Month September 2016

Sarah Schindler’s article “Architectural Exclusion: Discrimination and Segregation Through Physical Design of the Built Environment,” published on the Yale Law Journal on April 5, 2015, focuses on the practice of architectural exclusion. Her main argument is that there should be greater legal awareness, and thus repercussions, for discrimination through infrastructure. The first part of the article, the introduction, provides basic background information, and some historic examples on the impacts of the built environment. Examples mentioned in the introduction include Robert Moses who “…shaped much of New York’s infrastructure, including a number of “low-hanging overpasses” on the Long Island parkways that led to Jones Beach…” to prevent lower income families from entering his park (Schindler, Intro).  Also mentioned was MARTA’s failure to expand into the suburbs of Georgia “Wealthy, mostly white residents of the northern Atlanta suburbs have vocally opposed efforts to expand MARTA into their neighborhoods for the reason that doing so would give people of color easy access to suburban communities”(Schindler, Intro). Part 1 “Architectural Exclusion: Theory” emphasizes the effect of the built environment. Key points mentioned in this section were that urban planners may be well aware of the practice and effects of architectural exclusion, while also stating the negligence with which law makers often view architectural exclusion. Schindler mentions “The built environment does not fit within the definition of “regulation” as legal scholars traditionally employ that term…” (Schindler, Part 1 A).  She later states that; “At the most general level, it is not controversial among planning and geography scholars to assert that the built environment often is constructed in a way that furthers political goals”(Schindler, Part 1 A). This assertion is followed by the claim that although aware of the consequences of the built environment, many planners follow a plan of “traffic logic”, a term coined by Nicholas Blomley, which refers to designs based on ferrying objects through a space as efficiently as possible (Schindler Part 1 A). Part B mentions Lior Strahilevitz’s observations of exclusionary amenities, which increased the appeal of neighborhoods to certain demographics, while raising the price of housing as to deter others. Also mentioned in Part B is Elise Bodie’s claim that “places have racial identities based on their history of or reputation for exclusion, and that courts should consider this racial meaning for purposes of racial discrimination claims”, which is then paired with Bodie’s next claim “law overlooks the racial identifiability of spaces,” to add Ethos to Schindler’s argument. Part 2 “Architectural Exclusion: Practice” provides detailed examples of how, and where architectural exclusion has occurred in the past, from the placement of streets and highways to physical barriers isolating a particular group.  One example mentioned was Detroit’s Eight Mile Wall, a physical barrier which was used to separate a primarily white neighborhood from a black one. Schindler also states the key role of the layout of streets plays in architectural exclusion by mentioning the example of Shaker Heights, Ohio where “…the city installed a “traffic diverter,” which was called “the Berlin Wall for black people” by nearby neighbors in Cleveland” (Schindler Part 2 A). In Part 2 B Schindler analyzes the less obvious means of exclusion, form the placement of transits, to the inclusion of parking permits.  Here one of the only examples of Pathos in the article can be found; “…Cynthia Wiggins, a seventeen-year-old woman who was hit and killed by a dump truck while she was attempting to cross a seven-lane highway to get to the mall where she worked”(Schindler Part 2B). Schindler later quotes Raymond Mohl by stating Policymakers “purposeful[ly]” decided to route highways through the center of cities, often with the intent “to destroy low-income and especially black neighborhoods in an effort to reshape the physical and racial landscapes of the postwar American city…,” to highlight the effects and underlying causes of highway placement (Schindler Part 2 B). In discussing the importance of signs on the built environment, Schindler uses the example of Bolinas, California “…Citizens there have, for years, been removing directional signs that the State Department of Transportation places on Highway 1 to direct drivers toward Bolinas,” to prevent outsiders from entering their communities (Schindler Part 2B). In the case of parking permits Schindler states that parking permits cause “those who do not live in or have friends in the neighborhood cannot drive in and park there. Moreover, these neighborhoods are often not easily accessible via public transportation”(Schindler, Part 2 B). Citation:  Schindler, Sarah. “Architectural Exclusion: Discrimination and Segregation Through Physical Design of the Built Environment.” Yale Law Journal -, 5 Apr. 2015, http://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/architectural-exclusion#_ftnref153.