Housing as a System: A Debt-Free, Household-Level Architecture for Deep Urban Climate Transformation

This session presents the Inner-Output Model (IOM) as a flagship example of mechanism-led, household-scale innovation for deep structural transformation in cities. Developed through 18 years of continuous implementation in a low-income peri-urban household near Phayao City, Thailand, the IOM shows how housing can function as an income-generating, climate-resilient system, replacing debt and subsidies with rule-based coordination across household assets. The model stabilized income within weeks, enabled durable poverty exit, and accumulated multi-million-THB non-debt assets while reducing climate and market risk.

Evidence is presented as proof of mechanism and sequencing, enabling cities to assess transferability without scale-dependent assumptions. Addressing gaps in the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities, the session shows how household capacities—time, skills, land-use potential, and housing—deliver adaptation, mitigation co-benefits, and social resilience. Implementation-ready and fiscally neutral, the IOM offers cities a scalable pathway linking housing, livelihoods, and household balance sheets to urban climate action aligned with SDG 11 and 13.