Equity + Infrastructure

Investment in infrastructure, spurred by federal funding, is at an all-time high. How can the cities, agencies, and commercial industries receiving or directing this funding apply an equity lens to policies and projects? How does infrastructure investment benefit from an equity-minded design and planning approach?

New infrastructure planning projects – decking over urban highway cuts, rethinking transit stations, improving coastline resiliency, harnessing offshore wind energy, and more – offer once-in-a-generation opportunities to design and co-create with communities on everything from job-training programs to air monitoring and tangible community benefits. Many projects are repairing or reconnecting communities and redoing past infrastructure planning that overburdened already disadvantaged communities.

Planning and design experts show how the equity lens directs their thinking as they shape these new projects, describe the challenges, and explain strategies that help to resolve them. Case studies from New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere offer lessons learned and replicable strategies.

NPC Peer Reviewers assigned this presentation a learning level of Intermediate. For more on learning-level descriptions, visit our General Information Page.