Mayor Appoints Professor to Neighborhood Equity and Stabilization Commission

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles has appointed Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Design Nadia Anderson to the newly formed Charlotte Neighborhood Equity and STabilization Commission (Charlotte’s NEST). The commission was established by the recently adopted 2040 Comprehensive Plan and is part of the city’s efforts to address the displacement caused by gentrification.

Charlotte’s NEST is charged with reviewing and recommending specific anti-displacement strategies and tools for protecting residents of moderate to high vulnerability of displacement. The commission will make regular reports to the Great Neighborhood Council Committee and quarterly reports to City Council and will provide recommendations for combating displacement prior to the implementation of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

The commission has 15 members who will each serve a three-year term. Anderson will serve as the Urban Studies and Planning Representative.

Anderson is the director of the City Building Lab in the School of Architecture. Her project work uses community engagement to generate co-creation design processes that facilitate agency in marginalized communities. Earlier this year, she received a $25,000 “Grants for Arts Projects” award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support neighborhood visioning workshops to address housing, transportation, and public space, and she was among the 2020-21 cohort of Gambrell Fellows, receiving support to develop a “Design Toolkit for Affordable Homeownership.” Additional current research includes participation in a collaborative project led by the University’s Office of Urban Research and Community to determine a sustainable, equitable, and economically viable food retail solution for West Charlotte.