Before the pandemic, developers relied on in-person community meetings to share their visions for new projects and to build support from the surrounding neighborhood. The term “community” is misleading, however: Typical attendees represented only a small minority of area residents. According to data from Boston University, 95% of participants in public meetings are whiter, richer and older than their neighbors.
This statistic is hardly surprising. The timing, location and duration of in-person meetings discourage participation from residents with job conflicts, childcare obligations or a lack of transportation. A recent survey we conducted showed that most people (58%) support real estate development, but they don’t attend meetings. Instead, these meetings are typically attended by a small group of regulars who showed up to express attitudes of “not-in-my-backyard” — loudly. The result? The entitlement process resembles a battle rather than the democratic process it was intended to be.
That’s why the adoption of virtual meetings, necessitated by the pandemic, seemed like a win-win. More people could attend virtually, and the presenters had more control over the meeting (hello, mute button). As an urban planner, I too welcome this newly available approach but caution developers and fellow planners alike that virtual meetings are only a starting point. To make community engagement truly equitable and meaningful, developers should put more focus on asynchronous opportunities for engagement — online and offline.
Thinking Beyond Virtual Meetings
Meeting attendance rose during the pandemic, thanks to remote access, but not to the extent that the real estate community anticipated. Most significantly, a new analysis from Boston University found that virtual meetings did not change the demographics of meeting participants. Less than- stellar levels of attendance, plus this lack of active participation from a more representative group, stem from three key obstacles:
1. Engagement starts too late. All too often, community members find out about project plans too late in the process for their feedback to be incorporated. People should not learn about a project for the first time during a public meeting. The relationship between developers and the community is like any other relationship — trust matters, and that trust takes time to establish.1. Engagement starts too late. All too often, community members find out about project plans too late in the process for their feedback to be incorporated. People should not learn about a project for the first time during a public meeting. The relationship between developers and the community is like any other relationship — trust matters, and that trust takes time to establish.
2. Two barriers block participation: language and technology. Most meetings are conducted solely in English, whether they’re in-person or remote. Yet more than 20% of U.S. residents speak a language other than English at home. The percentage rises to nearly 50% in the country’s five largest cities. In addition, just because online tools are available to supplement offline engagement, it doesn’t mean that community members have access to them or wish to use them. Low-tech engagement strategies such as postcards and a phone number for people to call or text and leave feedback are just as useful as tech-enabled strategies.
3. Flexibility in scheduling is lacking. As mentioned earlier, our recent survey showed that people appreciate the option to participate in planning meetings remotely, yet few have taken advantage of this option, indicating that it’s overly optimistic for developers to expect community members to make themselves available for a single scheduled event, whether online or offline. That’s why it’s so important to offer asynchronous options for engagement.
A multifaceted approach addresses these issues. One strategy to stress across all the above approaches is the use of language translation to encourage participation by community members whose first language is not English. At coUrbanize, we require translation for every project on our platform that meets specific demographic criteria: If at least 5% of the residents in the area where the project is located speak the same non-English language at home, all communications on the platform and all related materials are translated into that language. Approximately 85% of the projects hosted on coUrbanize are translated into another language, many requiring multiple languages for inclusivity.
A project that exemplifies meaningful and equitable engagement is Innovation QNS in Astoria, Queens, New York. The project team began its engagement process nearly two years before filing official plans with the city. Mindful of the community’s diversity, the team empowers the area residents to share their ideas and questions in six languages other than English. The team has led with thoughtfulness and empathy, recognizing the hardships that the pandemic created and acknowledging that pre-pandemic priorities may no longer be today’s priorities. Its engagement strategies encompass a strong on-the-ground presence led by people with deep connections to the community, hybrid meetings held on multiple days and times, and asynchronous communication.
Why Meaningful and Equitable Engagement is Critical
This type of multifaceted approach can feel daunting, but it’s the most effective choice. By incorporating community feedback into project plans early on, developers speed up the entitlements and approvals process and pave the way toward successful outcomes. Inclusive community engagement isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s also the smart thing to do.
I applaud the “new normalization” of virtual and hybrid meetings in the engagement process, but again, I caution that they represent only one step in the path toward full inclusivity. To attain it, developers should meet the needs of all community stakeholders — those for whom English is not their primary language or are not tech-savvy, those who are too busy for meetings and those who are new to the development review process. By looking beyond remote meetings, developers can make this goal a little less remote.
Karin Brandt is the CEO and founder of coUrbanize, a technology company that powers community engagement in development and planning.
