The City of Albuquerque and MASS Design Group hosted the Mayor’s Institute on City Design (MICD) Special Session: Bridging Boundaries over the last four days. This session was dedicated to supporting Native American constituents across urban and rural communities. During the event, mayors and tribal leaders gathered to discuss ways to bridge the gap between sovereign nations and municipal jurisdictions to better serve Native constituents. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller presented on housing solutions for the city’s Native American residents.
“When it comes to housing in a diverse city like Albuquerque, we know it’s never a case of one size fits all,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “We’ve heard the voices of our local Native American community and are committed to finding solutions for affordable housing with access to business and cultural centers.”
The MICD is a leadership initiative that helps mayors become chief urban designers of their cities through collaborative sessions, programs, and resources. During this special session, mayors including Mayor Tim Keller, Mayor Becky Daggett from Flagstaff, Mayor Travis Stovall from Gresham, and Mayor David Holt from Oklahoma City, along with Bobby Gonzalez, Caddo Nation Chairman and Octavio Escobedo III, Chairman of the Tejon Indian Tribe worked with design experts to find solutions to housing challenges in their communities.
“Understanding the needs of the Native American residents in ABQ is the first step towards creating a solution to the housing crisis,” said Sonya Lara, Director of OEI. “Our Office of Native American Affairs has been working towards understanding those needs through a first-of-its-kind Native American Housing survey.”
MASS Design Group, which hosted this special session, is an organization comprising over 200 architects, landscape architects, engineers, builders, furniture designers, makers, writers, filmmakers, and researchers representing 20 countries around the world. The organization believes that architecture plays a critical role in supporting communities to confront history, shape new narratives, and project new possibilities for the future.
“The City of Albuquerque is again showing its leadership in working to honor and address Tribal Sovereignty and Self-Determination,” said Terry Sloan, Intergovernmental Tribal Liaison. “This time has provided a welcoming space and forum to hear from and obtain collaborative engagement from our Tribal Nations and constituency to close the wealth gap and respect and honor the human right to housing.”