SHARING MORE THAN SPACE - Ash Center · public spaces—the streets of large, dense cities come to...

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SHARING MORE THAN SPACE SOCIAL INTEGRATION ON A DIVERSE URBAN COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR EAMON O’CONNOR • HARVARD UNIVERSITY • 2018-2019 1

Transcript of SHARING MORE THAN SPACE - Ash Center · public spaces—the streets of large, dense cities come to...

Page 1: SHARING MORE THAN SPACE - Ash Center · public spaces—the streets of large, dense cities come to mind, as do sporting events—but we largely live and recreate apart. Most American

SHARING MORE THAN SPACESOCIAL INTEGRATION ON A DIVERSE URBAN COMMERCIAL CORRIDOREAMON O’CONNOR • HARVARD UNIVERSITY • 2018-2019

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PREFACE

PROBLEM DEFINITION

RESEARCH QUESTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

CONCLUSIONS

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PREFACE

PROBLEM DEFINITION

RESEARCH QUESTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

CONCLUSIONS

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Why explore the state of interracial integration?

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PERSONAL belief in equity and fairness, and the power of place to bring us together across identities

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Why explore the state of interracial integration?

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PROFESSIONAL interest in the interplay between structures and behaviors in our neighborhoods

PERSONAL belief in equity and fairness, and the power of place to bring us together across identities

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Why explore the state of interracial integration?

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PUBLIC responsibility to move the needle toward deep integration, despite persistent setbacks

PROFESSIONAL interest in the interplay between structures and behaviors in our neighborhoods

PERSONAL belief in equity and fairness, and the power of place to bring us together across identities

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PREFACE

PROBLEM DEFINITION

RESEARCH QUESTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

CONCLUSIONS

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Integration is not a new challenge

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Court orders and federal enforcement agencies are of inestimable value in achieving desegregation, but desegregation is only a partial, though

necessary, step toward the final goal which we seek to realize, genuine intergroup and interpersonal living. Desegregation will break down the legal

barriers and bring men together physically, but something must touch the hearts and souls of men so that they will come together spiritually because it is

natural and right. A vigorous enforcement of civil rights will bring an end to segregated public facilities, but it cannot bring an end to fears, prejudice, pride

and irrationality, which are the barriers to a truly integrated society. These dark and demonic responses will be removed only as men are possessed by the

invisible inner law which etches on their hearts the conviction that all men are brothers and that love is mankind's most potent weapon for personal and social

transformation. True integration will be achieved by men who are willingly obedient to unenforceable obligations.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. | 1967

THEN

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Decades after King’s words, we still struggle

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Following this dictum, the remarkable power of White supremacy to endure formal desegregation indicates that Whites have thus far proven unwilling or unable to make their own sacrifices even as Blacks have willingly served as integration pioneers, confronting hostile White parents at the entrance to schools, suspicious White neighbors in middle-class neighborhoods, and racially insensitive White co-workers and bosses in the workplace. This is why Sheryll Cashin (2005) appeals specifically to Whites to “view integrated or majority-minority neighborhoods or schools as viable options” (p. 194). It is reasonable, then, and not simply an objectionable retreat from the moral obligation to integrate, for Blacks to await more promising signs that White America is ready to sacrifice as well for the sake of integration. Otherwise, their efforts at integration run the risk of producing only a pseudo-integration that isolates them without significant power in majority-White spaces and institutions that do not treat them with respect. (21)

SHARON STANLEY | 2015

NO

W

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Integration demands work from top and bottom

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STRUCTURAL

BEHAVIORAL

DEEP INTEGRATION?

Who holds power?What laws do we craft?How do we distribute resources?

Where do you live, work, learn, and play?Who do you interact with?How do you hold yourself and others accountable?

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And divisions by race directly tie to this interplay

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STRUCTURAL

BEHAVIORAL

DEEP INTEGRATION?

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This is part of a longtime reality of racial division

Despite Brown v. Board and the civil rights laws that followed it in later decades, our schools and

neighborhoods are still decidedly segregated. The various races and ethnic groups may come into contact in the world of work and in some diverse public spaces—the streets of large, dense cities

come to mind, as do sporting events—but we largely live and recreate apart. Most American children learn apart. Race is still a fault line in America.

SHERYLL CASHIN | 2005

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This is part of a longtime reality of racial division

Despite Brown v. Board and the civil rights laws that followed it in later decades, our schools and

neighborhoods are still decidedly segregated. The various races and ethnic groups may come into contact in the world of work and in some diverse public spaces—the streets of large, dense cities

come to mind, as do sporting events—but we largely live and recreate apart. Most American children learn apart. Race is still a fault line in America.

