Planning, Urban Revitalization, and the Inner City: An Exploration of Structural Racism

The almost inextricable weaving together of the issues of race and inner-city revitalization presents a complex and seemingly intractable problem for urban and regional planners, scholars, policymakers, activists, and citizens. This article presents an overview of the dilemma from a city and regional planning perspective. It begins with a brief summary of basic planning theory, followed by a more detailed description of specific theories of revitalization, as well as a discussion of four of the most important forces of structural racism that confront inner cities. The article closes with a discussion of those approaches that have shown some promise and with suggestions for potential new approaches that will promote successful inner-city revitalization and reduce the isolation and deprivation of racial minorities inhabiting America’s cities.