Planning concepts like “eye’s on the streets” inherently villainize Black bodies and are highly dependent on surveillance as well as the presence of law enforcement, and this is just one of the ways that urban planning is implicated in the over-policing of Black neighborhoods. This episode anayzes the planning policies that serve as the drivers of gentrification that displace and criminalize Black residents. For the purposes of this episode, gentrification is defined as “a profit-driven racial and class reconfiguration of urban, working-class and communities of color that have suffered from a history of disinvestment and abandonment. The process is characterized by declines in the number of low-income, people of color in neighborhoods that begin to cater to higher-income workers willing to pay higher rents. Gentrification is driven by private developers, landlords, businesses, and corporations, and supported by the government through policies that facilitate the process of displacement, often in the form of public subsidies. Gentrification happens in areas where commercial and residential land is cheap, relative to other areas in the city and region, and where the potential to turn a profit either through repurposing existing structures or building new ones is great” (Causa Justa :: Just Cause 2015). Because of its connection to maximizing profit from increased land values, gentrification requires privatized spatial securitization as well as increased policing from law enforcement agencies. 

How can we invest in Black neighborhoods in ways that do not displace or criminalize Black people? This episode examines the planning policies that promote gentrification in Black communities that disrupt neighborhood ecosystems. Although gentrification is experienced at the neighborhood level, we also discuss how global capital influences planning policies and fuels gentrification through real estate investments. The episode illustrates how communities are resisting gentrification and explores strategies to administer neighborhood “improvements'' without displacing or criminalizing Black residents. Finally, the episode challenges the existing perceptions of “expertise” and underscores the importance of localized knowledge and lived experiences of neighborhood residents. 

We speak with Antionette Carroll and Dr. Brandi T. Summers to hear about their lived experiences and how their work has supported resistance efforts against gentrification in their communities. They provide examples of how these efforts play out in practice and talk through some of the theoretical underpinnings of gentrification. These interviews were recorded in February 2020.