Many of the most important issues of social and economic equity in the coming decade will concern the ways that neighborhoods, cities, and regions are built, and the financing of construction, rehabilitation, and operating costs. Equitable public investment requires finding ways to create healthy communities and regions by reforming state and local fiscal policies and guiding public investments.
There is great potential for shaping public investments to generate community benefits including employment, small business opportunities, transportation access and quality, affordable housing, as well as socially just allocations of environmental costs and resources. Yet most of these areas of policy have traditionally been very narrowly defined and closely held, and have not been inclusive of the perspectives of low income communities and communities of color. The PolicyLink focus area of equitable public investment is designed to open up these domains of public policy.
State, regional, and local public policies greatly influence regional development patterns. In many states, central cities and aging suburbs must confront high service costs, unmet educational and employment needs, aging water and sewer systems, and deteriorating housing stock. Inadequate fiscal capacity and investments, coupled with inequitable tax policies, exacerbate these problems. Strategic public investments, along with reforms in land use regulation, can substantially reduce disparities in services and in social and economic conditions.
PolicyLink continues to research infrastructure issues and strenghten its engagement in major projects concerning equitable public investment:
Check out our research and publications section to download our equitable investment publications.