How Urban Planning Keeps Cities Segregated鈥攁nd Maintains White Supremacy

Across the U.S., racial segregation was not the byproduct of urban planning but often its intention. Minneapolis, one of the most liberal cities in the country, is no exception.

The legacy of structural racism in Minneapolis was laid bare to the world at the intersection of , where George Floyd鈥檚 neck was pinned to the ground by a police officer鈥檚 knee. But it is also imprinted in streets, parks, and neighborhoods across the city鈥攖he result of urban planning that used as a tool of White supremacy.

Today, Minneapolis is seen to be But if you scratch away the progressive veneer of the , the and , you find what , a Minneapolis historian, 鈥渄arker truths about the city.鈥�

As co-founder of the University of Minnesota鈥檚 project, Delegard and her colleagues have been shedding light on the role that racist barriers to homeownership have had on segregation in the city.

鈥淩acial cordon鈥�

Segregation in Minneapolis, like elsewhere in the U.S., is the result of historic practices such as the issuing of racialized real estate covenants that .

These covenants began appearing in U.S. cities from the early 1900s. Before their , the city was 鈥�.鈥� But covenants changed the cityscape. Racist wording from in 1910 stated bluntly that the premises named 鈥渟hall not at any time be conveyed, mortgaged, or leased to any person or persons of Chinese, Japanese, Moorish, Turkish, Negro, Mongolian, or African blood or descent.鈥�

As a result, African Americans, especially, were pushed into a few small areas of the city such as the neighborhood, leaving large parts of the city predominantly White. Some of the city鈥檚 most desirable parks were ringed by White residential districts. The result was an .

鈥淏y design, not accident鈥�

As a , I know that Minneapolis, far from being an outlier in segregation, represents the norm. Across the U.S., urban planning is still used by some as the spatial toolkit, consisting of a set of policies and practices, for maintaining White supremacy. But urban planners of color, especially, are pointing out ways to by dismantling the legacy of racist planning, housing, and infrastructure policies.

Racial segregation was not the byproduct of urban planning; it was, in many cases, its intention鈥攊t was 鈥渘ot by accident, but by design,鈥� Adrien Weibgen, senior policy fellow at the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, explained in a 2019 .

The effect was and still is devastating.

The Urban Institute, an independent think tank, noted in that higher levels of racial segregation were linked to lower incomes for Black residents, as well as worse educational outcomes for both White and Black students. Other studies have found that racial segregation leads to Black Americans being excluded from . In Minnesota, which ranks as , is among the highest in the U.S. Likewise, segregation limits access to .

Income and wealth gaps

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in Minneapolis, . After Milwaukee, this is the biggest gap of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Mirroring the city鈥檚 income gap is a huge wealth gap. Minneapolis now has the .

Residential segregation in Minneapolis and elsewhere is still stubbornly high despite more than 50 years since the passing of the , which prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, among other factors. But while some residential segregation is now income-based, .

Zoning out

Residential racial segregation continues to exist because of specific government policies enacted through urban planning. A key tool is zoning鈥攖he process of dividing urban land into areas for specific uses, such as residential or industrial. In the introduction to her 2014 book 鈥�,鈥�&苍产蝉辫; argues that zoning is about government power to shape 鈥渋deals鈥� by imposing a 鈥渕oral geography鈥� on cities. In Minneapolis and elsewhere, this has meant 鈥攏amely the poor, immigrants of color, and African Americans.

With explicit racialized zoning long outlawed in the U.S.鈥攖he U.S. Supreme Court 鈥攎any local governments instead turned to 鈥渆xclusionary鈥� zoning policies, making it illegal to build anything except single-family homes. This 鈥渂ackdoor racism鈥� had a similar effect to outright racial exclusions: It kept out most Black and low-income people who could not afford expensive single-family homes.

In Minneapolis, single-family zoning amounted , compared to . Buttressing this, redlining鈥攖he denial of mortgages and loans to people of color by government and the private sector鈥攅nsured the continuance of segregation.

Anti-racist planning

Minneapolis is trying hard to reverse these racist policies. In 2018, , allowing 鈥渦pzoning鈥�: the conversion of single-family lots into more affordable duplexes and triplexes.

This, together with 鈥渋nclusionary zoning鈥濃€攔equiring that new apartment projects hold at least 10% of units for low- to moderate-income households鈥攊s part of the Minneapolis 2040 Plan. Central to that vision is a goal to eliminate disparities in wealth, housing, and opportunity within 20 years.

In the aftermath of George Floyd鈥檚 death, Minneapolis City Council acted quickly in . Dismantling the legacy of by-design segregation will require the tools of urban planning being used to find solutions after decades of being part of the problem.

This article was originally published by . It has been published here with permission.