Inclusive Cities

We translate the ideas of communities and their advocates into meaningful systems change.

Working with visionary clients — from grassroots activists to elected city and county leaders — HR&A’s Inclusive Cities Practice centers racial equity and economic justice in economic development, policy, and planning. Leveraging analytic rigor and meaningful community engagement, the practice works with partners inside and outside of government to disrupt the traditional processes of economic development, build greater political power for marginalized communities, increase accountability of local governments, and institutionalize mechanisms for more just and equitable cities.

America’s economic and racial disparities are found in our neighborhoods, institutions, policies, and practices. Cities are theaters for the ways that class, race, and geography intersect — often to the exclusion of many of the communities that make them vibrant.

To support our partners in promoting equity and inclusion, the Inclusive Cities practice focuses in four areas:

Supporting Visionary Leaders

We support the leaders of cities and counties, philanthropies, and nonprofit organizations to seize political opportunities and translate them into impact and sustained change.

Centering Equity in Economic Development

Our analysis and recommendations help clients to increase wealth generation and opportunity for historically marginalized communities, and our projects help to increase the capacity of community activists and advocates to understand and then co-opt the tools of economic development for equitable change.

Building Greater Political Power for Marginalized Communities

We work with communities so they can be the most effective at using the levers available to them to make more equitable projects, neighborhoods, and cities.

Reworking the Systems and Structures that Determine how People Fare

HR&A is on the leading edge of a national trend toward embedding equity and anti-racism into how cities make decisions, structure their budgets, and deliver services. In this work, we pay close attention to how we can divest from systems that have created structural inequities, and how we can build instead new systems and approaches that support every person’s full participation in society.