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New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chairman Mr.John B Rhea stressed that NYC has been inspired by the citizen participation program carried out by the Basque Government during the last three years.
Chairman Rhea congratulated Basque Regional Minister of Housing Mr. Iñaki Arriola for having dared to embark on this project, having clear goals, and for his skills overcoming obstacles. He also said that NYCHA found Basque Government Housing initiative to be inspiring.
Chairman Rhea made these statements during a meeting held by a Basque delegation, led by Mr. Arriola, who was in New York to collect the UN Public Service award for the citizen participation processes. Mr. Arriola stressed that the "risks were worthwhile."
During the meeting, both public housing officials shared and compared their experiences and expressed great interest in their respective work. The NYCHA, set up in 1934, is the largest public housing authority in North America. It has 178,000 housing units and its public housing program serves a total of 639,000 New Yorkers.
Columbia University
Iñaki Arriola had earlier explained Basque Government housing policies and the UN prize-winning citizen participation program to students at Colombia University.
The event for post-graduate students was organized by the head of the Department of the Latin American Urban Planning Laboratory, PhD Clara Irazabal.