Metropolitan planning in a vacuum: Lessons on regional equity planning from Baltimore’s Sustainable Communities Initiative

ABSTRACT

The main policy initiative of the Obama administration’s first-term urban policy agenda was the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which issued Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants (SCRPGs) to regions across the country. As participant activist scholars in the SCRPG planning process in Baltimore, Maryland, we present our analysis of 4 aspects of regional equity planning: community engagement, regional collaboration, regional housing policy, and the use of opportunity and equity-related data. We find that the process enabled adoption of a unique outreach strategy, engaged regional stakeholders in equity-focused conversations, and enabled comprehensive analysis of equity data in a plan focused on improving regional equity. However, despite some progress on regional housing issues, plan implementation has largely not occurred due to a lack of commitment to and coordination around implementation. The Baltimore experience suggests that in the absence of such commitments at the regional level or further federal requirements and funding for implementation, large federal grants have only limited success in pushing regional equity planning forward.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the residents of Baltimore who participated in various phases of the RPSD planning process. We also thank our interviewees, many of whom we continue to work with on these issues. Last, this project would not have been possible without research assistance from Brandon Bedford. We alone are responsible for any errors.

Notes

1. NCSG has a mission of producing high-quality research and direct engagement in community development and the policymaking process. Staff serve on state committees, head coalitions to promote equitable development in the region, and are involved in various campus–community projects in nearby low-income neighborhoods.

2. BMC leadership declined to be interviewed for this report.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Enterprise Community Partners.

Notes on contributors

Nicholas Finio

Nicholas Finio is a PhD Candidate in the Urban and Regional Planning PhD Program at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Faculty Research Assistant at the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education (NCSG). His research is focused on the measurement, causes, and consequences of neighborhood change and the links between social inequality and land use policy and regional planning.

Willow Lung-Amam

Willow Lung-Amam is an Assistant Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Director of Community Development at NCSG. Her scholarship focuses on urban inequality, particularly in neighborhoods undergoing rapid social and economic change. She has written extensively on immigrant suburbanization, urban redevelopment, suburban poverty, and neighborhood opportunity.

Gerrit-Jan Knaap

Gerrit-Jan Knaap is Director of the NCSG and a Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. His research interests include the economics and politics of land use planning, the efficacy of economic development instruments, and the impacts of environmental policy.

Casey Dawkins

Casey Dawkins is a Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Research Associate with the National Center for Smart Growth. His current research focuses on U.S. housing policy; metropolitan housing market dynamics; the causes, consequences, and measurement of residential segregation; and the link between land use regulations and housing affordability.

Elijah Knaap

Elijah Knaap is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California, Riverside. His research focuses on urban inequality, neighborhood effects, neighborhood change, housing markets, and residential mobility.