EQUITY AND INCLUSION -- Part 7

Planning, Zoning and other Land Use Policy Best Practices to Erase Errors of the Past that Perpetuated Bias and Deepened Inequality

Gilchrist cited the City Center Master Plan Update for the city of Birmingham. Ala., as a prime example of direct participation of neighborhoods that spanned a wide range of income and race. 

He said a positive outcome was Railroad Park, which created a “people’s park” in a city that had suffered a history of disparity around use and location of public space.

Gilchrist said when communities that have suffered historic inequity demand a direct hand in charting their futures, early engagement brings communities on board not simply as stakeholders, but as active partners. 

He noted this “is no longer one approach for redressing those inequities — it is the only approach.”