Article by Kristen D.A. Carpenter
This Article presents a new theory of public-housing reform called Promise Enforcement. Promise Enforcement is based upon Rousseau's social contract and consists of three elements: contextual thinking, valuing individuality, and comprehensive responsibility. The theory is elucidated through the work of the late Viennese artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
The Article's positive thesis is that a Promise Enforcement regime of low-income housing would, for the first time in United States history, bring the residents of public housing within the social contract. The Article's negative thesis is that each of the three components of the HOPE VI public-housing redevelopment program authorized by Congress in 1992, (1) New Urbanist new architecture, (2) income mixing, and (3) lease enforcement and community and supportive services, is in some way a flawed step toward each of the respective components of Promise Enforcement. The Article then demonstrates how each component of HOPE VI should be changed to comport with the requirements of Promise Enforcement.
About the Author
Kristen D.A. Carpenter. Assistant Professor of Law, Stetson University College of Law.
Citation
76 Tul. L. Rev. 1073 (2002)