SHERYLL CASHIN | 2005

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Structural progress

creates more mixing,

but not meaningfully so.

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PREFACE

PROBLEM DEFINITION

RESEARCH QUESTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

CONCLUSIONS

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How can a more fine-grained understanding of the types and conditions of interracial interactions incommercial corridors inform more successful integration efforts in planning, policy, and design?

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How can a more fine-grained understanding of the types and conditions of interracial interactions incommercial corridors inform more successful integration efforts in planning, policy, and design?

EXPLORING BEHAVIORAL DYNAMICS

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We tend to think about segregation from the top

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STRUCTURAL

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But so much of segregation is shaped by choice

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BEHAVIORAL

“”There’s this whole process … that’s informed by your social network and the perceptions that you have about your metropolitan area.

(KRYSAN & CROWDER, 2015)

Our federal and local housing policies have not seriously addressed microlevel social segregation, and we need research to better understand the mechanisms and conditions within mixed-race, mixed-income communities that bring people together.

(HYRA, 2015)

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How can a more fine-grained understanding of the types and conditions of interracial interactions incommercial corridors inform more successful integration efforts in planning, policy, and design?

RESEARCHING AN UNDERSTUDIED TYPOLOGY

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Study of neighborhoods can address this tension

STRUCTURAL

BEHAVIORAL

Studying neighborhoods affords an investigation of structural factors that enable segregation or integration, as well as behaviors that reproduce conditions of integration or segregation at human scale.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

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And specifically, corridors are a dynamic casean observable interplay between structural forces like policy, public investment, and the market, and behavioral forces like consumer choice and leisure time

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a tendency toward high proximity and spontaneousencounter, with potential for deeper engagement

the presence of third spaces like communitycenters, libraries, cafés and laundromats that serve as neighborhood gathering spots

a diverse mix of uses, from private to public, from workspace to retail, from residential to open space

A STRUCTURAL-BEHAVIORAL INTERPLAY

A SPECTRUM OF ENCOUNTERS

A CONVENING FORCE FOR COMMUNITY

A DIVERSE MIX OF USES AND PROGRAM

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How can a more fine-grained understanding of the types and conditions of interracial interactions incommercial corridors inform more successful integration efforts in planning, policy, and design?

STRIVING FOR DEEP SOCIAL INTEGRATION

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SEGREGATION INTEGRATIONIntegrating is not a

linear process

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Integration policy alone is not a silver bullet. To create true integration, any intervention must promote:

Sustained INTERACTION, rather than mere exposure, to build trust and networks

JUSTICE, rather than mere diversity, to correct

for historic inequities

A respect for ENCLAVES that lend cultural vitality and psychological safety

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More balanced POWER dynamics to foster

equitable representation

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Informed by these principles, a study of interaction across racial lines will help humanize otherwise

abstracted research and practice on integration.

Sustained INTERACTION, rather than mere exposure, to build trust and networks

JUSTICE, rather than mere diversity, to correct

for historic inequities

A respect for ENCLAVES that lend cultural vitality and psychological safety

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More balanced POWER dynamics to foster

equitable representation

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PREFACE

PROBLEM DEFINITION

RESEARCH QUESTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

CONCLUSIONS

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RACIAL INTEGRATION

Krysan, Maria, and Kyle Crowder. Cycle of Segregation: Social Processes and Residential Stratification. Russell Sage Foundation, 2017.Cashin, Sheryll. The Failures Of Integration: How Race and Class Are Undermining the American Dream. New York; Oxford: PublicAffairs, 2005.Stanley, Sharon. “The Enduring Challenge of Racial Integration in the United States.” Du Bois Review; Cambridge 12, no. 1 (Spring 2015): 5–24.

http://dx.doi.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.1017/S1742058X14000320.

SPATIAL INTERACTION

Wessel, Terje. “DOES DIVERSITY IN URBAN SPACE ENHANCE INTERGROUP CONTACT AND TOLERANCE?” Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 91, no. 1 (2009): 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0467.2009.00303.x.

Shinew, Kimberly J., Troy D. Glover, and Diana C. Parry. “Leisure Spaces as Potential Sites for Interracial Interaction: Community Gardens in Urban Areas.” Journal of Leisure Research; Urbana 36, no. 3 (Third Quarter 2004): 336–55.

Gobster, Paul H., and Usda Forest Service. “Managing Urban Parks for a Racially and Ethnically Diverse Clientele.” Leisure Sci, 2002, 143–159.

RACIAL BIAS & INTERACTION

Dovidio, J. F., S. L. Gaertner, K. L. Kawakami, and G. Hodson. “Why Can’t We Just Get along? Interpersonal Biases and Interracial Distrust,” 2002, 88–9809.

