Do Land Banks Mean Progress Toward Socially Equitable Urban Development? Observations from New York State

Abstract

Local governments view land banks as an improvement to the municipal management of foreclosed property. Critics contend that land banks wield too much power, concentrate demolitions in poor and majority neighborhoods of color, and have unfortunate parallels to the flawed, top-down policies of mid-twentieth century urban renewal. Examining land banks through a lens of social equity and reparative planning, this research asks “To what extent do land banks in New York state work toward equitable urban development?” Interviews with land-bank leaders, property acquisition and disposition data, and spatial analysis of neighborhood dynamics were triangulated in a comparative case study of three land banks in New York state communities. Although land-bank leaders show an awareness and desire to address issues of equity, the authors observed that more community engagement, expanding partnerships with nonprofits, and shifts in approaches to demolition could provide more equitable outcomes in disinvested communities. Some land banks had clearly adopted policies aimed to acknowledge and address the role land banks can and should play in addressing historical inequities. Whether that commitment to equity will remain strong into the future remains an open question. In a COVID-19 context, land banks were operating with significantly reduced inventories and resources. More resources could be provided to land banks from Federal and State sources to support equity initiatives. But those resources should be provided under the condition that land banks become vehicles for repairing past White supremacist and structurally racist policies that created the uneven landscapes that land banks were created to address.