Department of Economic and Community Development

The Department of Economic and Community Development focuses on the distribution of the costs and benefits of land use and development. Our analysis includes how economic development and urban revitalization contribute to the environmental, economic, and social viability of communities; and paths for strengthening the institutional capacity of communities to respond to current and changing conditions affecting development.

The department supports research, shares best practices on the aims and consequences of land use and land development; and provides research results, tools, and strategies to those contending with the equitable distribution of both the costs and benefits of land use and development. We provide face-to-face and virtual forums for learning skills, gaining knowledge, and vetting innovative practices, and foster networks to share research and innovative practices among practitioners, civic leaders, community organizers, educators, and policy analysts. Current themes include:

• Sustainability of Communities. Our work examines the sustainability of communities and neighborhoods threatened by a variety of forces, including gentrification, rapidly changing land prices, and environmental contamination.
• Race to the Top. In contrast to the commonly used “race to the bottom” development strategies that often seek to minimize local government spending and investment, this project looks at public investments that produce a long-term public return.
• Shared Equity Housing. In our analysis of effective strategies for permanently affordable housing, we focus on Community Land Trusts and Inclusionary Housing.
• Civic Collaboration. This work is aimed at improving the collective capacity to mutually define and shape individual and collective interests in planning, economic and community development, with a particular focus on the role of universities and related institutions in the urban context.