Planning

When Baltimore got funding for a round of school renovations, the state directed it to design schools that would also advance neighborhood revitalization—and it learned some lessons about why that’s not always so simple.

Who gets to benefit from neighborhood revitalization efforts, and at what cost?

History often feels like a depressing account of the worst things people can do to each other. But a recent book contains reminders that nothing is inevitable, and sometimes people have done better than we’re doing now—even in terms of housing and social equity.

In several western states, state-owned trust lands were created to support schools and other community benefits.

Traumatic events, and the ongoing traumas of vacancy and disinvestment, can be strongly associated with the places where they occurred. In Cleveland, several organizations are bringing new function and meaning to traumatized spaces.

Laws meant to restrict professors from discussing how race has shaped public policy could target the factual discussion of housing policy and its history—but professors say they don’t intend to go along.

An appreciation of the life and work of Chester Hartman, a radical planner in the service of a vision of social justice.

Amid widespread rent increases, directing public land to affordable housing could allow people to stay in their communities, as well as reduce commutes and employee turnover.

Holmdel, New Jersey, moved its affordable housing to flood-prone land, raising a question about planners’ ethical obligations to speak up against such moves.

A medical complex in Mississippi draws on local artists to go beyond doctors’ offices and become a gathering place for those living nearby.

Are the neighborhoods impacted by large development getting the jobs and affordable housing they were promised? Shelterforce looks back at several cities where community benefits agreements were won to find out where those agreements now stand.

How did recent equitable development projects in Baton Rouge, Dallas, and South Florida fare?