Segregation by Design

Cities from unusual angles... specifically, centered on the river. One of the purposes of this project is to show cities from a metaphorical “new angle,” revealing how policy has shaped the built environment in deliberate and pernicious ways. On the other hand, these images show cities from a new angle literally. In doing so, they partially demonstrate how the built environment interacts with the natural environment at the urban scale, and vice versa, while also revealing different approaches across cities. What do you notice?

For me, it is interesting to observe where planners acted to overcome existing geographic features (e.g. Chicago, where the grid dutifully continues even as the river cuts diagonally across) versus where they built seemingly in concert with it (e.g. Philadelphia). It is also interesting to see cases where a clear lack of any coherent plan has left waterfront development up to a patchwork of private actors and disparate agencies, resulting in a haphazard, fractured, and somewhat random relationship with the water (e.g. Cleveland).

Viewing urban waterways like this, especially in cases with no coherent plan, I think about the thousands of individual development decisions over the years which, taken on their own, didn’t have the capacity to fundamentally alter the natural force of the river. But decades of these small decisions build up—small course changes, more and more sources of pollution, channelization, etc—to make these rivers ultimately something more man-made than natural. I guess this is a fairly obvious point (especially as I sit writing this in the Netherlands of all places).

Finally, even though they have become something man-made, these waterways still fundamentally shape the layout of cities in ways that we often can’t perceive at all at ground level. So, anyway, thought these were cool. Saw a reddit post the other day with a similar angle of Chicago.

December update of “Reconnecting Communities” news, which focuses on recent developments relating to overcoming discriminatory urbanism (link in bio to individual articles). Like last time, developments are arrayed along two axes: one axis which positions an item based on whether it represents progress towards reconnection, or the opposite; and another axis which (for better or worse) compares whether an item represents transformative change vs. something more ingrained in the status quo.

On the “Reconnecting” side are developments which are progress away from the legacy of “Segregation by Design.” These include projects which advance spatial justice, such as large-scale infrastructure redesigns for more equitable mobility/land-use/housing, legal victories for affected communities, reparative actions, etc. On the other hand, “Disconnection” is defined as items that are further retrenchment of exclusionary urban design and environmental r acism.

Items on the “Transformative” half are developments that move away from present systems and procedures, potentially resulting in fundamental shifts to existing institutions and practices (again, for better or worse). This includes news involving novel legal arguments, funding mechanisms, infrastructure and design approaches, etc., or which indicate structural/long-term shifts to present institutions. On the other hand, “Status Quo” developments involve making use of established processes and represent less radical departures from existing systems (or, are potentially transformative projects which are still early in the development phase, and whose potential impact is difficult to determine).

**Links to the individual articles referenced are available at the link in bio.**

If you find these posts informative, please consider supporting on Patreon (link also in bio). Thanks very much to my existing supporters.

This is not meant to be a scientific ranking or exhaustive list. Please let me know in the comments what I may have missed.

Astoria, Queens, before-and-after construction of I-278 (including the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway). Designed by Robert Moses, construction of the BQE displaced tens of thousands of people across the two boroughs. Join us next week at the NYU Kimmel Center for a final screening of “The Story of the BQE,” a short documentary which tells this story in depth through archival footage and expert interviews, produced by and the and which I directed. Opening remarks will be delivered by Polly Trottenberg (.trottenberg), Dean of the NYU Wagner School of Public Service, former Deputy Secretary of USDOT, and former Commissioner of NYCDOT.

*Link in bio to registration and more information. Tickets are free but space is limited due to capacity restraints.*

This event is hosted by the Regional Plan Association (), New York’s independent Regional Planning organization and thinktank. For over 100 years, the RPA has developed highly influential research and planning proposals that have guided the Tri-State Area’s infrastructural expansion—including many of the highway plans subsequently executed by Robert Moses throughout the 1930s-70s. Moses, however, distorted the RPA’s original plans: whereas they had called for highways in conjunction with an equivalent investment in mass transit, Moses built only highways while actively blocking transit expansion (1). Learn more about this history and its lasting effects at our event Wednesday. Link in bio.

This event (as well as the past screenings) is part of the Institute for Public Architecture’s mutli-year project, BQE 2053, focused on working with the communities along the corridor to reimagine the future of the BQE. This project seeks to support leaders, activists, and community members across the city who are fighting to redesign the highway for a more equitable future. More info at https://instituteforpublicarchitecture.org/bqe2053

(1) Regional Plan Association (2023). “History: Regional Plans.” https://rpa.org/history/regional-plans (accessed 29 October 2025).