Growing the Beloved Community A Clarion Call to Invest in Just Growth

American cities are at a crossroads. The past three decades have seen unprecedented innovation, investment, and growth in our cities, but at a cost that we are only now beginning to comprehend. The paradox of cities is striking. They are increasingly diverse, open-minded, democratically engaged, innovative, and spur upward mobility. Yet, cities disproportionately produce the majority of greenhouse gases, are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and trap a significant number of people in generational poverty and segregated neighborhoods.

The unprecedented events of the past two years – the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating impact primarily on low-income communities, police murder of George Floyd and subsequent racial justice protests and movement building, and the mounting climate crisis, marked by increasingly severe weather incidents – have brought the challenges cities face into vivid focus. How we reinvest in our communities – from large-scale redevelopment to neighborhood revitalization efforts – needs a comprehensive reexamination, from urban planning to building and infrastructure design, finance, and implementation.