How We’re Rethinking Equity and Engagement in Worcester

Last month, we discussed our role as social justice and equity consultants in neighborhood planning and development. For PLAN: Newmarket, the historical realities of community engagement, policy analysis, and municipal planning processes in Boston drove our firm to rethink what was possible both internally and externally for neighborhood level planning. 

But what about citywide planning? How can municipalities and their planning teams incorporate equitable engagement and policy priorities for larger scale master planning projects? What does it mean to approach long-term citywide planning projects with the upfront acknowledgment that institutional racism and economic segregation have produced unjust policy outcomes for cities across Massachusetts?

Our firm is engaged on just these questions with the city of Worcester on their current master planning process. The story of Worcester is one not too different from Boston or the U.S. as a whole, with vast racial and socioeconomic disparities rooted in past urban renewal and redlining and ongoing structural racism. Part of our job as equity consultants is to lay bare the historical context and current realities of the American city. It may sound simple, but rebuilding trust requires acknowledging past and current harm.

One example of our early work in Worcester  is our analysis of the current racial demographics of Worcester’s land-use zones. This data shows that zones in Worcester where multi-family zoning is allowed as-of-right have substantially more residents of color than the city as a whole. Conversely, zones with large minimum lot sizes and single-family restrictions have substantially fewer residents of color, mirroring patterns in exclusionary zoning across Massachusetts and the U.S.

In short, you get the city for which you plan. And in Worcester, restrictive zoning mirrors racial and socioeconomic disparities across its neighborhoods.

Analysis such as this will shape both the engagement and policy analysis prioritization of Worcester’s master planning process. This process must be grounded in historical and neighborhood context, including past planning processes and the successes and shortcomings of ongoing equity work within city government. 

We also knew for a city-wide planning process, it wouldn’t be enough to simply highlight these disparities or recommend potential community engagement techniques. Worcester Now | Worcester Next needed an on-the-ground voice that could connect with hard-to-reach residents and incorporate their voice into the work of the planning team. 

That’s why our firm led a hiring process for a community-rooted organizer to work with both the planning team and the city to bring this vision for equitable engagement and analysis to life. 

This community organizer is leading discussions with justice movement organizations, community leaders, and residents that have too often been ignored or harmed in past municipal planning processes. Rebuilding trust with the community begins with listening, and investing in on-the-ground organizing for municipal planning is an obvious, yet often overlooked tactic to shifting power in the halls of local government.

We’re encouraged that local governments across the Commonwealth are finally rethinking the ways in which long-term planning and reflection can produce equitable community outcomes. As we’ve said, you get the city for which you plan. And we’re proud to plan for a future that will not accept the present as a given.