but uses it as a component of its strategies dealing with economic and community development issues.
What HUD departments are involved in green infrastructure?
The Office of Community Planning and Development (OCPD) administers programs that support community initiatives in addressing a wide range of issues. Many communities have identified or used these program to implement green infrastructure projects.
The Office of Sustainable Housing Communities’ mission is to “create strong, sustainable communities by connecting housing to jobs, fostering local innovation, and helping to build a clean energy economy.” OSHC supports metropolitan and multijurisdictional planning efforts that integrate housing, land use, economic and workforce development, transportation, and infrastructure investments in a manner that empowers jurisdictions to consider the interdependent challenges of: (1) economic competitiveness and revitalization; (2) social equity, inclusion, and access to opportunity; (3) energy use and climate change; and (4) public health and environmental impact.
Additional HUD green infrastructure resources:
- The Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities is a partnership between Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency and Housing and Urban Development to provide citizens with access to affordable housing, more transportation options and lower transportation costs, while protecting the environment in communities nationwide.
- Community Development Block Grant Program (CDGB) provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs, including green infrastructure.
- Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants support metropolitan and multijurisdictional planning efforts that integrate housing, land use, economic and workforce development, transportation, and infrastructure investments in a manner that empowers jurisdictions to consider the interdependent challenges of economic competitiveness and revitalization; social equality, inclusion, and access to opportunity; energy use and climate change; and public health and environmental impact.
- Brownfields Economic Development Initiative is a grant program that HUD administers to stimulate and promote economic and community development.