Most of the cities around the globe have suffered from serious housing affordability problems, and the situation becomes worse as economic inequality and social disparity widen. Based on this concern, this paper compares the affordable housing policy of two representative global cities: New York City and Seoul. As the first comprehensive cross-sectional study on the two cities, this paper primarily encapsulates financial tools for the enhancement of housing affordability. Granted their contrasting market contexts and policy strategies, this paper tries to derive some important implications and policy recommendations for each city from the intensive comparisons of demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, housing policy history, and contemporary representative housing support programs including LIHTC and public housing. As a comparative methodology, the author utilizes his self-developed policy comparison model, coined as the SMART model, whose five major components are Subject class, target Market, policy Approach, Regulation intensity, and policy Tools.

This paper portrays that New York’s affordable housing finance policy primarily puts weight on indirect subsidy including tax incentives and public-private partnerships as a conduit while specifically targeting low-income households via mixed-income developments. Instead, Seoul more centers on the broader range of classes such as young people and newlyweds via direct support programs including public housing and subsidized loans for rent, mainly utilizing $163.3 billion National Housing & Urban Fund. In conclusion, this paper makes some policy suggestions for each city to fill the gap of housing inequality through the lens of urban planners, policymakers, and financial experts.