Design Against Division: The Relationship Between Urban Segregation and Urban Form
PI: Gunnar Gierschke
Advisor: Dr. Yi Luo
University of Florida
Department of Landscape Architecture
Affiliated since June 2024
Introduction
Urban segregation refers to the spatial separation of different groups of people within a city based on ethnicity, race, and other socioeconomic factors. Urban form encompasses the physical design and spatial organization of a city that defines an urban environment. Urban segregation in the United States has often arisen from racially unjust historical policies passed at the local, state, and federal levels. Many of these have had repercussions on the urban form of cities and which continue to perpetuate urban segregation long after legal segregation was outlawed.
Delving Deeper
The objective of this research is to investigate how the spatial configuration and architectural design of urban areas possess the ability to either reinforce or dismantle patterns of segregation, allowing for the identification of universally applicable design interventions and policies to facilitate the cultivation of a more inclusive and beneficial urban milieu.
The preservation of segregation can bring ramifications to urban communities’ potential economic and social prosperity by engendering further isolation and disenfranchisement among minority communities, thereby increasing disparities in access to fundamental services such as food, healthcare, and education. These limitations further impede opportunities for sustained economic growth, fostering a concentration of poverty within marginalized communities. To help end this vicious cycle, it becomes imperative to analyze the consequences of urban form on communities at the domestic level. ​
Responsibilities and Methods
The objective of this research will be achieved through a multifaceted approach. Firstly, a comprehensive literature review will be conducted to analyze and critique the historical evolution of municipality planning structures and guidelines, emphasizing their ramifications on the urban fabric and their broader regional context. Thus contextualizing their roles in either perpetuating or mitigating trends of urban segregation. Secondly, a selective case study will review specific urban settings within the United States that exemplify instances of urban form demonstrated to be either conducive or deterrent to urban segregation. This case study will involve a series of systematic analyses encompassing several communities' historical development, functional viability, physical form, and uses within an urban region, followed by a comprehensive comparative assessment of the communities, with the aim of further understanding disparities within a multiregional context and highlighting prospective remedial solutions present in other urban environments, clarifying the role urban form has in shaping such outcomes. Lastly, a synthesis of the information captured in these reviews and studies will be incorporated into the formation of standardized practices and design interventions that may be applied across urban contexts. Ultimately, the implementation of these strategies aims to reduce urban segregation, fostering a more inclusive and beneficial urban milieu conducive to the integrated growth of all communities within the urban landscape.