Can U.S. planned communities become diverse? The case of industry-leading master-planned communities in five metro areas

Abstract

ABSTRACT The history of master-planned community (MPC) development is inseparable from the history of race- and class-based discrimination and segregation in the United States. This paper investigates the place of exclusion and inclusion in planned community development practice. We undertook qualitative and quantitative analyses of the MPC development practice from the 1990s to the present. Through archival analysis and interviews, we demonstrate that, beginning in the early 2000s, MPC developers started to embrace diversity for financial success. We further confirm this trend by quantitatively analyzing U.S. Census Bureau data. We find that MPCs built since 2000 are racially and ethnically more diverse than their predecessors, with greater emphasis on middle-income households. Based on these findings, we carefully posit that American MPCs are moving toward greater diversity, a clear departure from their history of exclusion. We conclude with policy implications for various levels of the government to take advantage of this trend.