How can urban planners drive equitable planning practices in a changing landscape?
July 31, 2025
In a shifting data landscape, planners need more community-centered data frameworks. Tools like the STEP Framework can help
Federal guidelines and tools for urban planning are changing as federal grant programs are realigned and federal resources like the Environmental Justice (EJ) Screen, . We¡¯ve seen how integrating environmental justice and socio-economic data into equitable planning processes can improve policy outcomes. These tools help us uncover gaps in housing, jobs, transportation, and more.
The retirement of EJ Screen removes a key tool for equitable planning, but it also opens the door for local and state policymakers to step up. This shift gives them a chance to tailor solutions that better reflect their community¡¯s unique needs and characteristics.?Tools like the STEP (Strengthen, Transform, Enhance, and Preserve) Framework¡ªan iterative, flexible process designed to identify where to guide growth, reinforce what¡¯s working, and close gaps in livability¡ªcan do much of the work the EJ Screen did, and more.
As urban planners, we believe our role is to facilitate and strengthen this opportunity for local leaders and community members. We are still change managers in community-based planning even when federal guidelines and resources undergo dramatic change.
So, how can urban planners and local governments guide this opportunity?
Tools like the STEP Framework help us connect data to real people, making sure our planning puts communities first and creates fair, sustainable, and thriving places.
Over the years, we¡¯ve seen that land use changes can feel intangible or even threatening to community members, especially when they don¡¯t know the changes are coming. Through this data-rich approach, the STEP Framework does three things. First, it reduces the subjective value often placed on certain land uses over others. Second, it highlights opportunities for growth¡ªeven in the face of opposition. Third, it encourages inclusive dialogue that helps separate assumptions from facts. Together, these outcomes support more transparent and stronger decision-making.
In this article, we discuss three key questions we often hear from municipalities, and how the STEP Framework supports equitable planning solutions, setting the stage for a future built with everyone in mind.?
In Farmers Branch, Texas, planners used the STEP Framework to identify rising housing costs and a mismatch between jobs and residency, leading them to preserve industrial zones to protect higher-wage employment opportunities.
Question 1: How can we make sure our data-collection efforts represent the true diversity of our communities?
Unfair planning policies can fragment community growth¡ªsome neighborhoods get parks, transit, and investment, while others are left with crumbling roads and limited services. This widens the divide between wealthy and vulnerable communities. Fair planning and community growth require data to understand what¡¯s happening in the community. That means prioritizing and balancing all voices from the start. It also means using criteria shaped by the community and identifying trends in the data. These steps support equitable planning solutions, helping to share resources more fairly.
In Farmers Branch, Texas, city planners were concerned that land use decisions would widen the gap between wealthy and vulnerable communities. By analyzing market data from Costar and Zillow, we found the city¡¯s housing prices and rents had risen extensively over the past decade. Paired with the fact that only 18 percent of residents also work in the city, we were concerned that employees could not afford to live in Farmers Branch.
Using the STEP Framework, our planning team identified geographic areas to ¡°preserve¡± higher-wage industrial businesses and ¡°enhance¡± existing naturally occurring affordable housing. The goal was to create a place where people could both live and earn a living wage. This led to strategies that helped Farmers Branch financially support both business retention and housing affordability¡ªtwo important factors in equitable planning.
In 2024, these housing strategies led to three main initiatives:
- Minor Home Repair Program that offers up to $5,000 in income-based help for essential repairs
- Partnership with Builders of Hope to build five new affordable homes
- Joint effort with Dallas County to replace affordable aging homes through demolition and rebuilding
At the same time, the city began looking at ways to support industrial businesses. This included a possible rehabilitation program and other incentives to help businesses stay and grow in Farmers Branch.
We created a Social Vulnerability Index with six metrics: low income, minority population, linguistically isolated, high school education or less, elderly or children, and people with disabilities. We overlaid social vulnerability data on the high walk network to produce this high priority target map
Question 2: How can we distribute influence and resources more equitably?
It¡¯s a common outcome in democracies that planning decisions are influenced by groups with the most time, power, and resources. This can create an imbalance in how resources are allocated¡ªbasically going to the people who show up. As planners, we need to use data to analyze who is benefiting and who is not with a goal of creating and distributing political capital across all people¡ªusing equitable planning to redirect public funding and private capital and investment to people who need it the most.
We worked with the City of Boston to improve the sidewalks across the city. Using geospatial data from the STEP Framework, we helped tell the real story of who was benefiting¡ªand who wasn¡¯t¡ªfrom how the City allocated resources.
Boston¡¯s previous sidewalk repair system was complaint-based. Residents had to call 311 to report issues. As a result, repairs were often made to sidewalks that didn¡¯t truly need them. This opt-in system favored people who had the time and knowledge to navigate local government¡ªnot necessarily those who had no choice but to walk on unsafe sidewalks.
Through a data-driven process, we compared where sidewalk issues were reported to where sidewalks were actually deteriorating or missing. This helped improve infrastructure in the neighborhoods that needed it most¡ªnot just the ones that complained the most.
The result? The City adopted a more neutral, fact-based system for using limited funds, which directed repairs to where they were truly needed most.?
In 2018, Boston completely replaced sidewalks in three of the target zones identified by StreetCaster. In 2019, the StreetCaster program justified a 20% increase in sidewalk repair funding and the replacement of 3.5 miles of sidewalks in socially vulnerable areas. Boston has invested $3-5M annually in targeted areas since.
Question 3: How can we blend powerful personal stories with hard data to shape policies?
Community engagement often highlights personal stories. While these stories are powerful, they alone aren¡¯t enough to drive fair investment in all communities.?To shape equitable planning solutions and policies, we need to combine?individual experiences and personal stories with data. Using charts, graphs, and infographics to visually represent the data alongside the personal stories creates an evidence-based and cohesive narrative. This allows for personal stories to speak through the data and guide decisions about policy, funding, and community planning.
In Minneapolis, we used the STEP Framework while working on the . Our goal was to support more equitable planning. During engagement meetings, we asked people to point out where they lived on a historic redlining map of the city. This sparked deeper conversations about how past government decisions still affect who owns homes and where investments go¡ªoften based on race.
Many participants shared personal stories about how their families faced housing, business, and neighborhood discrimination. We combined these lived experiences with data on where racially restrictive housing covenants once existed and where pollution sources like highways and factories are located.
In 2019, the Minneapolis 2040 plan led to changes to the City¡¯s zoning rules. The code was changed to allow more types of housing in neighborhoods that had only allowed single-family homes before. This move ended single-family zoning across the city. The plan also implemented upzoning along transit corridors, removed rules that required a minimum number of parking spaces, and set height requirements for buildings in urban areas. Between 2017 and 2022, the . During that time, rent prices began to level off, and property values went up slightly.
Tools that help us understand a community¡¯s story lead to better planning solutions
New federal guidelines are pushing us to think differently. To achieve equitable planning, we must embrace both innovation and local action. Tools like the STEP Framework help us connect data to real people, making sure our planning puts communities first and creates fair, sustainable, and thriving places.
By uncovering the facts and stories of people from different backgrounds, we can better target funding and actions where they matter most. We will continue to be passionate about telling the history and stories of people that have rarely been told in city planning practices. Let¡¯s use this moment to drive equitable planning solutions that truly reflect and serve everyone in our communities.
