We can impact community development
In our last episode we had a dispiriting discussion on gentrification. