This Land Project

This Land Project aims to advance transformative land practices for local residential and commercial assets through shared value and equity models. 

Our Mission:

• Embark on a comprehensive journey to redefine land acquisition, use, and tenure.
• Seek funding for research, incubation, and implementation.
• Incubate practitioners and pilot projects within the built environment, advancing innovative land models that prioritize inclusive and equitable land opportunities

Our Approach

21st-century strategies, initiatives, ventures, and policies must understand the systemic and structural challenges of land systems, from acquisition, use, and tenure. Solutions must be grounded in understanding why these problems exist and be built on the principle of "nothing for us without us."

This Land Project (TLP) works with strategic partnerships to co-create a thorough due diligence process to drive systemic and structural change in land practices. We connect with a diverse public audience from financial institutions, government agencies, non-government organizations, companies, and most importantly, everyday people on the front lines of uneven development to understand how land systems have been shaped by undemocratic beliefs and the societal cost we collectively bear. With this critical awareness, we then provide diverse pathways to engage with the TLP platform, including fellowships, applying to our incubator, research, networking, and, most importantly, learning from TLP practitioners within our incubator how their respective platforms and pilot projects are advancing healing, equity, and justice through democratic land practices on a local and national scale. 

TLP’s incubator is a critical component of this platform, supporting practitioners from diverse regions who are deeply committed to advancing land models that promote equitable and sustainable development of residential and commercial assets. Despite their strong dedication, many of the practitioners we engage would not otherwise have the capacity or resources to incubate and advance their shared value land models within their local neighborhoods or regions. Without such practitioners, the models needed to address land system disparities and opportunities to create pathways for community-led decision-making would not exist. By fostering cross-sector collaboration, we can promote land practices that reflect our commitment to justice, equity, and democracy.

Innovative Solutions to Challenges:

• Generational Inequity in Land Practices
• Disinvestment
• Barriers to Investment and Lending:
• Economic Barriers
• Wealth Disparities 
• Speculative Investments
• Gentrification and Displacement 
• Cultural Erosion
• Extractive Economies
• Environmental Inequities
• Social and Spatial Segregation
• Lack of Resilient and Inclusive Communities
• Unfair Property Assessments and Appraisals
• Negative Neighborhood Narratives

Phase One Initiative:

TLP’s Phase One initiative focuses on incubating practitioners and projects within neighborhoods profoundly affected by generational disinvestment due to undemocratic policies, practices, and investment.  We aim to work with local practitioners to establish and incubate shared equity land models that include land trusts and social impact financial instruments like Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) to advance shared equity land models. Many of the neighborhoods within pilot cities are often overlooked by traditional investors and face increasing speculative acquisitions that:

• Drive up property prices without anti-displacement measures.
• Increase rents, limiting equity and wealth-building opportunities.
• Exclude demographics from affordable homeownership, perpetuating economic redlining.
• Result in low-quality development that neglects community needs.

Funding is crucial to secure and protect these assets, preserve affordability, foster community ownership, and promote sustainable development aligned with local aspirations.

Call For Our Collective Attention and Action

None of this is possible without your support.

Each contribution activates you as a steward of the ideals, rights, and liberties we hold dear and root in our belief in a democratic society through transformative land models demonstrating a spatial practice of democracy, equality, freedom, justice, and truth.

Your engagement and support are crucial in driving the changes necessary to create inclusive, equitable, and sustainable communities where everyone has opportunities to thrive and contribute to a shared vision of a just society.

Your support enables:

1. Support ongoing research, programming, and public awareness campaigns in This Land Project pilot cities 

2. Expand professional services that have been working on the early stages of creating a hybrid land trust and social impact real estate investment trust model that can be adapted by local organizations seeking to advance equitable land acquisition, use, and tenure practices.

3. Activate and incubate:

• This Land Project’s first incubator participant is Vesi. Vesi is a neighborhood development organization focused on advancing shared value and equity land models using hybrid land trust and social impact finance strategies. Vesi's first demonstration project is in Trenton, New Jersey

4. Activate a national and local workforce of artisans and contractors who will support This Land Project's mission by engaging in catalytic projects advancing sustainable and just neighborhood residential and commercial development of regional land and real estate assets.

