The City of Boston Housing 2030 Plan estimates that Boston will reach more than 700,000 residents by 2030, a number not seen since the 1950s. The City’s primary strategy is to plan for this growth and help create 53,000 new units of housing at a variety of income levels across the City (City of Boston, 2015).

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Within this context, the 2017 City Planning and Urban Affairs Program at Boston University has been guided by the following overarching question: Is there room for equitable housing development in Boston’s transit-rich neighborhoods? 

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It is a near consensus among the practitioners that Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is a sustainable form of urbanism. TOD aims to incorporate fundamental principles of sustainability -environmental protection by increasing ridership and reducing carbon emissions; economic development by promoting job growth and creating private real-estate opportunities for developers; and equity promotion by enhancing the quality of life and widening the variety of housing available for residents (Calthorpe, 1993; Bernick & Cervero, 1997).

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However, equity challenges are exacerbated in Transit-Rich Neighborhoods (TRNs) where higher demand drives up rents and housing prices (Pollack, Bluestone and Billingham, 2010). Pollack and his colleagues also believe that this condition creates a problem for TRNs as the core riders of transit are usually from the low-income renter category and raise the concern of equity due to the threat of gentrification and displacement.

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Therefore, as the class project involves proposing equitable housing development around Boston’s TRNs, it is imperative that this aspect is taken into consideration to ensure that the new housing developments are addressing the issue of equity.  As Scott Campbell (1996, p. 296) states, today, planners have the challenging task of balancing their plans and actions with the green city principles and economic growth objectives, while advocating for social justice. In that sense, we must resolve three clashing interests for Boston: to boost the economy, get a fair distribution of this growth, and in the meantime, keep the environment protected (Campbell, 1996, p. 297).