One Seaport Square under construction. Future developers in Boston may be required to show how they plan to reduce displacement and increase equity with their projects.

Looking to boost how new developments contribute to a more equitable Boston, city officials are developing new requirements that projects, including Suffolk Downs, address questions about displacement and fair housing.

Among the new questions that developers are likely to face while seeking approvals: Is the neighborhood undergoing gentrification? How many tenants have recently vacated or been evicted from the property? Would locally-owned businesses be displaced? And how will you market the development to encourage a diverse tenancy? 

Officials also are working with MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning on a gentrification “heat map” that could be used to impose different requirements in individual neighborhoods based upon changes in income, racial composition, education levels and housing prices. 

While radical-sounding, the planned zoning changes include components that already exist in the city’s approvals process, like affordable housing requirements, and cover items that are sometimes included in community benefits agreements.

So, how do you think the new requirements – though still in development – could impact your business? Will they be more of the same? Will they give you an edge? Or will they drive you out? Take our poll and tell us: