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Segregation by Design

@segregation_by_design

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•Documenting how highways & “urban renewal” have divided cities
•Highlighting solutions (aff. housing/transit) & advocates
•By @adam_underscore_paul

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"Highways segregate American cities. Tear them down."

I had the opportunity to write this piece for today’s @nytimes broadly overviewing the racist history of freeway construction and “urban renewal.” Swipe through to see the complete article. (Additionally, link in bio.)

I wanted to take this moment to thank all the folks who follow this project. You all have given me incredible and continuing support, sharing to your friends and neighbors and helping to raise awareness about this monumental and ongoing injustice.

Thank you as well to the many people who have produced the considerable body of work upon which this project is based. I encourage everybody to check out the “sources” story highlight to see a few of them. Without their work this project would simply be impossible.

#urbanism #architecture #urban #urbanismo #city #design #urbandesign #arquitectura #urbanplanning #publictransit #travel #architecturelovers #street #numtot #citylife #archdaily #beforeandafter #cities #urbanlife #antesydespues #transit taken in New York City by @segregation_by_design

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4 years ago

Sugar Hill, formerly the wealthiest Black neighborhood in Los Angeles, was leveled for the construction of the Santa Monica Freeway.

This is a new format I’m trying… it’s a short, narrated video overviewing the history of the neighborhood. Let me know what you think! You can also see the complete video on Youtube (where you can make it full screen and/or see it on desktop), link in bio.

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If you find these posts informative, please consider supporting on Patreon. Link in bio. Many of the images and aerial photos I colorize and remaster aren’t free, so any support goes a long way towards enabling me to make more. Thanks very much to my existing supporters!

#urbanism #architecture #urban #city #arquitectura #urbanplanning #travel #beforeandafter #cities #antesydespues #historia #history #thenandnow #urbanismo #dividedbydesign #smartgrowth #santamonica #california #reparations #aerialphotography #transitmap #transit #pacificelectric #losangeles #trains #dtla taken in Los Angeles, California by @segregation_by_design

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2 years ago

Updated list of cities this project intends to cover. Blue dots indicate cities that I have already at least partially focused on and red dots are ones I eventually intend to cover. This list includes cities that received significant federal and state funds for “slum clearance and urban renewal,” as well as highway projects.

Because of the scale of this project and the nature of acquiring archival imagery and research, if you’re able to please consider supporting SBD on Patreon (link in bio). The historic aerial imagery that forms the basis of many of the animations and graphics I create is generally quite expensive, so any contribution goes a long way towards enabling me to make more.

Thank you very much to my existing supporters, who you can see if you swipe past the list of cities. Their contributions have made this project possible! If you are already a supporter and don’t see your name, be sure to fill out the questionnaire which should’ve been automatically emailed to you when you signed up!

More on Brooklyn coming soon, stay tuned. -Adam

#urbanism #architecture #urban #city #arquitectura #urbanplanning #travel #beforeandafter #cities #antesydespues #transit #historia #history #newyork #creator #thenandnow #patreon #fuckcars #urbanismo taken in New York City by @segregation_by_design

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3 years ago

In “Spatial Justice: The Basics,” Roberto Rocco argues that justice is not only a legal, political, or economic concern, but a fundamentally spatial one. The book offers an introduction to the emerging field of spatial justice, bringing together philosophy, geography, planning theory, and urban practice to show how the ways we organise, govern, and inhabit space shape opportunities, freedoms, democracy, and human flourishing. It is both an accessible guide to the concept and a compelling argument for why spatial justice should become a central concern of planners, designers, and policy-makers.

I highly recommend this book as it directly addresses the question all of us in the urban planning, architecture, and design fields face, which Rocco describes: “How can justice-oriented professionals operate in a world dominated by market logics, competition, and structural inequalities?”

Rocco writes, “Cities, as dense and heterogeneous places where social, economic, and cultural trajectories converge, inherently limit absolute freedom. The scarcity and shared nature of urban resources, such as housing, land, infrastructure, and public goods, require continuous processes of negotiation, allocation, and regulation. But justice is not challenged by the existence of limits themselves. It is challenged by how those limits are drawn, who gets to draw them, and who is forced to live within them.”

“In cities and communities, the concept of spatial justice emerges precisely from this tension, recognising that the urban environment is a shared commons where rights, resources, and responsibilities, both positive and negative, must be fairly distributed. Spatial justice demands that all residents, regardless of socio-economic status, have substantive access to essential urban goods and services: Clean air, affordable and adequate housing, public transport, green and recreational spaces, and safe infrastructures. At the same time, it insists that these rights be pursued in ways that preserve ecological integrity and intergenerational equity.” taken in TU Delft by @segregation_by_design

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24 days ago

Thank you for joining us on June 16th and June 22nd for the first Modeling Community Visions for a Future Without the BQE (MCV) workshops of 2026 at Pave Academy Charter School @pave_redhook and the Van Alen Institute @van_alen. These workshops ask: What If? What if we didn’t have to accept the BQE as a fact of life but a choice to be questioned? What If the future BQE, with freight moved to rail and water, were to become a tree-lined street rather than a six-lane highway that divides and pollutes neighborhoods, what would communities want to do with this newly available ‘land bank'?”⁠
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Participants responded by modifying large scale physical models of the urban fabric along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) in Red Hook/Carroll Gardens. Using a removable kit of parts including buildings, landscapes, and alternatives to the highway, residents worked together to design their future neighborhoods. Their proposals included housing typologies at various scales with retail, industry, schools, libraries, and community spaces along tree-lined streets with resilient landscapes. ⁠
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Many thanks to MCV Team Leader, architect and urban designer Marcus Wilford (IPA Fellow, Fall 2020) @marcuswilford and to our generous collaborators at Pave Academy Charter School, Red Hook West Resident Association, and Van Alen Institute for making these workshops accessible and possible! Special thanks to NYIT School of Architecture and Design’s Fabrication Lab @nyit.architecture and amazing graduate students.⁠
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📸 Photos by Jeannette Sordi. ⁠ by @segregation_by_design

