PODCAST · news
Land Matters
by Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
A behind the scenes look at what makes cities tick. Whether financing infrastructure, adapting to climate change, or building more affordable housing, a big part of innovative solutions can be traced back to land.
Episodes
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Growth and Grit in Cleveland
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, recently reelected to a second term, details his vision for repurposing vacant land and creating "America's North Coast" along the Lake Erie and Cuyahoga River waterfronts. In an interview for the Mayor's Desk series, the 39-year-old Bibb also spelled out other…
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Housing the World
The leader of UN-Habitat details solutions to the global housing crisis, the predominant topic at the 13th session of the World Urban Forum, hosted in May in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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Leader in a Land of Extremes
The latest installment of the Mayor's Desk interview series features Fairbanks, Alaska Mayor Mindy O'Neall, who reflects on the special challenges of governing in a "land of extremes," on matters ranging from affordable housing to climate change.
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Zoning and its Discontents
Zoning got constitutional blessing 100 years ago in the Supreme Court case Euclid versus Ambler Realty. Dartmouth College economist Bill Fischel explains how the rules guiding development came to be – and are now being blamed for a shortage of affordable housing.
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From AI to the Future of Work: Trends in Planning
Urban planners are trying to figure out the future just like everybody else. The 2026 Trend Report for Planners looks at the top issues—from artificial intelligence to the future of work—that planning professionals must keep an eye on as they help guide growth in the world's cities and towns.
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The Wild West of Data Centers
The oftentimes fast-tracked construction of data centers across the US has raised concerns about land use and water and energy consumption, as communities try to balance the promise of jobs and economic activity with long-term sustainability.
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Building Vibrant Communities
At a particularly challenging time to work in government, the Lincoln Vibrant Communities fellows program, an initiative of Claremont Lincoln University and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, builds capacity and broadens horizons for local leaders and innovators.
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Coming to Terms with Density
A conversation all about density, on the occasion of the return of an online resource, Visualizing Density, at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy website. Density is in the spotlight as cities and towns seek to build more multifamily housing to help address a stubborn affordability crisis.
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In Denver, Mike Johnston Confronts Success
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, in an interview for the Mayor's Desk series, details work on housing affordability, homelessness, and other growing pains amid the city's increasing popularity. Solutions include reducing building costs, incentivizing new construction, and taking better advantage of…
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New Era for New Urbanism
Demand for walkable urbanism is stronger than ever, according to Mallory Baches, president of the Congress for the New Urbanism, an organization that has been promoting compact, mixed-use, transit-oriented development for more than three decades.
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Perpetuating the Providence Renaissance
At the helm in Providence,Rhode Island after 30 years of steady revitalization, Mayor Brett Smiley hopes to keep up the momentum while also addressing affordability and fiscal challenges. The latest municipal leader to be interviewed in the Mayor's Desk series, he also talks bike lanes…
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Talking Tech for Cities
Rob Walker, author of City Tech: 20 Apps, Ideas, and Innovators Changing the Urban Landscape, reflects on how artificial intelligence could transform urban planning, along with other advances in technology that are poised to improve quality of life in cities.
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Community Land Trusts: Housing Affordability That Lasts
Community Land Trusts, where homebuyers purchase homes but not the land underneath, is an affordable housing solution that deserves more attention, say the authors of a new report that reveals the critical ingredients for success.
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Tishaura Jones, Winning St. Louis
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones talks about regeneration strategies for the Gateway to the West, a postindustrial legacy city trying to bounce back from manufacturing and population loss. The interview is the latest in the Lincoln Institute's Mayor's Desk series, highlighting municipal chief...
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Window on the World
Technological advances in satellite imagery and data management have boosted the field of geospatial mapping, making it possible to show all kinds of land uses across parcels, blocks, neighborhoods and regions. Jeff Allenby at the Center for Geospatial Solutions explains how the tools are helping...
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Reclaiming Black-Owned Land
As the US marks Juneteenth, self-described "death and dirt" attorney Mavis Gragg recounts efforts to secure title and reclaim legal ownership of Black-owned land, in the burgeoning field of heirs property.
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The Hard-Charging Jacob Frey
An interview with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who has led a pioneering zoning reform effort to increase housing supply, beginning with banning single-family-only zoning. As part of the "Mayor's Desk" series of Q&A's with municipal leaders, he also reflects on bike and bus lanes, regional...
