The current research shifts from the tradition of researcher-generated and directed community study and explores a new model for data collection based on citizen-directed participation and restorative economies. This is important because the scholarship of urban planning is often separated from the practice, in which scholars undertake the bulk of the academic research and professional planners work in the field, engaging with the community and creating and implementing plans around local issues and opportunities. While urban planning trends support diverse, equitable, and inclusive engagement in visioning and shaping local development, few operationalized examples exist for citizen-led scholarship with local community application. The work outlined herein explicitly partners with local residents to collect data on both community and academic interests, and it also promotes a citizen sense of agency. Community leaders worked with the local public university to design and implement a study to solicit park use ideas and visions among three groups: youth; adults; and returning citizens. Results identify an overall theme of a lack of engagement with the community, relative to other local parks, and they also highlight four common areas of thought between the three populations—concerns about safety among park users, functional use of park space, demand for widespread park access, and desire for natural environment conservation. This work represents a viable local engagement approach including demonstrated investment in a local community and resultant increased trust; also, this work contributes valuable new knowledge about local history and the use of a community resource to inform land use planning and policy around community sustainability.

Cities are increasingly employing green infrastructure, defined as a network of multi-functional open spaces within cities and between cities – including green corridors, green streets, formal parks and street trees – to promote resilience and provide clean air, flood protection and erosion control. Yet there is a growing link between these efforts and rising property values and – in some cities, including Washington, DC – displacement. This history of greening and subsequent displacement can hinder successful green-infrastructure implementation. The geographical areas with the greatest need for these amenities and other resilience strategies are often those with high concentrations of low-income, racial minorities who have traditionally been disenfranchised from local planning and development processes due to a lack of knowledge and limited access, as well as institutional racism. In these areas, the perception of green infrastructure is that of something planned by others, for others, with little direct benefit to the community. This exploratory research, which examines lived experiences, builds upon the quantitative documentation of gentrification and demographic shifts in Washington, DC. Through a series of listening sessions, the study explores residents’ experiences of green infrastructure, gentrification and civic engagement in their community. The study uncovers ways in which policymakers and planners can increase support for and the success of green-infrastructure implementation by amplifying the voices of stakeholders, including communities with vulnerable populations, in the planning process.

This study critically examines existing frameworks aimed at establishing restorative practices in community development by conducting a comparative analysis of a meso-level development framework called the Five Pillars of Development and a micro-level framework implemented by a grassroots initiative. Both frameworks were implemented in Washington, DC, and both seek to address the enduring negative externalities disinvested communities face and suggest the need for restorative practices in community development. Restorative development practices trace their roots to the field of restorative economics, which is a subfield of sustainable development. It argues that sustainability must also address the sins of the past and restore systems and systems components that have been negatively impacted by past development practices. This study aims to discern the adaptability of the more broadly applicable meso-level Five Pillars framework in capturing nuanced micro-level frameworks like the one devised by the grassroots organization in Ward 8. By identifying potential gaps, this study proposes strategies to enhance the utility of the more transferable meso-level framework, particularly for communities lacking resources to formulate their own micro-level framework. This study, therefore, contributes valuable insights and recommendations for bridging potential disparities between the meso-level and micro-level frameworks, as demonstrated in the Ward 8 case. The overarching objective is to enrich the community development field by presenting a restorative framework that refines existing meso-level approaches and facilitates opportunities for micro-level applications.