Kahn, Jonathan. Race on the Brain: What Implicit Bias Gets Wrong About the Struggle for Racial Justice. Columbia University Press, 2017.Williams, J. Allen. “Reduction of Tension through Intergroup Contact: A Social Psychological Interpretation.” Sociological Perspectives 7, no. 2 (1964):

81–88. https://doi.org/10.2307/1388531.

COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS

Bay, Mia, and Ann Fabian. Race and Retail: Consumption across the Color Line. Rutgers Studies in Race and Ethnicity. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2015. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebookbatch.PMUSE_batch:20170722muse45518.

Davis, Dingel, and Morales Monras. “How Segregated Is Urban Consumption?,” n.d., 105.Woo, Tenhoor, Meredith Tenhoor, and Rosten Woo. Street Value: Shopping, Planning, and Politics at Fulton Mall. New York: Princeton Architectural

Press, 2010.

SOURCES FOR LITERATURE REVIEW

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http://dx.doi.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.1017/S1742058X14000320
http://dx.doi.org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.1017/S1742058X14000320
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0467.2009.00303.x
https://doi.org/10.2307/1388531
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebookbatch.PMUSE_batch:20170722muse45518
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PREFACE

PROBLEM DEFINITION

RESEARCH QUESTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

CONCLUSIONS

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PROGRAM How do different

uses and activitiestake shape?

PLACE How do different spatial dynamics

take shape?

PEOPLE How do interactions and encounters take

shape?

elements of a corridor

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A range of uses …

CORRIDORS

COMMUNITY CENTERS

LIBRARIES

LAUNDROMATS

HEALTH CENTERS

SIDEWALKS

BODEGAS

POCKET PARKS

CAFESFITNESS

SHOPSRESTAURANTS & BARS

BANKSOFFICES

APARTMENTS

BARBERS & SALONS

private public

PROGRAM

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… with a range of spatial dynamics …

BUILDINGSHeight, style, quality

PLACE

Image via SFGate

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… with a range of spatial dynamics …

SIDEWALKSWidth, grade, condition

PLACE

Image via SFGate

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… with a range of spatial dynamics …

STREETSWidth, lanes/modes, traffic

PLACE

Image via SFGate

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… with a range of spatial dynamics …

GREENERY & OPEN SPACEPlant life, size, program

PLACE

Image via SFGate

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… with a range of spatial dynamics …

TRANSITMode, frequency

PLACE

Image via SFGate

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… with a range of spatial dynamics …

STREET FURNITURESeating, tables, gameboards

PLACE

Image via SFGate

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… with a range of spatial dynamics …

INFRASTRUCTURELighting, wastebins

PLACE

Image via SFGate

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… with a range of spatial dynamics …

STOREFRONTFacade, porosity, vacancy, signage

PLACE

Image via SFGate

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… which spur different human interactions

Social or transactional?

Recognition, friendliness, or relationship?

For how long?

Among whom?

Where? (e.g., digital)

At what time of day and year?

PROGRAM

INTERACTION

TYPE

DEPTH

LENGTH

ACTORS

LOCATION

TIME

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PROGRAM PLACE PEOPLE

Understanding all three of these factors may help us movetoward more meaningful social integration from the ground up

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PREFACE

PROBLEM DEFINITION

RESEARCH QUESTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

CONCLUSIONS

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Interviews varied by race, tenure, and price point

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Each interview centered on three key topic areas

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I. II. III.EXPERIENCE WITHTHE NEIGHBORHOOD

EVALUATION OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION LEVELS

PROSPECTS FOR SOCIAL INTEGRATION

How long ago did you move? What drew you here?

What do you love most about your neighborhood? How has this evolved over time?

Where do you tend to socialize in the neighborhood?

What does it mean for a neighborhood to not just be diverse, but to be socially integrated?

How does this neighborhood stack up? By race? By class?

Where do you see segregation or integration by race or by class? What about these places creates this perception / condition?

What would your ideal vision of social integration look like on the corridor?

What actions need to be taken, by whom, to get there?

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A detailed interview protocol guided discussions

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PREFACE

PROBLEM DEFINITION

RESEARCH QUESTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

CONCLUSIONS

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Analysis followed a three-part flow

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TRANSCRIBE CODE SCRIPT

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PEOPLE | Behaviors, choices

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PEOPLE 86 42.16%Neighborliness 32 15.69%Local Patronage 24 11.76%Small Business Owner Connections 18 8.82%Community & Organizing 9 4.41%Short-Term Rentals 3 1.47%

"Simple things need to happen that probably wouldn’t happen — the simplest being greeting each other."

