Comprises three questions 6 PAGES

PLANNING THE MULTIETHNIC CITY URBS 250 | FALL 2021 | FINAL EXAM

EXAM TEMPLATE

# 1 GOETZ, WILLIAMS & DAMIANO (2020) + YOUR PICK + NEWS PIECE (80 pts)

One of the biggest issues facing the United States of America since the colonialists set foot in it is racism. Racism is linked to the DNA of America, and there are always efforts by many people to stop this injustice. Indeed, we are in a century that is easier than the previous centuries, but it is still left. Race, apartheid, and inequality planning are rife with the country. There are affluent white neighborhoods and there is discrimination in education as well as housing according to Goetz, et al (2020), "race, segregation, and racial inequality are widely acknowledged by urban planners and by plan" (p. 142). Planners have a legacy of injustice: it is always the ethnic neighborhoods that are affected, not the white ones.

White supremacy is seen as a permanent regime in the United States and for political purposes that has produced urban inequality. Previously, in the sixties and seventies, neighborhoods and streets were divided on a racial and unequal basis according to Goetz, et al (2020), "Planners and others have analyzed the legacy of racial zoning and restrictive sins in shaping metropolitan settlement patterns and the operation of dual housing markets perpetuating discrimination and segregation" (p. 143).

Again, the construction of highways caused the segregation system as well and in this decision, many poor and ethnic neighborhoods were damaged. For example, in BALTIMORE, the construction of highways and bridges is at the expense of colorful and slum neighborhoods. Glenn Smith is one of those affected. In the 1970s, a 1.5-mile highway was built connecting Interstate 70 with Interstate 95, and more than 570 homes were removed. He says "his historically black community has felt the effect, while other communities have not" (George, 2021, p.1). However, the project was canceled and did not link the two roads together. This project is an example of the decades-old racism in the United States in infrastructure and racial planning.

The theme of racial planning and inequality recurs in Hurricane Katrina in the US Gulf Coast. The supremacy of the whites and their transgression made the poor and colored neighborhoods be the most affected in natural disasters. Houses built with cheap and weak materials, and areas in the valleys. All these events make officials break their silence and the issue becomes an important human issue according to Jacobs (2019), “the nation began to pay attention to the inequitable impacts of disasters on poor communities and communities of color” (p. 24).

In America, whiteness is the only way to reach social and economic dominance in the country. Because social weakness breeds inequality and produces control and monopoly in society by whites, according to Goetz, et al (2020), “Roithmayr who likens Whiteness to an efficient racial cartel that monopolizes social and economic advantages and through political power” (p 145). Social vulnerabilities reveal variables that show how vulnerabilities in the country vary and have caused disruption in many states and regions Jacobs (2019) found "variables that try to capture individuals' access to resources such as their political power, their physical disabilities and the quality of housing they live in" (p. 31).

Racial planning and inequality in housing and education have a great impact. There are memories of people who lost their homes and the pain of being different among all people is not easy. Power in the wrong hands is a dangerous matter and campaigns must be carried out to stand up to truth and justice.

Reference

George, Joe St. “Communities Hope Infrastructure Law Fixes History of Racial Inequity.” KMGH, 9 Dec. 2021, thedenverchannel.com/news/national-politics/communities-hope-infrastructure-law-fixes-history-of-racial-inequity.

Goetz, E. G., Williams, R. A., & Damiano, A. (2020). Whiteness and urban planning. Journal of the American Planning Association, 86(2), 142-156.‏

Jacobs, F. (2019). Black feminism and radical planning: New directions for disaster planning research. Planning Theory, 18(1), 24-39.‏

# 2 SCHWEITZER (2016) + YOUR PICK + NEWS PIECE (80 pts)

When personal interest is more important than the public interest, there is a defect in the foundation of the system and causes far-reaching consequences. In the United States, all the development has succeeded and the inventions they have reached, but there are individual things that made the goals focus on some individuals only and not all people. When infrastructure is planned based on interests and inequality in the administrative apparatus as well as zoning. According to Schweitzer (2016), “through political conflicts in planning that result from public institutions using the coercive power of the state to make and act on plans” (p. 131). There are political conflicts within government institutions and there are many plans to treat them and to search for the disease that causes injustice within society.

In public institutions, the justification of their scheme that does not support the public interest is by way of benefit and indirect ways. Schweitzer (2016) found "Planners in public institutions engage in political deliberation about the desirability of future acts" (p. 132). After that, individual non-main groups are established that are based on their own interests and do not perform their work for the benefit of the people, and from these groups, a discriminatory behavior begins from within the public institutions. For example, in the California Police Department after the Los Angeles Times published allegations that there was racial discrimination between a number of police officers and through them, they exchange racist texts and images, according to Silva (2021), "Attorney General Rob Bonta's office said the review into the Torrance Police Department would be conducted by the California Department of Justice" (p. 1). The police are the front lines to protect the people, and there should be no manipulation of the law and racial discrimination by them.

