Table Of ContentBuilding the Inclusive City
Social segregation is one of the main challenges facing urban development
aroundtheglobe.Theusualoutcomeofmanyurbandevelopmentpatterns
isanunequalsocialgeography,withthepoorlivinginlargeclustersthatare
remote,isolated,dangerousorunhealthy.Theresultisinequalityinanumber
of dimensions of urban life, from deficient urban access, services or infra-
structuretosocialisolation,neighbourhoodviolence,andlackofeconomic
opportunity.
This book brings together debates on ethnic and economic segregation,
combiningtheoryandpracticalsolutionstocreateaguideforthosetryingto
understand and address urban segregation in any part of the world, and
integrateamelioratingpoliciestocontemporaryurbandevelopmentagendas.
NilsonArielEspinoisalectureratMcGillUniversity’sPanamaFieldStudy
Semester,andattheCentralAmericanMaster’sProgramforConservationof
Cultural Heritage for Development, at the University of Panama. He also
directs Panama City’s Urban Forum and Observatory and is a practicing
architect and urban planner. He holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture
from Santa María La Antigua Catholic University, a master’s in urban
planningfromtheUniversityofArizona,andaPh.D.insocialandcultural
anthropologyfromRiceUniversity.
Routledge Research in Planning and Urban Design
Series editor: Peter Ache
RadboudUniversityNijmegen,Netherlands
Routledge Research in Planning and Urban Design is a series of academic
monographs for scholars working in these disciplines and the overlaps
between them. Building on Routledge’s history of academic rigour and
cutting-edge research, the series contributes to the rapidly expanding
literatureinallareasofplanningandurbandesign.
Brand-DrivenCityBuildingandtheVirtualizingofSpace
AlexanderGutzmer
DeconstructingPlacemaking
MahyarArefi
TheEmptyPlace
Democracyandpublicspace
TeresaHoskyns
DealingwithDeindustrialization
AdaptiveresilienceinAmericanmidwesternregions
MargaretCowell
PublicSpaceandRelationalPerspectives
Newchallengesforarchitectureandplanning
ChiaraTornaghiandSabineKnierbein
HeteroglossicAsia
ThetransformationofurbanTaiwan
FrancisChia-HuiLin
BuildingtheInclusiveCity
Theoryandpracticeforconfrontingurbansegregation
NilsonArielEspino
TheRobustCity
TonyHall
Building the Inclusive City
Theory and practice for confronting
urban segregation
Nilson Ariel Espino
Firstpublished2015
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
andbyRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2015NilsonArielEspino
TherightofNilsonArielEspinotobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhas
beenassertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,
DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproduced
orutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,
nowknownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,
orinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissionin
writingfromthepublishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarks
orregisteredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanation
withoutintenttoinfringe.
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Espino,NilsonAriel.
Buildingtheinclusivecity:theoryandpracticeforconfronting
urbansegregation/NilsonArielEspino.
pagescm.--(Routledgeresearchinplanningandurbandesign)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Sociology,Urban.2.Segregation.3.Cityplanning.I.Title.
HT151.E75742015
307.76--dc23
2014038518
ISBN:978-1-138-81441-7(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-74749-1(ebk)
TypesetinSabon
byFishBooks
‘Byengagingwiththespatialdimensionsofinequityandexclusion,thebook
shifts the discussion on housing laterally and embeds it more squarely in
broader urbanizations and city-making processes. Espino’s experience as a
practitioner brings a nuanced voice to the challenges of creating equitable
urbanenvironmentsinthefaceoftheuncertaintiesofglobalcapitalandthe
disruptionsitcreatesincities.Arefreshingcontributiontotheliteratureon
cities – where Espino provokes us to not discuss inclusivity but rather how
nottomakeourcitiesexclusive!’
RahulMehrotra,ProfessorandChair,DepartmentofUrbanPlanning
andDesign,GraduateSchoolofDesign,HarvardUniversity
‘Asmanycountriesreacttoincreasinglevelsofpolarization,socialexclusion
andsegregationbyemphasizingsocialmixpolicies,itisimportanttounder-
stand the historical, political and anthropological reasons for our urge to
segregate.Onlythenwillwebeabletomakepublicchoicesthatwillhavea
chanceofsuccess.Espino’smultidisciplinaryapproachexplainsspatialchoices
as resulting from the exercise of power in its communicative and symbolic
aspects,addinganecessarylayertotheusualeconomicexplanations.
