Equitable Land Use Leadership: Lessons Learned and Looking Forward
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By The Center for Public Policy at VCU’s Wilder School
September 22, 2020
For nearly forty years, Virginia’s Land Use Education Program (LUEP) has informed the discretion of Virginians as they make decisions regarding the use of Virginia’s land. Through workshops and trainings, LUEP prepares planning commissioners, board of zoning appeals members, professional planners, students and interested citizens to make decisions related to land use that are legal, fact-based, community-oriented and equitable. Starting at Virginia Tech in the 1980s, the program came to the VCU Wilder School’s Center for Public Policy in 2018.
Now in our third year of running LUEP, we’ve enjoyed getting to know participants and learning more about the successes and challenges they face as they make decisions related to land use. We’ve seen trends and common experiences that students have shared with us and with each other; we’ve also seen how networking and information sharing can help other planners and policymakers as they face similar challenges. Some highlights of these trends and experiences are discussed below, with a primary focus on promoting equity during the planning process.
Centering Marginalized Voices
In the past, land was controlled by a select few. Upper class white men owned and controlled the land, while women, people of color, members of lower classes, etc. could not. While this has now changed, there are still barriers that many face when it comes to owning land and deciding how land in their community should be used. In particular, people of color have been negatively impacted due to racism, segregation, and redlining (an exclusionary zoning practice that restricts Black residents from accessing home loans and affordable housing). Because of this, it is crucial for those making decisions to center the voices of those who have been previously marginalized.
How can that be done? To start, land use leaders must take initiative to seek out the opinions of those not being heard. Examples are discussed in the following section.
Providing Opportunities for Meaningful Community Engagement
The need for community collaboration isn’t a new idea, though it can be challenging to actually achieve. Providing opportunities for community members to provide input, ask questions and share opinions allows those making decisions to better understand the preferences of their constituents and the impacts of the policies they create. Many localities require planning commissions, boards of zoning appeals and similar entities to solicit public opinion, provide the public with notice before actions are taken, and make their meetings open to the public. However, LUEP participants often discuss challenges they face when seeking opinions; primarily, that not many constituents will actually share their thoughts.
Why is this? Equity and access issues often play a role. For example, many will solicit public opinion through social media surveys. What about those with limited or no internet access? The public may be invited to share their opinions at a meeting, but are those meetings held in a location that is easily accessible by public transportation? Are the meetings held at various times so that those without a typical 9 to 5 schedule, or those who have children to care for, are still able to attend?
Once the actual issues have been identified, some solutions are relatively simple: hold meetings at different times, send mailed requests for community input rather than relying on only the internet, choose locations that can be accessed without a car, etc.
Other solutions require some level of creativity, but can bring about real benefits. Some LUEP students noticed that members of their community weren’t necessarily comfortable expressing their opinions on a new land use plan in front of a group. Therefore, they weren’t attending meetings where the public could speak to planning commission members. To address this, they hosted an event at a local high school where different plans were displayed at tables around the gym. Members of the public could view these plans at their own pace, ask questions and leave written feedback. In that low-pressure environment, they found that more people were willing to discuss their thoughts. They also found that having the event at a high school was easier for some to access than at the government location where meetings were typically held.
Considering Who is at the Table
We must also bring previously marginalized individuals into leadership positions. Participants in LUEP programs often discussed the desire for creating more equitable conversations with the community, but remained unsure of how to actually achieve that. A possible starting point is to consider who is actually making the decisions. In Virginia, the majority of planning commissioners and board of zoning appeals members are white. They are also mostly male, though the ratio of women to men is greater than the ratio of people of color to white people. If real change is to be made, we have to ensure a greater diversity of voices in leadership positions. When that occurs, and when previously marginalized voices are not only heard but are given the lead, we may begin to have a more equitable use of land in our communities.
