A San Diego initiative designed to get homes approved and under construction faster will now serve as a model for cities across the country.

Bloomberg Philanthropies has selected San Diego as one of three anchor cities for a new national housing initiative that will help up to 30 U.S. cities adopt locally proven approaches to increasing housing production. San Diego’s model focuses on speeding up and modernizing the permitting process, while housing strategies developed in Austin and Atlanta will also be replicated.

For San Diego, the recognition builds on years of work to reduce the amount of time it takes to move housing projects through the City’s review process.

Mayor Todd Gloria launched the City’s “Affordable Housing Permit Now” program through an executive order, which requires 100% affordable housing projects to be reviewed within 30 days. The City has since expanded this kind of expedited permitting to additional housing projects.

Today, those projects are being reviewed in an average of approximately nine days, and the program has helped advance projects representing more than 7,200 homes.

“San Diego has shown how we can remove barriers and move with urgency to get more homes built,” said Mayor Todd Gloria. “By cutting permitting times from months to days, we are reducing uncertainty, lowering costs and helping more affordable housing reach San Diegans sooner. I’m proud that what is working here will now help other cities deliver more housing for their residents.”

Bloomberg Philanthropies identified faster and more efficient permitting as one of the key tools local governments can use to address housing shortages, particularly because cities directly control how development applications are reviewed and approved.

Through the initiative, participating cities will receive funding and technical assistance to adapt proven housing approaches to their own communities. Selected cities will receive between $450,000 and $750,000 to support work such as implementing new permitting technology, developing permit-ready housing plans or building dedicated housing teams.

Cities adopting San Diego’s approach will receive support to modernize their permitting systems and reduce the amount of time it takes to review housing applications.

The first group of participating cities includes Albuquerque, Alexandria, Charleston, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Columbia, Durham, Louisville, Miami, Nashville, Omaha, Pittsburgh, Providence and San Jose.

San Diego will also participate in a national network where city leaders can share lessons about what is working, troubleshoot implementation challenges and help other local governments adapt successful approaches.

Bloomberg Philanthropies expects participating cities to demonstrate measurable progress within two years, including significantly reducing approval timelines and increasing the number of homes moving through development pipelines.

The national recognition comes as San Diego continues pursuing a broader strategy to increase housing production and lower costs. In addition to faster permitting, the City has advanced initiatives that provide financing for affordable housing, encourage more homes near transit and make City-owned property available for housing development.

By sharing San Diego’s permitting model nationally, the City will help other communities build on lessons learned here while continuing to improve how quickly housing moves from proposal to construction at home.

You can read the full Bloomberg article on the Bloomberg website.