The Legacy of Resident Management and Ownership in Contemporary Housing Justice Activism

Following the implementation of resident management models in public housing authorities in the 1990s, there have been calls from the housing justice community for stronger enforcement of tenant management, and options for tenant ownership in contemporary housing struggles. In the shifting political economy that prioritizes a smaller government amidst growing wage inequality and housing unaffordability, residential control of permanently affordable structures in the city have become a commonplace claim. This paper examines the limits of tenant management and ownership models, and opportunities for change, using the case of the Philadelphia Community Land Trust. The case study challenges traditional notions of ownership, that decouples the need for safe and affordable shelter from the extractive logics of property ownership in the city. By shifting the terms of ownership and property, the land trust model provides new pathways for tenant governance and control, but also imposes new limits over property acquisition, maintenance, and management.