Identifying structural racism in neighbourhood development policy

Prof. Yasminah Beebeejaun from the Bartlett School of Planning and Architecture, University College London and Eline Hansen Phd, University of Amsterdam, present an introductory discussion on structural racism in urban planning and neighbourhood development policy.

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Urban planning’s role is often seen as neutral in this process. However, the ways in which urban planning understands and frames concepts of ‘culture’, ‘diversity’  and the ‘ethnic/migrant neighbourhood’, cannot be easily disentangled from a European colonial legacy which underlies a series of racial and spatial imaginaries. Urban planning, therefore, plays a significant role in thinking about and executing the ordering of ‘difference’ and notions of belonging within the city. These racial and spatial imaginaries can include ways in which planning policy develops narratives around certain neighbourhoods as being problematic; the ways in which non-white residents are understood as needing special treatment to be allowed to settle in the city which aids and facilitates difficult dialogues; or indeed the ways in which planning engages with cultural difference through the creation of sites of ‘White consumption’ rather than engaging with reality of residents lives. Through a re-examination of the concepts of 'diversity', 'participation' and 'social cohesion'  prof. Beebeejaun and Eline Hansen invite you to think about the role of race and racism in urban planning and development policy.

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Identifying structural racism in neighbourhood development policy

Thursday 10 october

17.00 - 19.30 uur

With catering from the KolenkitKoks

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