Can community land trusts slow gentrification?

Abstract

ABSTRACTGentrification has become one of the most widely discussed phenomena in urban affairs due to its prevalence around the world. However, most discussions remain at the theoretical level or are limited to case studies of a few metropolitan cities. Furthermore, there is little research on the relationship between gentrification and community land trusts (CLTs)—to our knowledge, no studies have examined their connection.Our investigation seeks to address this research gap by evaluating whether and how CLTs affect gentrification. Can CLTs counteract the negative effects of gentrification? Using a data set detailing the locations of CLT units at the national level, we employed a binomial logistic regression to examine whether CLTs influence gentrification, as well as a paired t-test with 9 relevant indicators to understand how CLTs affect gentrification. The findings suggest that CLTs may function as appropriate tools for stabilizing neighborhoods at risk of gentrification.