Sustainability and vulnerability: integrating equity into plans for central city redevelopment

Cities around the US are promoting redevelopment efforts in central city neighborhoods in order to foster more-sustainable development patterns. In this paper, we argue that such plans must be grounded in an assessment of the current conditions and existing populations in these neighborhoods. We propose a new way to frame plans for existing communities, using the concept of vulnerability to help us connect current conditions and future goals. Through a case study of the planning process for a transit-oriented redevelopment plan for a central neighborhood in Austin, Texas, we illustrate the difference between current approaches and an alternative approach.