05/29/2026
Sharing a perspective often missed:
Can redevelopment be called inclusive if ownership and control remain largely unchanged?
Too often, representation is treated as the measure of inclusion. I see it differently.
The real questions are:
• Who owns the land?
• Who controls the capital?
• Who receives the contracts?
• Who builds long-term wealth?
A neighborhood can be represented in the conversation and still excluded from ownership.
Redevelopment is not just about buildings. It is about land, capital, wealth creation, and control of a neighborhood's future.
The true measure of inclusive redevelopment is not who sits on the panel.
It is who owns the real estate after the ribbon cutting.
If you are interested in who benefits from redevelopment, who gets left behind, and how policy, planning, and capital reshape neighborhoods, my new book,How to Lose a Neighborhood explores these realities through the lens of Detroit.
Click link below to find out more and to purchase your book.
https://www.howtoloseaneighborhood.com/
Click link/image below to read the complete article on Substack.com
https://open.substack.com/pub/brindadevine/p/optics-of-inclusion?r=u3ky&utm_medium=ios
