Displacing Blackness : Planning, Power, and Race in Twentieth-Century Halifax

Modern urban planning has long promised to improve the quality of human life. But how is human life defined? __Displacing Blackness__ develops a unique critique of urban planning by focusing, not on its subservience to economic or political elites, but on its efforts to improve people’s lives. While focused on twentieth-century Halifax, __Displacing Blackness__ develops broad insights about the possibilities and limitations of modern planning. Drawing connections between the history of planning and emerging scholarship in Black Studies, Ted Rutland positions anti-blackness at the heart of contemporary city-making. Moving through a series of important planning initiatives, from a social housing project concerned with the moral and physical health of working-class residents to a sustainability-focused regional plan, __Displacing Blackness__ shows how race – specifically blackness – has defined the boundaries of the human being and guided urban planning, with grave consequences for the city’s Black residents.

Modern urban planning has long promised to improve the quality of human life. But how is human life defined? Displacing Blackness develops a unique critique of urban planning by focusing, not on its subservience to economic or political elites, but on its efforts to improve people’s lives.

While focused on twentieth-century Halifax, Displacing Blackness develops broad insights about the possibilities and limitations of modern planning. Drawing connections between the history of planning and emerging scholarship in Black Studies, Ted Rutland positions anti-blackness at the heart of contemporary city-making. Moving through a series of important planning initiatives, from a social housing project concerned with the moral and physical health of working-class residents to a sustainability-focused regional plan, Displacing Blackness shows how race – specifically blackness – has defined the boundaries of the human being and guided urban planning, with grave consequences for the city’s Black residents.

Modern urban planning has long promised to improve the quality of human life. But how is human life defined? Displacing Blackness develops a unique critique of urban planning by focusing, not on its subservience to economic or political elites, but on its efforts to improve people's lives. While focused on twentieth-century Halifax, Displacing Blackness develops broad insights about the possibilities and limitations of modern planning. Drawing connections between the history of planning and emerging scholarship in Black Studies, Ted Rutland positions anti-blackness at the heart of contemporary city-making. Moving through a series of important planning initiatives, from a social housing project concerned with the moral and physical health of working-class residents to a sustainability-focused regional plan, Displacing Blackness shows how race - specifically blackness - has defined the boundaries of the human being and guided urban planning, with grave consequences for the city's Black residents. -- Provided by publisher Contents 5 Figures 7 Acknowledgments 9 Abbreviations 13 1. Introduction 15 2. “Higher Living through Environment”: The Reformers, the Slums, and the Emergence of Modern Urban Planning 45 3. Planning the Town White: Comprehensive Planning, Scientific Racism, and the Destruction of Africville 89 4. A Calibrated Rush for Progress: Urban Renewal, Anti-Blackness, and the Diverse Effects of a Totalizing Planning Project 131 5. “A Place to Enjoy Oneself”: Anti-Renewal Activism, Citizen Involvement, and the Limits of Urban Amenity 179 6. Planning by Other Means: The Black United Front and the Struggle for Self-Determination 218 7. Making Space for Homo economicus: Neoliberalism, Regional Planning, and the Boundaries of Economic Life 258 8. Conclusion 302 Notes 319 Index 389