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a month ago

The loss of Title VI is a significant setback in the fight against segregation at the federal level. As with many questions concerning the very moral legitimacy of our government these days, it’s now up to the states, some of whom have local equivalents to Title VI protections (but not great track records of implementation). by @segregation_by_design

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a month ago

Thank you for joining us on June 16th for our Modeling Community Visions for a Future Without the BQE Workshop at PAVE Red Hook!⁠
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Brooklyn residents were invited to modify large scale physical models of the urban fabric along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) in Red Hook/Carroll Gardens. Using a removable kit of parts including buildings, landscapes, and alternatives to the highway, they shared their visions for the future of their neighborhoods. ⁠
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Missed the workshop? We are excited to announce a second workshop next Monday June 22nd at @van_alen! Join us from 6-8pm, doors open at 5:45pm.⁠
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Registration is free and recommended.⁠
Link in bio!⁠
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⁠ by @segregation_by_design

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a month ago

Modeling Community Visions for a Future Without the BQE is a series of free and open to the public community design workshops where Brooklyn residents reimagine their neighborhoods in a vibrant post-BQE future.⁠
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The divisive and polluting BQE, built by Robert Moses from 1937 to 1964, is falling apart. With repairs projected to cost billions of dollars for the triple cantilever alone, community groups have amplified their call for a holistic rethinking of the entire BQE corridor. ⁠
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In 2025, the IPA modeled BQE-adjacent neighborhoods along 3rd Avenue in Sunset Park in partnership with Fifth Avenue Committee and Community Board 7. The project continues this year with modeling workshops in Red Hook & Carroll Gardens, where the BQE runs on an elevated viaduct above Hamilton Avenue before it descends to the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and turns north to become a trench along Hicks Street.⁠
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Join us on Tuesday, June 16th from 6:00-8:00pm (doors open at 5:45) for a free Modeling Community Visions for a Future Without the BQE Workshop at PAVE Red Hook!⁠
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Registration is open and free - link in bio! by @segregation_by_design

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a month ago

At some point, most of us will need help. And when that moment comes, we’ll want a response that meets our need.

Every year, millions of 911 calls are made for mental health crises — and a police officer shows up.

Too often, these calls end in ways no one wanted. Someone in handcuffs, or worse, when what was needed was a counselor.

Cities across the country are building different systems. Denver sends trained mental health responders — not police — to mental health calls. Minneapolis is aiming to divert 20% of its 911 calls to non-police alternative response programs. New Orleans operates a 24/7 mobile crisis intervention unit to handle non-violent behavioral health crises. Durham sends social workers and peer specialists to 911 calls involving behavioral health concerns.

This May, for #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth, we’re proud of our efforts through the 12 Million Calls Initiative to make sure more people in crisis get the right help when they call for it.

These programs already exist. They already work. Supporting them means millions more people — in their most vulnerable moments — will get the support they actually need.

Learn more: https://www.policingproject.org/reimagining-public-safety

Photo 1: Mental health responders in Minneapolis
Photo 2: Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program
Photo 3: Durham’s Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Team (HEART) team members stand in front of their response vehicle (Angela Hollowell for Tradeoffs)
Photo 4: New Orleans Mobile Crisis Intervention Unit team members
Photo 5: Minneapolis safety ambassadors standing in front of the Lake Street Safety Center by @segregation_by_design

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2 months ago

New York is overdue to make a decision on the future of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. So, which way, Mayor Mamdani? Double down on the insanely bad ideas of the Robert Moses era, or chart a new course? This clip is part of City Nerd’s longer exploration of the BQE’s on-the-ground impact, which is available online: “Transportation as Atrocity: A Brief Investigation.” taken in Brooklyn Queens Expressway by @segregation_by_design

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2 months ago

UPDATE: The North Carolina Department of Transportation's pause on the I-77 expansion until June is a step in the right direction. Now let’s make it count with a transparent process where community input drives real outcomes and viable alternatives are openly considered.

The State of North Carolina has a choice to make: It can repair the harms of the past or repeat them. taken in Charlotte, North Carolina by @segregation_by_design

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2 months ago

Infrastructure isn’t neutral. Policing Project at NYU School of Law Executive Director Max Markham sits down with @aclu_nationwide President @deborahnarcher to discuss how historical infrastructure choices created “Dividing Lines” in our communities—and how those choices led to the over-policing of Black neighborhoods today.

Drawing from the Policing Project and ACLU’s new joint report, “Safe Roads for All,” Max and Deborah explore why traditional traffic enforcement often fails to make us safer and how we can transition toward safer streets that prioritize civil rights and road safety simultaneously.

Read our blog about the Safe Roads for All report at the link in our bio. taken in NYU School of Law by @segregation_by_design

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3 months ago