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How Race Shapes the American City

From public spaces to mass transit, housing to architecture, American cities have rarely been reflective of the people who live there.

Aric Jenkins

Read when you’ve got time to spare.

Decades of discriminatory policy and planning decisions have kept many American urban centers segregated and inequitable. In this curated reading list, Fortune staff writer Aric Jenkins examines how race continues to shape the design and infrastructure of American cities—from public spaces to mass transit, housing to architecture—and considers solutions to help make cities more reflective of the people who live there.

Image by Grandfailure/Getty Images

America’s Cities Were Designed to Oppress

Architects and planners have an obligation to protect health, safety and welfare through the spaces we design. As the George Floyd protests reveal, we’ve failed.

The Latent Racism of the Better Homes in America Program

How Better Homes in America—a collaboration between Herbert Hoover and the editor of a conservative women’s magazine—promoted idealized whiteness.

The Criminalization of Gentrifying Neighborhoods

Areas that are changing economically often draw more police—creating conditions for more surveillance and more potential misconduct.

Whose Streets? Black Streets

Planners and urbanists, it’s time to reckon with the racism rampant in city building. Here are four actions to take.

America’s Unfair Rules of the Road

How our transportation system discriminates against the most vulnerable.

Urban Density: Confronting the Distance Between Desire and Disparity

Placemaker and author Jay Pitter argues for an equity-based understanding of urban density during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

America Is More Diverse Than Ever—But Still Segregated

The United States is on track to be a majority-minority nation by 2044. But Census data show most of our neighbors are the same race.

Nine Ideas for Making Our City’s Public Space More Race Equitable

Conversations in the world of design and urban planning can often get tied up on issues such as bike lanes and height limits, without considering the larger inequities our cities perpetuate — such as the ways in which the public space is policed.

Un-Making Architecture

An anti-racist architecture manifesto.

Aric Jenkins

Aric Jenkins is an articles editor at The Ringer, where he covers pop culture and sports. He has previously worked as a staff writer at Fortune and Time. A Philadelphia native, Jenkins now resides in Brooklyn and spends his free time watching soccer, taking film photographs, and reading about medieval history.