Urban Planning by Other Means: The Struggle for Racial Justice in Twentieth-Century Halifax

Ted Rutland, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment, Concordia University

Abstract

The question of racial justice is most often ignored in processes of urban planning – perhaps because it appears to be a social, rather than physical/spatial concern. This talk presents a different view. Drawing on research in Halifax, Ted Rutland shows how modern urban planning has always been a social and spatial enterprise, how racial injustice has been integral to modern planning, and how Halifax-area Black communities have fought to define an alternative vision of the city and city planning.

Ted Rutland is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment at Concordia University. His research examines the racial politics of urban planning, policing, and community organizing in Canadian cities. He is the author of the 2018 book, Displacing Blackness: Planning, Power, and Race in Twentieth-Century Halifax.