Butthebookismuchmorethanthat.InPartII,dedicatedtoconfronting
segregation, Espino evaluates the social costs of segregation and – on the
basisofrecentresearch–thepossiblebenefitsofsocialmix,addressingissues
such as social networks, peer effects, collective socialization, the culture of
poverty, and the indelible scars resulting from living in high-crime areas. It
concludes with a few case studies of recent projects in the Americas that
promotesocialinclusion.Whatisespeciallywonderfulaboutthebookisthat
itiswritteninaneasy,clearandbreezystyle,makingitapleasuretoreadand
accessiblenotonlytoprofessionalplannersandpolicy-makers,buttoboth
graduateandundergraduatestudentsinavarietyofdisciplines.’
NicoCalavita,ProfessorEmeritus,GraduatePrograminCityPlanning,
SanDiegoStateUniversity,co-authorofInclusionaryHousingin
InternationalPerspective:AffordableHousing,SocialInclusion
andLandValueRecapture
‘Thisisatimelybookononeofthemostpervasiveanddifficultissuesfacing
urbanplannersinLatinAmericaandotherpartsoftheworld.Withclarity
andeleganceitshedslightonthehistoricalrootsandgeographicalnuances
of how and why social groups are separated/segregated in cities. With a
refreshinganthropologicalfocusonthespatialexpressionofsociety’spower
hierarchiesordifferentials,theauthorpre-emptstheeconomist’softenapol-
ogeticaccountoftheinevitabilityofspatialseparationofincomegroups.
Broadeningtheviewbeyondthe“dictatorshipofthehighestandbestuse”
ofland,thebookdiscussesalternativereasoningformoreinclusionarysocial
housing provision. An account is thus presented of the social costs of
succumbingtosegregation,butmostrefreshinglyalsoanup-to-datereview
ofsometoolsandeffectivepracticesforpromotingresidentialinclusiveness.
This richly documented book offers a “must reference” for students of
urban residential segregation – which should mean all who are concerned
with the pitfalls for the social-economic and political sustainability of our
cities.’
MartimSmolka,SeniorFellowandDirector,ProgramonLatinAmerica
andtheCaribbean,LincolnInstituteofLandPolicy
‘BuildingtheInclusiveCitypresentsafascinatingoverviewofsocialpower
and how power translates into segregated populations and policies around
theworld.Lessonsdrawnfromtheoriesinplanning,architecture,sociology,
andanthropologyhelptopaintaclearerpictureofwhatwecanknowabout
exclusionanddistinctionsinordertomakeanargumentforinclusionwith
the aim of achieving higher levels of social equality. We look at clothing,
housing and neighborhood development in North America, Europe, China
and South America in order to understand the reasons for separation and
classdistinctionovertimeandhowthesedistinctionshavebeensolidifiedin
our rules, regulations, policies and laws. This book then asks and demon-
strates, given this tendency toward separations and class distinctions of
populations, what interventions could be used to bring them back together
to help build a rich tapestry of neighborhoods that embrace inclusiveness.
Pushingthisquestiononestepfurther,thisbooktouchesonanotherkeyidea
– the size of businesses and the problem of spatial monopolies in cities and
whether we need to consider managing not only the mix of residences, but
alsothemixofbusinessestoprotectvibranciesofstreetlife,smallbusinesses
and natural mixing of populations that can occur. At play is the larger
questionforplanners,architects,andpolicy-makers:Canwebegintounder-
standhowweexcludeusingtoolssuchaszoning,evictions,regulations,and
laws,andifso,canwerethinkouruseofthesetoolsinordertocreateafiner
grain of mixes of populations and business in order to develop inclusive,
diverseandvibrantcities?’
CherieMiotAbbanat,Lecturer,DepartmentofUrbanStudiesand
Planning,MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
Planning and design are the tool of power, or they are a kind of
science fiction.
Lisa R. Peattie1
For Miguel Ángel and Adrián Francisco
Contents
Listoffigures xi
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction 1
PARTI
Social power and urban space 9
1 Power and difference 11
2 Types of power 14
3 Power and urban form: style 18
4 Power and urban form: location 27
5 Power and urban segregation: a brief historical review 35
6 Power and urban segregation: the contemporary context 46
7 Power and land markets 51
PARTII
Confronting segregation 57
8 Segregation and urban economies 59
9 Social benefits of urban segregation 64
10 Social costs of urban segregation 77
11 Searching for inclusionary development patterns
and public policies 102
12 Notes on selected case studies 125