5. In partnership with The People's Studio Practicum, activate and sustain three storefront public studio spaces. Each space will serve as a platform to connect This Land Project's research and projects to the broader public through programming and activities.

6. Create collateral materials and digital immersive experiences for each project

Traditional land practices have negatively steered societal conditions from rural to urban areas for generations, leading to increased costs we collectively bear. Who owns the land and how it is used and occupied shapes our lived experiences. Current models continue to hinder social cohesion and exacerbate inequalities in education, healthcare, and employment opportunities, further undermining democratic principles of equality, freedom, equity, or justice.

We must embark on a comprehensive and transformative journey to redefine land acquisition, use, and tenure. This campaign seeks funding to initiate the work of This Land Project as a research, incubation, and implementation platform that moves beyond just talking about a problem and possible solutions but fearlessly piloting projects documenting their potential impact. Each project aims to develop innovative land models that prioritize inclusive and equitable land opportunities and actively contribute to reducing wealth and income inequities.

Our interconnected framework (Learn More):

• Addresses Generational Inequities in Land Practices
• Overcomes Economic Barriers
• Mitigates Speculative Investments
• Promotes Equitable Land Use Policies
• Addresses Environmental Inequities
• Reduces Social and Spatial Segregation
• Fosters Resilient and Inclusive Communities
• Implements Innovative Financial Instruments
• Prevents Displacement
• Reframes Discriminatory Property Assessments and Appraisals
• Shift Narratives That Reinforce A Hierarchy of Human Value
• Promotes Healing, Equity, and Justice

TLP implements various strategies to advance equitable land practices and co-creating impact, including:

• Community Development Corporations (CDCs): As part of our strategy, TLP incubates or partners with Community Development Corporations (CDCs) specifically focused on shared value and equity models. CDCs are nonprofit organizations focused on neighborhood development through revitalization, restoration, housing, economic development, and community services. TLP collaborates with CDCs to implement inclusive land and development practices that empower local residents. By supporting CDC initiatives, TLP strengthens community capacity to shape their own future and combat systemic inequalities.

• Land Trusts and Land Banks: As part of our strategy, TLP promotes the establishment of land trusts and land banks.TLP works with existing partnering or newly established CDCs that acquire and hold land for the community's benefit. These trusts provide secure and affordable access to land for housing, agriculture, and commercial uses. Placing land in a trust ensures long-term stewardship and prevents speculative practices that drive up land costs and displace residents. This model empowers communities to control their own development and preserve affordability for generations.

• Innovative Financial Instruments: TLP focuses on developing and implementing innovative financial instruments to address barriers in investments and lending. These instruments are designed to provide more equitable access to capital, making it easier for communities to invest in local projects. By creating financial tools that prioritize social impact and inclusivity, TLP ensures that investments support sustainable and equitable development.

• Restoration and Revitalization of Neighborhoods: TLP incubates practitioners and projects committed to restoring and revitalizing dilapidated and inhabitable neighborhood conditions. Along with strategic partners, TLP connects otherwise inaccessible professional services from architects, engineers, local artisans, and construction companies to local community projects to rehabilitate disinvested areas, providing resources for infrastructure improvements, housing renovations, and environmental remediation. Through these efforts and our incubation program, TLP aims to create safe, healthy, and attractive neighborhoods where residents can thrive.

• Anti-Displacement Strategy: TLP's projects serve as an anti-displacement strategy, addressing rising living costs and stagnating wages. By prioritizing inclusive land and development practices, TLP supports land and development practices that prevent displacement due to rising property values and taxes. We aim to create inclusive neighborhoods, countering centuries of policies that have marginalized certain communities.

• Disrupting Property Assessments: TLP challenges the way property assessments and appraisals undervalue neighborhoods. Current investment and finance tools still redline communities, restricting access to resources needed to realize community visions. TLP addresses the trauma experienced by communities due to speculative investments, preventing displacement and fueling extractive economies.

• Narrative Shift: By shifting and reframing narratives about people and neighborhoods, TLP fosters a sense of belonging and stability. We aim to create environments where people from all backgrounds can live, work, and thrive together. TLP is about more than land use; it's about creating neighborhoods that reflect our highest ideals of equity, inclusion, and shared prosperity.

By supporting our efforts to reimage our land systems through research and pilot projects, we have the opportunity to create more resilient, inclusive, and thriving communities that benefit all members of society.