Impactful Development and Community Empowerment: Balancing the Dual Goals of a Global CLT Movement

As community land trusts (CLTs) have grown in number and spread around the world, the model itself has changed. There are now many variations of what is sometimes known as the "classic" CLT. What has not changed, however, is the dynamic tension between impactful development and community empowerment that was baked into the structure and purpose of the CLT from the very beginning.

Every community land trust attempts to gain control over enough land, housing, and other land-based assets to ma...