Build, flood, rebuild: flood insurance's expensive cycle

Detroit offers a model for providing residents with no-interest loans to perform upkeep on their houses, thereby working to stimulate the local construction economy and improve quality of life.

An ambitious plan for the 69-acre Regent Park neighborhood is disrupting entrenched notions of class, race and religion, at a time when concerns over income inequality and immigration are growing.

Corruption in Mexico is ingrained in all systems and interactions. President Vicente Fox and his administration are trying to change this. Their mentality is that for corruption to truly be fought the government needs to actively make change and implement rules to counteract it, and some of Fox's changes are now beginning to see improvements.

Ohio has more than 50 land banks, which are best known for reducing blight by demolishing old buildings, but several land banks are trying creative ways to enhance their land on a budget. Successful projects include a program for locals to redevelop old lots, a pop-up art gallery in a condemned house, and urban forests to make communities more welcoming. The collective effect of these projects is to revitalize cities all across the state.

Landed will pay for half a teacher's down payment on a home in exchange for a quarter of profits when the house is sold down the line. The San Francisco-based startup has recently arrived in Bellevue, where the median home price is hovering around $1 million.

A racially integrated middle-income housing unit in the Bronx serves both as an inspiration and an enigma in the New York City housing market. Co-op City, which just celebrated its 50th birthday, accepts tenants of all income brackets and ethnicities, serving as a model in an otherwise quickly gentrifying neighborhood.

Arkansas’ judicial oversight agency has the staffing and persistence to hold bad judges accountable in ways that counter a nationwide pattern of weak enforcement and judicial impunity. The Arkansas Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission has a staff that’s almost three times as large as the national per-judge average and it publicly disciplines judges more than twice the national rate. It is one of the few such agencies that will investigate anonymous complaints, frequently a barrier to starting judicial misconduct probes.

A growing number of governments, companies, and nonprofit organizations are working together with new technology and data to identify fishing vessels that are breaking laws and engaging in human rights violations. Using satellite imagery and tracking signals, for example, a philanthropic company and a nonprofit worked with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to help the Ghanian navy arrest four vessels for illegal fishing practices. Technology by itself won’t stop forced labor and unregulated ships, but it can be helpful for cash-strapped governments looking to increase oversight of their fisheries.

With support from Accountability Lab and Transparency International, seven countries have held “Integrity Idol” contests to recognize their most honest and helpful public servants. Winners have become people others want to emulate. The contests help fight corruption and inspire civic participation.

Rwanda has a unique program that allows farmers to insure their livestock, such as dairy cows, productive pork, and chickens, against Rift Valley Fever. When animals die of the disease, farmers are compensated at a rate of 5.5 percent of the animal's value.