The United States has a long and insidious history of erecting structures to control the movements of African Americans in urban and suburban spaces.

Chat Travieso writes about the history of walls and other barriers—fences, barricades, buffer strips—that have been used to segregate communities in cities across the country. "Under pretexts of traffic control, crime prevention, and protection of property values, municipalities from Florida to New York to California continue, into the present century, to block streets along Black-white neighborhood borders — and in so doing to further harden racial divisions, facilitate police intimidation, and force Black residents to take circuitous routes to get to work and school and to fulfill other daily needs."
Travieso has been mapping and documenting these representations of racial inequality manifested in the built environment. He recounts the histories of these structures, many of which still exist in some form, and their long-term impacts:
In Melbourne, Florida, a half-mile concrete wall separating the predominantly white Sunwood Park from the majority African-American Booker T. Washington area continues to block a direct path to the elementary school. The developer of Sunwood Park built the wall in 1959 in opposition to the county’s plan to construct a public-housing project. But, as I was told in 2019 by a community member named Pauline Clark, "to this day, no school buses come around here."
Private developers, civic authorities, and white homeowners were all complicit in using these barriers to segregate and disenfranchise African Americans. While their removal is one response, some communities have chosen to acknowledge the barriers as relics of racism and to reclaim the past through plaques, murals, and historic designations, says Travieso.
FULL STORY: A Nation of Walls

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

Portland Raises Parking Fees to Pay for Street Maintenance
The city is struggling to bridge a massive budget gap at the Bureau of Transportation, which largely depleted its reserves during the Civd-19 pandemic.

Spokane Mayor Introduces Housing Reforms Package
Mayor Lisa Brown’s proposals include deferring or waiving some development fees to encourage more affordable housing development.

Houston Mayor Kills Another Bike Lane
The mayor rejected a proposed bike lane in the Montrose district in keeping with his pledge to maintain car lanes.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont