Detroit’s Community Benefits Ordinance: Lessons Learned About the Community Engagement Process and Its Outcomes

This research paper examines Detroit's Community Benefits Ordinance (CBO), the first of its kind in a major US city, analyzing its impact on community engagement and benefit sharing for high-impact development projects.

• Adopted in 2016, Detroit's Community Benefits Ordinance (CBO) requires developers of projects that invest over $75 million and receive significant city subsidies to negotiate additional benefits for the local communities where the projects are located.
• Research based on stakeholder interviews and literature reviews indicates that the CBO has helped balance the power dynamic between developers and communities by ensuring community members are included in development conversations.
• Despite some successes, the CBO is not a complete solution for long-term disinvestment and inequality; stakeholders expressed concerns regarding the engagement and benefits agreement processes. To improve the CBO, the paper recommends better resourcing for communities, representative coalitions, robust monitoring and enforcement, the use of racial equity and environmental justice frameworks, and the analysis of public ownership for infrastructure.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Detroit’s Community Benefits Ordinance: Lessons Learned About the Community Engagement Process and Its Outcomes. https://www.wri.org/research/detroits-community-benefits-ordinance-lessons-learned-about-community-engagement-process

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Detroit’s Community Benefits Ordinance: Lessons Learned About the Community Engagement Process and Its Outcomes. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/detroits-community-benefits-ordinance-lessons-learned-about-community-engagement-process.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Detroit’s Community Benefits Ordinance: Lessons Learned About the Community Engagement Process and Its Outcomes |url=https://www.wri.org/research/detroits-community-benefits-ordinance-lessons-learned-about-community-engagement-process |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutenddetroits, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Detroit’s Community Benefits Ordinance: Lessons Learned About the Community Engagement Process and Its Outcomes}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/detroits-community-benefits-ordinance-lessons-learned-about-community-engagement-process}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }