Changing The Way We See Our Neighbours

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Sheryll Cashin, a professor from Georgetown University in the United States, says that we need to change our thinking when it comes to community planning. She argues that current practices promote exclusion and fear.

Zoning, which is a foundation of community planning, is an example of exclusion. It tells you what uses are allowed on a parcel of land. By doing so, it also tells you what uses are excluded. Zoning in many residential areas allows only single family dwellings. Single family zoning excludes all other residential uses, including duplexes or second suites.

Proposing a change in zoning is a common source of fear for residents. If they are owners, any change to the existing land use is viewed as a potential threat that will negatively affect the value of their property. Residents who are renters are concerned that changes in land use will push up rents. Proposed changes in land use also trigger tenants’ fears about being evicted.

Cashin says that community planning practices like zoning aren’t sustainable in the long term. None of this zoning may be applicable to local residential needs after a decade or two. So does it have to be so rigid in the first place?

Cashin also argues that exclusionary zoning is not consistent with the aspirations of the United States as a country of equals. Giving so much buildable space over to single family homes denies opportunities to people who want something different, for example a duplex (to accommodate an aging parent) or one that doesn’t have a yard. In her latest book, she gives examples of communities in the United States that have taken steps to be more inclusive.

As well, Cashin advocates thinking differently about being a neighbour. She encourages approaching community planning from an ethic of love, which Cashin contends supports accepting a broader view of neighbours and revising community planning to be more inclusive.

You can read an interview with Sheryll Cashin about her new book in The Christian Science Monitor: Who can be my neighbor? How a ‘lens of care’ can transform US cities.