Brief Place-Conscious Strategies to Restore Opportunity and Overcome Injustice
Subtitle
Five Guiding Principles Illustrated by Building Healthy Communities
Margery Austin Turner, Mica O'Brien
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America has built starkly unequal communities, systematically excluding Black people and other people of color from places rich with resources and opportunities, while depriving the communities in which they live from essential investments, services, and supports. Place-conscious initiatives—which put people at the center of strategies to restore disinvested communities—can help tackle these persistent challenges. In this brief, we pose five guiding principles for place-conscious strategies: (1) confront racism, (2) build resident voice and power, (3) work both horizontally and vertically, (4) plan for residential mobility, and (5) commit to accountability and continuous learning. We draw upon experience from The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative to illustrate these principles, demonstrate what place-conscious work looks like in practice, and acknowledge inherent challenges and tensions.

Research Areas Health and health care Wealth and financial well-being Nonprofits and philanthropy Neighborhoods, cities, and metros Children and youth Race and equity
Tags Foundations and philanthropy Public health Racial segregation Mobility Schooling Inequality and mobility Social determinants of health Neighborhoods and youth development Racial equity in education Racial inequities in health Racial inequities in neighborhoods and community development Structural racism in civil society and civic participation
Policy Centers Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center