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| dc.contributor.author | Girolamo, Madison | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-04-28T17:11:29Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-04-28T17:11:29Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-04-28 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10429/2303 | |
| dc.description | As millions of Black Americans moved from the rural south to the urban north during the Great Migration, white lawmakers and city planners in northern cities began to look for ways to legally separate white populations from non-white populations. Redlining was the answer to this, which highlighted areas with higher percentages of non-white and especially Black people as “undesirable”. These areas in cities across the United States were used to place highways, factories, incinerators, etc. regardless of who lived there or how successful a community’s economy was. Some of these neighborhoods, in the case of Detroit’s Black Bottom, were completely razed in the name of urban renewal, a federal program that displaced millions of Black and non-white people nationwide to make room for wealthy white elites in cities. Due to the targeting of “undesirable neighborhoods” in the name of urban renewal and what was seen as progress, these neighborhoods now suffer lasting consequences from their governments’ actions. This thesis explores what can, or should, be done in order to restore justice in Poletown East, one of Detroit’s redlined neighborhoods. InJustice is focused in Poletown East, Detroit, a neighborhood that has historically seen immense displacement, though remains strong through community connections. It was once a community that residents considered to be self-sufficient before the neighborhood was redlined by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, dissected by I-94 and I-95 then halved by the placement of General Motors' Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center. These changes in the built environment led to mass displacement of Poletown community members and have caused lasting environmental, economic, and social injustices in the neighborhood that persist today. Justice in this thesis depends on the ability of neighborhood planning to create better walkability, accessibility, diversity of neighborhood assets, and both physical and social connections. In Poletown, residents of the past and present have shown an interest in being a self-sufficient neighborhood. Self-sufficiency in this thesis considers what assets do and should exist in the community and how those are able to be leveraged for better community resiliency. These concepts are supported by the precedents of the 20 Minute Neighborhood model proposed by the city of Detroit and the model as it was adapted for use in Minneapolis. The 20 Minute Neighborhood in Detroit set goals for all Detroiters to be within 20 minutes of retail, transit, and parks and at least 20 minutes away from blight. These goals have since been forgotten for being too difficult to meet in the near future, according to Mayor Duggan. The 20 Minute Neighborhood in Minneapolis has detailed a phased approach over the next decade to provide the following within 20 minutes of the city’s residents: affordable housing, commercial goods and services, grocery stores, parks, and employment along with development located near transit and the establishing of innovation centers and new business districts and corridors. Additionally, Park as Living Laboratory serves as a reference to inform tactics used in this thesis that directly respond to what residents have shared as needs and goals in the community. Community engagement work has been done in Poletown so funding can be properly allocated within the community to serve the community’s shared goals. Detroit Collaborative Design Center in 2009 has found that community members value diversity of income, education, and age; seek neighborhood self-sufficiency; and small scale development that keeps in mind the existing neighborhood community. Detroit Future City recently wrapped up their engagement in 2021 and found that residents want to see more greenspace, higher walkability, and decreased pollution in their neighborhood. These full-scale engagements have informed how this thesis has moved forward and have been paired with one-on-one conversations with community members throughout the planning process to ensure that the proposed tactics respond to the community’s needs. This thesis will investigate how a neighborhood plan can assist in restoring environmental, economic, and social justice in the neighborhood, with a focus on environmental justice due to a history of polluting factories in the neighborhood. The purpose of the work for this thesis is to deliver an actionable plan to the existing residents of Poletown East that includes tactics and phasing recommendations so they can continue their own goals for the neighborhood. Due to the immense history of this neighborhood, this work begins with a post-positivist approach to understand the patterns and existing conditions in the community, but brings in a participatory approach to support the design process by working with members of the community to better understand the experience of living in Poletown and what action is already being taken in the neighborhood. Both objective and subjective realities are necessary in creating a plan that can stand long-term to assist in creating justice in the community. Mapping and community engagement are the key studies used in designing a neighborhood plan for Poletown East in InJustice. Mapping shows how the area has changed over time due to redlining and how the neighborhood currently functions. Through this study, it was found that industrial companies have purchased land in residential zones, indicating that they may be expecting the industrial zone to expand further in the near future. Mapping also shows that the neighborhood has low population density, with a lot of vacancy aligning with the freeways and industrial zoning in and along with the neighborhood. Community engagement has shown community members’ interest in additional assets and physical connections between residents in the neighborhood. It also showed that community members are worried about pollution from the industrial spaces and freeways to the west of their homes. InJustice is a neighborhood plan designed to restore justice, though planning has historically been the reason that Poletown East has suffered over the last century. Can a new neighborhood plan restore justice where an old plan severely failed? Is this plan enough to provide the needed environmental, economic, and social support for Poletown residents? Due to the time constraints of this thesis, a full-scale community engagement study for the use in this plan was not able to be done. Instead, a smaller group of Poletown residents had to be relied on to gain knowledge about the community. Without more participation by a large, diverse group of Poletown East residents, this thesis cannot fully and accurately address the needs of the community. Therefore, the effectiveness of this thesis is limited to the information from prior engagements and a group of Poletown. This neighborhood plan for Poletown shows how one can use historical information combined with existing conditions and residents’ experiences to restore justice in a community by providing tactics that address residents’ needs and goals for the future. | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | In the United States, redlining was urban planners’ answer to the Great Migration. This practice targeted “undesirable neighborhoods” in the name of urban renewal, Poletown East saw immense displacement by the freeways and industrial companies that moved in, disregarding the existing communities in the area. Today, Poletown gains strength from a variety of green spaces, providing self-sufficiency for its residents, though continues to suffer the environmental, economic, and social injustices caused by redlining and displacement so many years ago. This thesis investigates how— and if— a neighborhood plan is enough to assist in restoring justice in the neighborhood. The purpose of this work is to deliver an actionable plan to the residents of Poletown that includes tactics and phasing recommendations for the community to continue toward their goals for the neighborhood. By understanding the history and future moves in the neighborhood, one can act preemptively to reduce further harms of existing injustices and advance community resiliency in the area. Architecture and urban design have historically been used to exacerbate injustices, though have the capacity to restore justice to neighborhoods like Poletown East when community engagement is treated as necessary to design. | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
| dc.subject | Urban Planning | en_US |
| dc.subject | Justice | en_US |
| dc.subject | Community Engagement | en_US |
| dc.subject | Community Development | en_US |
| dc.subject | Productive Green Space | en_US |
| dc.title | InJustice | en_US |
| dc.title.alternative | How Design Through a Lens of Justice Can Restore Resiliency in Poletown East, Detroit | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
