Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

09/09/2026

In early July, Lincoln Institute Senior Research Analyst Bethany Paquin spoke at the 2026 National Forum on Education Policy on the panel “Who Pays for Public Schools? The Future of Property Taxes and Education Funding.”

Her key takeaway: Local property taxes help schools maintain services during economic downturns and state funding cuts. Broad tax limits—especially assessment limits—can weaken that stability. Targeted relief programs such as circuit breakers can address taxpayer concerns without eroding local control or schools’ most important local revenue source.

Learn more: https://2026nationalforum.vfairs.com/en/detailed-agenda

09/08/2026

Facing the combined impacts of the housing affordability crisis, climate change, and biodiversity loss, communities across the country are exploring how to deploy underutilized public land. As these efforts become more common, communities must ensure that conservation and development needs are considered together.

Read more in Chandni Navalkha and Peter Colohan's Land Wise blog:

As communities across the country face the combined impacts of the housing affordability crisis, climate change, and biodiversity loss, state and local governments are exploring how to deploy underutilized land they own to meet multiple community needs. As these efforts become more common, communiti...

09/07/2026

In his first season at the helm of the Lincoln Institute, Robert Puentes reflects on the path that brought him to this new role—and shares his thoughts on why this is a critical moment for the organization, for land policy, and for communities around the world.

Read his inaugural President's Message:
https://go.lincolninst.edu/l/153411/2026-08-31/ps57yh

09/07/2026

"The act of imagining and enacting a postcarbon future is a worldmaking project. Whether constructed through the accumulation of small, site-based works, the imposition of new mega-infrastructures, or both, making this world requires a level of transformation that is without precedent."

In his introduction to "Building Postcarbon Futures," editor Billy Fleming assesses how we need to address the climate crisis, what we can learn from the New Deal, and how the case studies presented in the book show that other worlds are possible.

Learn more about the book: https://go.lincolninst.edu/l/153411/2026-08-31/ps58t9

Photos: Cristian Ordóñez

09/06/2026

Could modular construction help Philadelphia address its housing shortage?

“You can’t use the same planning mechanisms for modular or manufactured housing that you do for site-built,” Lincoln Institute Director of Housing Access and Affordability Arica Young told Next City.

Design, inspections, utilities, and land acquisition must align early—or modular construction can cost more instead of delivering the hoped-for efficiencies.

Read more:

Mayor Parker has promised to build 13,500 new housing units in Philadelphia. With construction costs rising, the city hopes modular construction can help it reach this goal.

09/05/2026

ICYMI: UN-HABITAT, the Lincoln Institute, and the World Resources Institute launched this year’s State of African Cities Report at WUF13. The report, titled Harnessing the Value of Urban Land for Socio-Economic Transformation, is now available online:

African Cities at a Crossroads: Closing the Urban Infrastructure Investment Gap explores one of the most important development questions facing the continent today; how to harness rapid urbanization as a driver of inclusive growth and transformation.The report underscores that urbanization is one of...

09/04/2026

"Building Postcarbon Futures" editor Billy Fleming will be in Boulder next week to discuss how we can respond to the climate crisis in our cities, communities, and landscape.

📍Wednesday, September 9: "Building Postcarbon Futures: Land, Justice, and Energy Transitions with Billy Fleming," Environmental Design University of Colorado Boulder Lecture Series, 12–1 p.m. MT
📍Thursday, September 10: "Book Talk and Community Conversation with Billy Fleming," Trident Booksellers and Cafe, 6–7:30 p.m. MT
Learn more about these events, as well as the other stops on Billy's book tour: https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/land-wise/meet-the-author-building-postcarbon-futures/

09/03/2026

In late July, our Consortium for Scenario Planning team invited policymakers, planners, and community stakeholders from Suva, Fiji, and Singaraja, Indonesia, to consider the futures of their respective cities.

The exploratory scenario planning (XSP) workshops were led by Heather Hannon and Alykhan Mohamed and supported by our partners at GeoAdaptive and EnCity Global.

These workshops are part of a larger partnership with the World Bank to pilot the XSP methodology and consider how aging demographics, climate change, and AI & automation could impact cities across the East Asia Pacific. Stay tuned for more!

09/03/2026

Lincoln Institute's Chief Program Officer Enrique Silva was recently featured in DW News's Spanish-language program Cómo te afecta, which explored the growing difficulty young people face in accessing homeownership and affordable housing across Latin America. Enrique weighed in on how Latin American cities are evolving and why access to housing has become such a challenge for younger generations.

Comprar casa en América Latina se volvió casi imposible: necesitarí...

09/02/2026

The Lincoln Institute has released an annual update of its State-by-State Property Tax at a Glance narratives and visualization tool, adding comparative 2023 data on sources of local revenue, state and local property tax reliance, and common measures of property tax burden, including effective property tax rates.

Users can now, for the first time, access 10 years of historical data and navigate historical policy narratives, data, and interactive maps from previous years to analyze trends. The Lincoln Institute has also updated its Government Finance Data tables with newly released 2024 data from the US Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finance.

Access the tools: https://go.lincolninst.edu/l/153411/2026-08-31/ps57y3