“New Green Spaces Don’t Have to Lead to Gentrification” – Franklin Park Action Plan Featured
Following related discussions at the 2021 Conference on Landscape Architecture, The Dirt’s Jared Green published a wonderful overview of the relationships between park investment, community engagement and long-term wealth generation. In his words:
“Decades of redlining and urban renewal, rooted in racist planning and design policies, created the conditions for gentrification to occur in American cities. But the primary concern with gentrification today is displacement, which primarily impacts marginalized communities shaped by a history of being denied access to mortgages…. But investment in green space doesn’t necessarily need to lead to displacement. If these projects are led by marginalized communities, they can be embraced.”
We are thrilled to see our work on the Franklin Park Action Plan – an effort spearheaded the Boston Parks and Recreation Department and led by Reed Hilderbrand in collaboration with MASS Design Group and a broad team of ecology, engineering, economic, and engagement experts – discussed among other model projects tackling this issue.