Urban planning plays a major role in building a society free of injustice. Small groups that are within politics cause harm and mistakes within society. The treatment in this case may be through stopping personal relations in political groups, because through this the imbalance in society is formed and appears in some societies. For example, there is an environmental racial gap between white and nonwhite communities, according to Pulido (2017), “the environmental racism gap highlights the persistent inequality between white and nonwhite communities” (p. 525). There is an absurdity of capitalism on the scale of politics where public institutions have been used to coercive and racist force is structuring the logic of capitalism.

According to Schweitzer (2016), "Individuals might heal; they might forgive and be forgiven in the reciprocal union that governs social life" (p. 139). Where when the fault is found, whether it is an individual, it is forgiven and the individual's matter ends temporarily, or the fault he caused within the institution remains and takes years to remedy the matter. The problem is that the institutions implement the system of atonement, but without reform plans that protect the system from tampering with it in the future.

In the end, reform planning starts from within and begins when plans are imposed that protect institutions and the system. When the state system and its institutions focus on citizens and punish those who abuse their position and those who exploit the creation of a group with personal goals, society will benefit more, prosper more, and there will be equality. Therefore, the government must increase oversight to avoid the exploitation of some individuals for their personal interests.

Reference

Schweitzer, L. (2016). Restorative planning ethics: The therapeutic imagination and planning in public institutions. Planning Theory, 15(2), 130-144.

Silva, C. D. (2021, December 9). California AG launches probe into police department over allegations of racist texts. NBC News. Retrieved from nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-ag-launches-probe-police-department-allegations-racist-text-rcna8155.

Pulido, L. (2017). Geographies of race and ethnicity II: Environmental racism, racial capitalism and state-sanctioned violence. Progress in Human Geography, 41(4), 524-533.

#3 FOR-NEXT-TIME ESSAY (90 pts)

Poverty is one of the ugliest tragedies that humans have been exposed to since we started adopting paper currencies. During this semester, we studied many lessons that talk about racism, inequality, injustice, and others, but there is a common factor in most of the topics we studied, which is poverty. Poverty is the common factor in all victims of racism and inequality. We live in an era where your position in society and your winning card is your money. Certainly, it is impossible for everyone to become rich, but at least it is not a reason for you to emigrate and leave your country and go to another country for a living.

In East Los Angeles, the Proyecto MercadoFRESCO project is set up, which aims to change the diet of slums and middle-income neighborhoods because most of their stores are small and do not have any healthy and organic foodstuffs. According to Ortega, et al (2015), "Changing the food landscape in low income and underserved communities is one strategy to combat the negative health consequences associated with the lack of access to healthy food resources and an abundance of unhealthy food venues” (p. 1) Yes, this project aims at reform, but why not go back to the basics, because the problem is only in middle-income and poor neighborhoods, most of whose residents suffer from a lack of the most basic human needs such as food and housing. In rich neighborhoods, there is no such type of retail store Their areas are usually in the city center surrounded by basic services and large stores. For example, in Porter Ranch in Los Angeles, there is more than one project to build houses and plans, including building large and healthy stores such as “Whole Foods Market” and others, and within a short time, the area changes from a place that does not contain anything to from the best areas of the city.

We also talked about disability and health justice in cities, and they have been affected a lot during the Covid period because they are among the groups that have suffered the most. Well, the majority of people with disabilities are simple people and no light is shed on them, and we hear little of their whips. The fact that I lived oppressed and struggled with life, caused the lack of their capabilities and the lack of job opportunities. According to Pineda, et al (2020), "The WHO states that disability is an intersecting issue of public health, human rights, and development, noting that poverty, combined with the high prevalence of PWDs in low-income countries, makes this a global health and urban development issue” (p. 1). When the interest in them is great and the exploitation of their energies, they will be able to live even better than us. There are many inventions that provide them with the capabilities of the natural body and the best, and there are vehicles adapted for a disability that they can enter and exit easily.

We always talk about racism, but it is about people who have money. There are many celebrities with colored skin, but they are among the most beloved personalities in society, here people overlook their appearance and the color of their skin because they know their intention and the love they offer to society.

Reference

Ortega, A. N., Albert, S. L., Sharif, M. Z., Langellier, B. A., Garcia, R. E., Glik, D. C., ... & Prelip, M. L. (2015). Proyecto MercadoFRESCO: a multi-level, community-engaged corner store intervention in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights. Journal of community health, 40(2), 347-356.

Pineda, V. S., & Corburn, J. (2020). Disability, urban health equity, and the coronavirus pandemic: promoting cities for all. Journal of Urban Health, 97(3), 336-341.

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