Eve Baron, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair of the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment (GCPE), and Tara Duvivier, AICP, Visiting Associate Professor in GCPE and Senior Planner at the Pratt Center for Community Development, have published “Making the Most out of Racial Equity Reports: A Progress Report on New York City’s Efforts to Measure Displacement in Land Use Decisions” for the Pratt Center for Community Development.
In 2021, following years of advocacy by the Racial Impact Study Coalition (RISC), New York City passed a landmark law to incorporate racial equity considerations into land use decisions. Up until this point, potential displacement impacts were easily sidestepped and overlooked during the land use review process, leading to rezonings that paved the way for current residents to be priced out of their communities, especially communities of color. Local Law 78 required the creation of a data tool, developed by the Department of City Planning (DCP) and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), called the Equitable Development Data Explorer (EDDE). The tool agglomerates community-level demographic information, helping residents and decision-makers understand the overall vulnerability of their communities to displacement, among other critical issues.
In addition to the data tool, the legislation also requires land use applicants to submit a Racial Equity Report (RER) as part of their application. The RERs draw data from EDDE to provide details on the proposed land use action to the surrounding community, whether a project is located in an area of high displacement risk, how the project will benefit the community, and information that can be used to determine whether a project contributes to local fair housing goals.
“Making the Most out of Racial Equity Reports,” co-authored by Duvivier and Baron, is a reflection on where things are now, a few years after the city enacted the legislation. They examined how community boards, elected officials, and other stakeholders use the reports and made recommendations for making the most of the new tools for informed decision-making, equity, and community-based planning.
To learn more about the report and download a copy, visit the Pratt Center for Community Development’s website.