Author: The Wilder School’s Center for Public Policy advances research and training that informs public policy and decision-making to improve our communities. Drawing on the wide-ranging expertise of Wilder School faculty, we provide services including leadership development and training, economic and policy impact analysis, survey insights and program evaluation to clients in governments, nonprofits, businesses, and the public, across Virginia and beyond. Twitter: @CPPatVCU
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Equitable Land Use Leadership: Lessons Learned and Looking Forward
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By The Center for Public Policy at VCU’s Wilder School
September 22, 2020
For nearly forty years, Virginia’s Land Use Education Program (LUEP) has informed the discretion of Virginians as they make decisions regarding the use of Virginia’s land. Through workshops and trainings, LUEP prepares planning commissioners, board of zoning appeals members, professional planners, students and interested citizens to make decisions related to land use that are legal, fact-based, community-oriented and equitable. Starting at Virginia Tech in the 1980s, the program came to the VCU Wilder School’s Center for Public Policy in 2018.
Now in our third year of running LUEP, we’ve enjoyed getting to know participants and learning more about the successes and challenges they face as they make decisions related to land use. We’ve seen trends and common experiences that students have shared with us and with each other; we’ve also seen how networking and information sharing can help other planners and policymakers as they face similar challenges. Some highlights of these trends and experiences are discussed below, with a primary focus on promoting equity during the planning process.
Centering Marginalized Voices
In the past, land was controlled by a select few. Upper class white men owned and controlled the land, while women, people of color, members of lower classes, etc. could not. While this has now changed, there are still barriers that many face when it comes to owning land and deciding how land in their community should be used. In particular, people of color have been negatively impacted due to racism, segregation, and redlining (an exclusionary zoning practice that restricts Black residents from accessing home loans and affordable housing). Because of this, it is crucial for those making decisions to center the voices of those who have been previously marginalized.
How can that be done? To start, land use leaders must take initiative to seek out the opinions of those not being heard. Examples are discussed in the following section.
Providing Opportunities for Meaningful Community Engagement
The need for community collaboration isn’t a new idea, though it can be challenging to actually achieve. Providing opportunities for community members to provide input, ask questions and share opinions allows those making decisions to better understand the preferences of their constituents and the impacts of the policies they create. Many localities require planning commissions, boards of zoning appeals and similar entities to solicit public opinion, provide the public with notice before actions are taken, and make their meetings open to the public. However, LUEP participants often discuss challenges they face when seeking opinions; primarily, that not many constituents will actually share their thoughts.
Why is this? Equity and access issues often play a role. For example, many will solicit public opinion through social media surveys. What about those with limited or no internet access? The public may be invited to share their opinions at a meeting, but are those meetings held in a location that is easily accessible by public transportation? Are the meetings held at various times so that those without a typical 9 to 5 schedule, or those who have children to care for, are still able to attend?
Once the actual issues have been identified, some solutions are relatively simple: hold meetings at different times, send mailed requests for community input rather than relying on only the internet, choose locations that can be accessed without a car, etc.
Other solutions require some level of creativity, but can bring about real benefits. Some LUEP students noticed that members of their community weren’t necessarily comfortable expressing their opinions on a new land use plan in front of a group. Therefore, they weren’t attending meetings where the public could speak to planning commission members. To address this, they hosted an event at a local high school where different plans were displayed at tables around the gym. Members of the public could view these plans at their own pace, ask questions and leave written feedback. In that low-pressure environment, they found that more people were willing to discuss their thoughts. They also found that having the event at a high school was easier for some to access than at the government location where meetings were typically held.
Considering Who is at the Table
We must also bring previously marginalized individuals into leadership positions. Participants in LUEP programs often discussed the desire for creating more equitable conversations with the community, but remained unsure of how to actually achieve that. A possible starting point is to consider who is actually making the decisions. In Virginia, the majority of planning commissioners and board of zoning appeals members are white. They are also mostly male, though the ratio of women to men is greater than the ratio of people of color to white people. If real change is to be made, we have to ensure a greater diversity of voices in leadership positions. When that occurs, and when previously marginalized voices are not only heard but are given the lead, we may begin to have a more equitable use of land in our communities.
Author: The Wilder School’s Center for Public Policy advances research and training that informs public policy and decision-making to improve our communities. Drawing on the wide-ranging expertise of Wilder School faculty, we provide services including leadership development and training, economic and policy impact analysis, survey insights and program evaluation to clients in governments, nonprofits, businesses, and the public, across Virginia and beyond. Twitter: @CPPatVCU
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