"I try really hard to go to those rather than to go online — I haven’t shopped on Amazon in a couple months."

"Sometimes when you go into black-owned businesses, you might think, only black people are going to come in and support. There have been all types of people who support these businesses, which is really helpful."

"There’s a lot of new business here. We get along like family, we know each other, we talk every day."

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PROGRAM | Uses, activities

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PROGRAM 61 29.90%Business Operations 38 18.63%Civic Participation 7 3.43%Shared, Recurring Experiences 6 2.94%Community Event Space 5 2.45%Public Events 5 2.45%

"I opened this restaurant and I keep operating ... with [third-wave] coffee, pretty high-end ... and yet I maintain my one-dollar cup of coffee."

“It’s very easy for us to recruit people for like, a cocktail hour about gentrification, we can get a hundred people to that, but when we offer them the opportunity to show up at a school or do a project at an anti-violence organization run by people of color, it’s much harder to get them.”

"I see people in the same studio and on the dance floor with people that live in their building from a different background that they might never interact with, that they never talk to. ... After the dance classes, I see them making dates and plans."

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PLACE | Space, design

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PLACE 43 21.08%Storefront Design 21 10.29%Street / Stoop Culture 8 3.92%Neighborhood Built Form 6 2.94%Parks 5 2.45%Transit 3 1.47%

“At one cafe that's pretty integrated, theres tables that are connected, so you might be next to people that you don’t know, which is cool but it still feels like you’re interacting with the people you came with but you’re still around people that you don’t know. I like that.”

"My block is very special. In the summer there’s obviously a lot more activity on the stoops —everybody hanging out with wine."

“If you’re out in Bushwick, nobody’s going to stand up to you because why would they care about this old warehouse becoming a luxury condo. Here it’s like, well that block used to be something, so it’s a little bit harder.”

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POLICY | Regulations, laws

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POLICY 14 6.86%Housing Regulation 6 2.94%Business Regulation 4 1.96%Schools 3 1.47%City Tax Incentives 1 0.49%

“Making sure that housing development is checked ... you can’t just do a ton of high-rise condos. It’s just going to start pricing people out.”

“There has to be a cap in rents and in the amount of certain stores ... You will walk around and see seven, eight stores empty on one block, just because people sell online, people buy online, people don’t walk on the street, there’s no more foot traffic.”

“I think it’s getting worse. Because in New York everyone moves out when you’re 28 because the schools are terrible. So when you’re older and you want to have a family, everyone leaves again.”

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These themes guided script and film production

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PREFACE

PROBLEM DEFINITION

RESEARCH QUESTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

ANALYTIC FRAMEWORK

DATA COLLECTION

ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

CONCLUSIONS

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Eight factors are found to foster social integrationPEOPLE

1. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORGreetings / RelationshipsSimply greeting and knowing neighbors is a first step to promoting social integration — but not necessarily achieved easily.

2. SHOW UP FOR YOUR NEIGHBORPatronage / Promotion / ParticipationActively participating in the community as a resident or a business means supporting local commerce and causes.

PROGRAM

3. STAY LOCAL TO STAY IN BUSINESSProduct / Pricing / HiringSmall businesses help set the tone — building community and serving as portals for basic goods and services.

4. GET TOGETHER, GET HUMANShared Purpose / Recurring EngagementShared, recurring experiences can help multiracial communities let a guard down and find common purpose — from dance to politics.

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PLACE

5. BUILD FRIENDLY STOREFRONTSFaçades / Interior Design / AmbianceFacades can send signals of who is welcome where, and storefront interiors facilitate social mixing through design and ambiance.

6. DESIGN FOR DENSE, SOCIAL STREETSDensity & Character / Social Street FeaturesThe area’s dense urban form and social street life helped to sustain some diversity and social integration, compared to peer areas.

POLICY

7. HELP BUSINESSES PLAY THEIR ROLERents / Tenant Mix / Access to ServicesStable rents, tenant mix, and streamlined access to government services can help small businesses serve as community anchors.

8. GIVE MEANS & REASONS TO STAYHousing / SchoolsSustaining social integration starts with sustained diversity in residents — which means ensuring access to housing and schools.

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APPENDIX

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NYC

Via The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/segregation-us-cities/
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NYC • Nostrand Avenue • Crown Heights

Via The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/segregation-us-cities/
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SECONDHAND NEWS

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conflict

community

or both?

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SOUTHERN SPAN NORTHERN SPAN

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GENERAL ● Sociospatial divide. The area north of Eastern Parkway was far more integrated and diverse (and, perhaps, further along in the gentrification journey), whereas the area south of Eastern Parkway was more heavily West Indian in its demographics and local businesses.

