Anti-Displacement Efforts
Introduction
In February of 2021, the City of Providence published its Anti-Displacement and Comprehensive Housing Strategy. This is a ten year plan for investment in housing development in Providence, constructed by the City in consultation with public and private interest groups. In the Spring of 2022 students Kaita Igarashi and Mary Arend were charged with performing an analysis on the plan. They note that the plan begins: “The City of Providence is committed to preserving existing housing affordability, promoting development of new affordable housing, and increasing housing choice to provide safe, affordable housing citywide. They note that the plan states that it is to build upon past and present efforts to define a concise, unified vision and preferred outcomes for the City’s affordable housing efforts [1]. This anti-displacement plan primarily aims to address housing needs in Providence through the construction of market rate and affordable housing, with mechanisms for incentivizing development. They find that this housing plan presented by the City of Providence inadequately addresses past harm done by housing policies of the last century, and relies too heavily on corporations, real estate developers, and private institutions to fund affordable housing.
[1] The City of Providence, Rhode Island, “Anti-Displacement and Comprehensive Housing Strategy,” February 2021, p.1.