In a companion report released earlier this year, we outlined why land use policies and practices—which have long been contentious and high stakes—are getting more scrutiny in favor of equitable local economic development. We offered a rubric for conducting equity impact assessments of proposed projects and significant land use changes, such as rezoning, that often accompany them. This report extends that work, showing why and how land use tools should be upgraded (and integrated with other tools) to promote more inclusive and effective economic development—i.e., economic change that generates shared gains, including racial and social equity. Our goal is to encourage and inform a new generation of progress in local economies both large and small.

Across the country, there is broad-based interest in equitable local economic development as well as expanding good jobs, growing small and midsized businesses with local and diverse ownership, and making local economies and tax bases more resilient to shifts in trade policy, significant cuts in federal and state funding, and losses from extreme weather and other impacts of a changing climate. But the right steps for achieving the gains without displacing residents, making the cost of living even more unaffordable, or otherwise exacerbating inequality by race, class, or other traits are not always clear, especially for local decisionmakers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

Likewise, with a call to make it easier and cheaper to build, Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson, and other champions of “abundance” have made long-standing proposals for regulatory streamlining—and more agile government and structured community debate—much more visible and politically salient. They offer vivid examples of how slow, litigious, and expensive the local development process can be in some places, especially when social equity, environmental sustainability, and other goals are emphasized via specific rules and standards. No question, the nature of the development process affects the quality of transportation, energy, and other infrastructure, the supply and cost of housing, and more. But development reflects core values too, as well as power and influence, and signals what a community thinks a worthwhile future should include.

Read the full article about equitable local development and land use by Xavier de Souza Briggs and Tracy Hadden Loh at Brookings.