"In the developing world, decent, affordable housing and productivity are inextricably linked." Hasan Alemdar of the Equality & Opportunity Foundation visited headquarters last month for an Open Mic outlying this relationship, and how a $500 house can address it.

Hasan makes clear that simply designing a housing unit will not solve deeply-rooted economic problems. He looks to the world's largest urban slums, like those of Dhaka and Mumbai. Here, twenty million people "live in a geographic area that is impossible to contain within an urban setting."

"Not only is this a housing problem, but it's a social problem," Hasan argues. Families need to build assets and minimize vulnerability, and a housing unit needs to simultaneously address healthcare, environment and economic issues to do that. Such an attack requires a holistic effort that the Equality & Opportunity Foundation has already begun developing.

Hasan outlined the conditions and founding principles of the project during his presentation, and will return to HQ to engage our expertise charretting some solutions.