Montgomery County
Planning Department
2425 Reedie Drive, 14th Floor
Wheaton, MD 20902
Planning Department
2425 Reedie Drive, 14th Floor
Wheaton, MD 20902
Montgomery Planning is developing an Equity Agenda for Planning to systemically dismantle the institutional racism that exists in our work and prevent it in the future. Developing an Equity Agenda for Planning is ongoing and will require constant attention to the influence of institutional racism on all planning and zoning processes. We’ve begun working on this through some recent master plans and studies and through Thrive Montgomery 2050, the update to the county’s General Plan. Montgomery Planning is committed to looking at everything with an equity lens, including ensuring that all staff understand and practice racial equity and social justice in their hiring practices and their work.
We are committed to confronting the legacy of racism and its ongoing effects and addressing issues of racial equity in all aspects of our work. This includes applying an “equity lens” to our plans, policies and practices. As the American Planning Association states, “Planning for Equity means applying an equity lens—for just and fair inclusion into a society in which all can participate, prosper and reach their full potential—to everything planners do. From the way planners work with community members creating a shared vision for their neighborhoods to advocating for policies that connect people to opportunities at the local, state, and federal levels, planning for equity is planning for all.”
Montgomery Planning recognizes and acknowledges the role that our plans and policies have played in creating and perpetuating racial inequity in Montgomery County. We are committed to transforming the way we work as we seek to address, mitigate, and eliminate inequities from the past and develop planning solutions to create equitable communities in the future. While it will take time to fully develop a new methodology for equity in the planning process, we cannot delay applying an equity lens to our work. Efforts to date include