How to Adopt Long-Term Anti-Racism Solutions as an Urbanist

When first encountering the term "urbanism," Nic Esposito went to work to uncover the implications of the word. In Esposito's reading, the term implies that "by identifying as an urbanist, you somehow know what’s good for other communities which you are not a part of. This is the exact mindset that drives white supremacy and has driven flawed city planning policy, such as urban renewal and broken windows policing."

Esposito noticed the ties between capitalist priorities, racial injustice, and the work of urbanists and asked, "What if urbanism itself is perpetuating systemic racism?"

In the past, urbanists have favored a mindset that elevates the commercial corridor, placing the highest value on infrastructure that can help turn a profit, says Esposito.  The truth of the matter is that not every community can afford to support such a district and, furthermore, not every community wants one. 

Urbanists and urban planners need to reconceptualize their work in the context of recent Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests, what Esposito calls an "anti-racist reframe." "If urbanists are able to influence policy and political decisions on the city level, then they owe it to our entire community to completely reevaluate what urbanism is and how its brand of intellectualism, policy and design really just puts a nice aesthetic on a racist system."