● Historically black neighborhood — in many ways. There was a pluralistic definition of black — or at least a community desire to make it so. The Black Lady Theatre included a mural on Mother Africa, bringing together African, African-American, and West Indian black communities.

● A neighborhoody, welcoming atmosphere. The neighborhood felt much more approachable, friendly, and integrated than I expected it to — business owners and even people on the street were willing to engage in conversation and volunteer contact information.

● Old and new not defined as black and white. The “old” vs. “new” dynamics along the corridor didn’t seem defined squarely by race — most of the new businesses were black-owned.

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PEOPLE How do interactions take shape?

● Moderate segregation in gathering spots. Third spaces were segregated somewhat by race. Informal counts of patronage at a few spots seemed to indicate heavily white clienteles in newer businesses, with a higher black clienteles in “old-guard” businesses (save Summerhill).

● Moderate interaction in public realm. Interaction in the public realm was moderate — I observed occasional chats on the street (e.g., run-ins, people waiting outside cafés, etc.), with lots of activity around street vendor locations.

● Tight social integration among West Indian and Hasidic communities. I observed tight social integration among the West Indian and Hasidic communities — consistent with desire for enclaves — particularly south of Eastern Parkway.

● Neighborhood-serving, visitor-lite. I did not sense there were too many visitors in the area — it seemed to be very neighborhood-serving, generally.

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PROGRAM How do different uses take shape?

● Gathering spaces in many forms. The most active were: brunch spots / cafes, barbers and salons, bars, street vendors, theater spaces.

● Variety in functional and leisure uses. There was a strong mix of neighborhood-serving businesses — mostly functional (e.g., cafes, bodegas, health centers) with some more “splurgey” (e.g., boutiques, shops).

● Community-conscious new businesses. Newcomers seemed to be very community-oriented, very inclusive, and focused on honoring the history of the neighborhood (e.g., through art, community events, naming).

● Strong black-owned business cohort. Most of the newer businesses I encountered were black- or minority-owned — which is generally unusual in gentrifying neighborhoods.

● Reclaiming a contested space. One bar / restaurant, Summerhill, which faced protests upon opening for fetishizing violence (e.g., maintaining a bullet-hole-ridden wall) and appropriating certain elements of black culture (e.g., ‘40-oz Rosé’) seems to have since been reclaimed by the black community in the neighborhood. Multiple times when I passed by the space, nearly all its clientele was black (high compared to other establishments).

● Emphasis on community postings. Many local businesses had ample space for community postings — which generally seemed reflective of the neighborhood’s diversity, from arts and crafts nights to spiritual gatherings to refugee support events.

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PLACE How do different spatial elements take shape?

● Commercial spine, residential vertebrae. The corridor was the main commercial center of the neighborhood, with perpendicular cross-streets almost purely residential — this created a lot of concentrated foot traffic and activity.

● Medium building height. The corridor was somewhat consistently filled with 4-5-storey buildings.● High-density commercial. High-density, porous commercial storefronts made for a diverse mix of

businesses (e.g., bodegas, theaters, cafes, etc.).● Moderate disrepair. There was some disrepair in signage and building quality.● Vacancy-lite. There were very few vacancies along the corridor (maybe 5-10 on the northern span — one

of which had experienced fire damage, it seemed).● Clean public realm. Streets and sidewalks were generally clean, and trashcans were available every

block-and-a-half or so.● Transit-accessible. A subway station (Nostrand Ave) on the Eastern Parkway end, an elevated subway

station (Atlantic Ave) on the northern end at the Bed-Stuy border, and a bus line that ran down the street made for ample access.

● Limited bike activity. There was very little bike activity along the corridor (perhaps because it was one-way, with two lanes for vehicles, one for bus, and two for parking?) — cyclists may use parallel and perpendicular trips instead to circulate around the neighborhood.

● Limited real estate boom. New real estate development was limited, with occasional urban infill projects (perhaps 2-3 on the southern span, and 1-2 on the northern span).

● Light on plant life. Greenery was somewhat limited in the neighborhood — some street trees and boxed plants, but nothing major.

● Light on street seating and pocket parks. Street seating was limited and seemed to be initiated by businesses (e.g., bench surrounding tree in front of art gallery, bench outside of brunch café).


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Recreate Winter Break 2011

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un vida entre algodones - REVISTA RECREATE

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Recreate NY Smart Home Program

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RECREATE: PARKS & RECREATION MASTER PLAN EXECUTIVE …

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Cartilla Recreate Con Bienestar. full

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