Influencing the agents of urban structure - Evaluating the effects of community reinvestment organizing on bank residential lending

From the perspective of applied research, a critical urban theory presents the opportunity to become a force for social change. Nowhere has this persp ective been more present than in activities around supporting the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The author applies evidence from an evaluation of the impact of CRA organizing to assess the success of efforts to bring abou t institutional change. This research suggests that local organizing provid ed the impetus for the establishment of a national political climate favora ble to serious CRA enforcement. Evaluation approaches are needed to move th eory from being pure critique to developing strategies for change.