The growth of cities leads to a rapid increase in housing prices. As a result ­ the purchase and rental of housing in the largest metropolitan areas often cannot be afforded by local residents or visitors. To overcome the housing market crisis cities use different urban planning schemes to facilitate the construction of affordable housing. For example, cities in the UK offer developers 'bonus' areas or a number of floors in exchange for building affordable housing. In turn, San Francisco’s legislation mixes office and residential construction: for every 100 square meters of office space, the developer is obliged to build a certain number of units of affordable housing. Toronto also introduces a tax on unused housing, thereby encouraging owners to rent it or put it up for sale.

• What schemes do cities use to resolve housing imbalances?
• What determines the success of using certain tools?
• What programmes and initiatives from international practice could be relevant in Russia?