NIMBY

Walter F. Carroll

NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) and its derivations, such as NIMBYism, refers to efforts by groups or communities to exclude important, but locally undesirable land uses (LULUs). The types of land uses excluded include environmental facilities, such as toxic waste sites and incinerators, or human services facilities, such as homeless shelters and low-income housing. As an approach to understanding conflicts over the location of various land uses, the term NIMBY is often used negatively to characterize exclusionary efforts by upper-class communities, and such class-based practices do occur. Much of the literature on NIMBY describes such struggles and focuses on ways to overcome such opposition. Recent scholarship points to the complexity of NIMBY situations. NIMBY can also refer to efforts by poorer communities to prevent themselves from serving as dumping grounds, can reflect distrust of government decisions, and can be tied to urban social movements that aim to give communities input ...

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