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Dear friend,
Welcome to Frontier, the monthly newsletter from the Future of Property Rights Program at New America. FPR is continuing to explore property insecurity in the U.S., as Yuliya Panfil and Tim Robustelli traveled to Indiana to learn about housing instability and displacement throughout the state. We're also increasingly thinking about new property rights paradigms for data governance. Here's what we've been up to:
What We're Doing
Future of Property Rights in Indiana
FPR has teamed up with our colleagues at New America Indianapolis to explore housing instability and displacement throughout Indiana. Yuliya Panfil and Tim Robustelli recently traveled to the Hoosier State to meet with decision-makers and other stakeholders about property loss in both Indianapolis and South Bend. Foreclosures are declining, but both cities are plagued by high rates of evictions, habitability problems, and weak tenants' rights. Look out for reports on what we found in next month’s newsletter.
A Commons Approach to Data Governance
Yuliya Panfil and Andrew Hagopian wrote for the New America Weekly about how to rethink the way we talk about data as property, highlighting Elinor Ostrom’s scholarship on the commons as a frame through which we can look at regulating and managing data.
Land Portal: New Technology and Open Data in the Fight Against Corruption
Yuliya Panfil was interviewed by Land Portal about the intersection of emerging technologies and transparency in the land sector. Access a write-up of her interview, as well as a recording, here.
Yuliya also participated in a Land Portal online discussion on "Open Land Data in the Fight Against Corruption." Read her contribution to the thread, arguing that land data must be accessible and intuitive to all, here.
What We're Reading
"Hurricane Dorian destruction set to cost Bahamas 'up to billions'" - The Guardian
Peter Beaumont reports on the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Dorian in the northern Bahamas. More than 13,000 houses, or roughly 45% of all homes on the two hardest hit islands, are believed to have been severely damaged or destroyed. We wonder: as weather-related displacement rises, how will countries meet the challenge?
Sharon Bernstein analyzes recent legislation in California that both limits rent hikes and provides more tenants' rights. The state believes that stronger laws can lessen its eviction and homelessness problems. After our trip to the Midwest, we feel that the lack of tenant protection laws is a major issue throughout the United States.
Matt Sandy travels to Brazil, exploring the human and climatic trends that are shrinking the Amazon. We believe that the rain forest is a global public good, yet it happens to sit largely within one county. Can the ideal of "state sovereignty" remain viable in our fight against climate change? Or should the Amazon be a global commons?
Thoughts on our work or where we're headed? Feel free to reach out to us at FPR@NewAmerica.org.
Until next month, the FPR Team.
About New America
New America is dedicated to renewing America by continuing the quest to realize our nation's highest ideals. Read the rest of our story, or see what we've been doing recently in our latest Annual Report.
The Future of Property Rights Program at New America focuses on bringing together technologists and policymakers to help solve land and property rights challenges around the world.
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