Equitable Development Planning and Urban Park Space: Early Insights from DC’s 11th Street Bridge Park Project

A new public park for Washington, DC, is spurring collaboration between neighbors and planners to ensure benefits for all. Once completed, the District’s 11th Street Bridge Park will connect the relatively affluent communities surrounding Capitol Hill on the west bank to the much less well-off Anacostia neighborhood on the east bank. The project offers an interesting case study on whether and how local communities can reap the benefits of public urban spaces when stakeholders make that goal a priority.

This report is the first in a series of products that tracks the park’s creation and draws out lessons for cities on planning, measuring, and producing equitable growth.