urban development

On the campaign trail, candidate Michelle Wu pledged to break apart the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA), separating the planning function from the process of approving individual development projects.

Three recent development projects in Dorchester, East Boston and Roxbury’s Highland Park share strikingly common traits: angry abutters, approved plans that ease through the city’s permitting process and a Dorchester-based architectural firm.

City officials released draft requests for proposals for several large parcels of land in the Dudley Square area, setting in motion the process of selling off the last of the remaining publicly-owned lots in the area. The plans, hashed out through meetings of the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee (RSMPOC) over the last two years, call for one-third of all new housing units built on the parcels to be affordable, one-third moderately affordable and one-third market-rate.