Toward a More Inclusive Planning Process

Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson raises the issue that there are not enough minorities representing the communities that planners and designers strive to make better.

1 minute read

February 7, 2012, 7:00 AM PST

By Judy Chang


In architecture, landscape design, and urban planning, minorities and women are often underrepresented. The answer, at least for one Detroit school: start young.

"[Michelle] White helms a school aimed at giving Detroit's public school students exposure and access to design thinking and the profession. The curriculum was developed in partnership with design firm IDEO and Stanford's d.school and uses design and the arts as a foundation. Students spend the academic year solving a design challenge that carries across all subjects and out into the city itself. Seventh graders have created a new community garden and a series of public service announcements on bullying. Eleventh graders focus on entrepreneurship, with many of their design prototypes raising funds for Detroit nonprofits."

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