Historically , low-income communities of color have long had their needs neglected and their voices excluded in efforts of development and revitalization. As a result, entire communities have been razed or displaced over time as the needs and interests of new businesses and residents have been prioritized over existing residents, people of color, and those experiencing poverty.
Community benefits agreements (CBAs) can be powerful tools for communities to promote equitable development practices that advance housing justice. CBAs are legally binding contracts between coalitions of community-based organizations and developers that shape how local development projects contribute to improving the quality of life of nearby residents. When implemented effectively, CBA processes shift power more evenly to ensure the residents most impacted by development projects have a say in the priorities for the new investments.
Such agreements can be particularly useful to ensure that large developments seeking public investment align with the needs of local communities. CBAs can be comprehensive, with commitments for hiring local residents for the project, setting wage levels, requiring certain uses of land and building space, or making contributions to certain funds for community services and programs. For housing justice, CBAs can be a tool to guard against displacement through centering community voices and interests in the planning and development of housing and committing direct investments to improve housing quality and to increase housing affordability in a neighborhood.
The design and implementation processes of CBAs have an immense impact on their effectiveness. There has been criticism of CBAs due to past CBA processes ending with unfulfilled promises to communities and lacking mechanisms for accountability. But coalitions can use best practices to integrate a number of critical elements for more effective CBAs. These include building a coalition that has deep relationships in the community and reflects the community’s diversity, having capacity to handle the needs of an entire negotiation process, ensuring a transparent process for all parties involved, creating specific terms of the CBA, identifying the responsibilities of all stakeholders, and establishing a detailed plan and system for monitoring implementation.
Next policy domain: Community Power-Building