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Puzzling Out the Housing Crisis
Highlights from the Lincoln Institute's Journalists Forum: Innovations in Affordability reveal emerging solutions to the extraordinary challenge of the housing crisis—reforming statewide zoning to increase supply, outmaneuvering institutional investors, shifting the property tax to a land value...
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COP28 and the Future of the Planet
An assessment of what was accomplished at the recent COP28 climate summit in Dubai, including more prominence for the critical issue of land use and cities, by four members of the Lincoln Institute staff who were there
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Paige Cognetti and the Reinvention of Scranton
Mayor Paige Cognetti is guiding the postindustrial reinvention of Scranton, a coal-mining crossroads in northeastern Pennsylvania that is President Biden's hometown—and has gained notoriety as the setting for the TV comedy series "The Office."
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Water in the West
Jim Holway, who retired as director of the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy this summer, reflects on decades of trying to solve the puzzle of sustainable water resources in the West, and looks to what the future may hold.
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Summer of Smoke and Swelter
Record-breaking heat, out-of-control wildfires, and eye-stinging smoke have made the impacts of climate change inescapable for millions of people this summer. Containing the destructive fires is mostly a matter of land use management, says Canadian science journalist Ed Struzik.
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Staying Calm and Planning On
The job of the urban planner is getting tougher these days, as cities confront climate change and a shortage of affordable housing, amid increasingly divided constituencies. Veteran journalist Josh Stephens shares insights from his interviews for the book Planners Across America.
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Leading by Example
The former President and First Lady of Costa Rica, taking a year in the United States after being in power from 2018 to 2022, reflect on their home country's record of leading by example on climate, from rainforest conservation to electric buses.
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Housing and hope in Cincinnati
As a relatively affordable city protected from some of the worst effects of climate change, Cincinnati is poised for growth. In the this episode of the Land Matters podcast, Mayor Aftab Pureval reflects on the challenges he is confronting—including fending off predatory real estate investors—and...
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Orchestrating Impact
Three scholars retiring from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy – Armando Carbonell, who led programs in urban planning and land conservation; Daphne Kenyon, an economist studying the property tax and municipal finance; and Martim Smolka, director of the Latin America program – share thoughts…
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Confronting extreme heat in Africa
The mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Yvonne Aki-Sawyer, explains her appointment of Africa's first chief heat officer, fighting climate change with land use planning and planting a million trees, and an overhaul of the property tax system to ensure fiscal sustainability.
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The Quest for Zoning Zen
Zoning may not be something most people think about every day. But behind the scenes, local land use rules have been blocking affordable housing, hindering climate action, and exacerbating racial segregation, according to author M. Nolan Gray and Cornell University professor Sara Bronin.
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Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín: We need to build new housing
Berkeley, California, is a classic case of a built-up city facing tensions over future development. In this candid interview, Mayor Jesse Arreguín talks about the need to make the city more affordable by clearing the way for new housing and discouraging speculation among owners sitting on vacant...
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Climate Journalists Consider the Land-Climate Connection
Thirty journalists on the climate beat came to the Lincoln Institute recently to consider global warming's impact on land, whether deforestation, inundation, or drought. The conclusion: new policies and practices in land use planning will be required to head off a worsening crisis. A full recap…
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Climate Journalists Consider the Land-Climate Connection
Thirty journalists on the climate beat came to the Lincoln Institute recently to consider global warming's impact on land, whether deforestation, inundation, or drought. The conclusion: new policies and practices in land use planning will be required to head off a worsening crisis. A full recap…
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A Force of Nature on Chicago's South Side
On the South Side of Chicago, Rev. Otis Moss III has led initiatives in green building and community empowerment that are having a ripple effect across the city and beyond. This interview follows his delivery of the keynote address for the Lincoln Institute's 75th anniversary celebration.
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Burlington, Vermont, Goes Bona Fide Green
Burlington, Vermont – already sourcing 100 percent of its energy from renewables – is pledging to end all use of fossil fuels by 2030. Mayor Miro Weinberger says he has the political support to eliminate planet-warming emissions across all sectors.
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Randall Woodfin and the realities of revitalization
Randall Woodfin, Birmingham's "millennial mayor" and rising star in Alabama politics, has launched an urban mechanic's agenda for revitalizing that post-industrial city: restoring basic infrastructure on a block-by-block basis, setting up a command center so federal funds are spent wisely, and...
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Kara Swisher: What Big Tech Can do for Climate
The big technology companies could do big things to address climate change, says Silicon Valley chronicler Kara Swisher, host of the "Sway" podcast at The New York Times. New inventions await in manufacturing, materials, batteries, growing food, sequestering carbon – and using artifical...
