"The Horner Model: Successfully Redeveloping Public Housing"

William Wilen’s article about his work as housing litigation director of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law appears in the inaugural issue of Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy. Drawing on his experience and success in working on the Henry Horner public housing development, Wilen’s article, “The Horner Model: Successfully Redeveloping Public Housing,” recounts the history of Horner and its redevelopment from Wilen’s point of view as legal counsel.

Northwestern University describes Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy as an interdisciplinary journal featuring articles that assess the impact of law and social policy on communities. The journal covers civil liberties, civil rights, and social policy issues. The maiden issue, dated Spring 2006 and released this month, draws from a public housing symposium in which Wilen participated.

The redevelopment of the Governor Henry Horner public housing development on Chicago’s Near West Side began in 1995 as a result of a class action lawsuit that tenants filed in 1991. Wilen first represented the tenants in 1990 when he was with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago. For the last ten years, he has been the tenants’ attorney from the Shriver Center.

The Horner model offers policymakers, developers, and advocates alike a critical lesson, according to Wilen. “If demolition has been phased, if reasonable screening procedures are in place, if there is effective resident participation in the redevelopment process, if there are enforceable procedures to protect residents’ interests, and if there are adequate social services and representation for all of the residents, then public housing redevelopment will have a much better chance for success,” Wilen writes.

To read the full text of Wilen’s article, “The Horner Model: Successfully Redeveloping Public Housing,”
visit the Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy website.