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How a Toad Might Guide a Better Climate Future
The cane toad, introduced in Australia in the 1930s to control pests, quickly became a major problem itself – one of many examples of human interventions in natural systems that scientists should keep in mind while trying to tackle the climate crisis, says New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth…
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Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez, breaking new ground
Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez talks about local climate action, land value capture for more equitable urban development, and the importance of supporting women in society, in an interview as she was en route to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
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Bruce Babbitt would like to add land and water to the COP26 mix
As world leaders descend on Glasgow, Scotland for the COP26 climate summit, the critical role of land and water isn't getting enough attention, says former Arizona Governor and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. The destruction of forests is spewing emissions and taking away natural carbon sinks....
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Addressing structural racism in urban planning
City planners are emerging from behind the scenes to help address some of society's most complex challenges, including building equity and fighting racism. This summer a coalition of planners came together to acknowledge past discrimination in urban development policies and commit to becoming...
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Land's crucial role in fighting climate change
In this summer of 2021, land is being ravaged. Wildfires burn in the western U.S., Canada and elsewhere, and the Amazon rainforest has been scorched so much for ranching and agriculture it now emits more carbon than it absorbs. Land conservation veteran Jim Levitt explains the central role of…
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Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson reflects on equity and regeneration
Mayor Frank Jackson is happy about the myriad efforts to revitalize Cleveland – from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to the University Circle cultural center and the recent "innovation hub" activity in tech and life sciences. But as he finishes out his fourth and final term, Jackson says that the...
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Affordability on a fast track
Home to global tech companies and a record number of millionaires, Cambridge, Massachusetts has been trying to make the city more accessible for all. Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui talks about recent strategies, including an innovative affordable housing overlay that awards extra height and density and...
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Finding Answers in Land
As the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy marks its 75th anniversary, Board Chair Kathryn J. Lincoln and President George W. "Mac" McCarthy reflect on the past, present, and future of an organization that recognizes the central role of land in solving some of the world's greatest challenges, from...
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Rising rents, families on the edge
Rising rents are straining family budgets now more than ever, says NYU professor Ingrid Gould Ellen, co-author of the Lincoln Institute report "Through the Roof" – and the pandemic has both revealed and exacerbated the affordability crisis. Local governments should establish comprehensive plans…
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Moving forward on climate
In the first of the year's shows marking the 75th anniversary of the Lincoln Institute, environmentalist and author Bill McKibben breaks down the actions of the incoming Biden administration to confront the climate crisis, from rejoining the Paris accord to halting the Keystone XL pipeline. Land...
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Marking the End of 2020
As the world prepares to bid farewell to 2020, taking stock of an unprecedented year involves both understanding the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic and looking ahead to what the future may hold. New York Times reporter Emily Badger and author Diana Lind reflect on the prospects for…
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Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and the changing Southwest
Recently reelected Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego reflects on a supercharged election season – and how, among other changes, Phoenix is becoming a more sustainable, and more urban, place. The nation's fifth-largest metropolis is battling COVID, stepping up measures to conserve water, and providing…
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Confronting a COVID recession
With revenues down and pandemic-related expenditures up, state and local governments are facing a fiscal meltdown this fall and beyond. Experts from the Lincoln Institute talk about the options, including layoffs and cuts in services, and explain how leaving cities and states to struggle on their...
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Housing's Racial History
To make sense of the current discussion of affordable housing in cities or in suburbs, it is necessary to understand the history of discrimination that has been part and parcel of US housing policy and programs, says Lisa Rice, president of the National Fair Housing Alliance.
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Housing at a time of crisis
The coronavirus pandemic and growing outrage about racial injustice have underscored the centrality of healthy, well-located, and affordable housing in society. Author Kim Vermeer and smart growth advocate Andre Leroux assess efforts to create more housing options to address longstanding economic...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A behind the scenes look at what makes cities tick. Whether financing infrastructure, adapting to climate change, or building more affordable housing, a big part of innovative solutions can be traced back to land.
HOSTED BY
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Land Matters have?
Land Matters currently has 62 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Land Matters about?
A behind the scenes look at what makes cities tick. Whether financing infrastructure, adapting to climate change, or building more affordable housing, a big part of innovative solutions can be traced back to land.
How often does Land Matters release new episodes?
Land Matters has 62 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Land Matters on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Land Matters?
Land Matters is created and hosted by Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
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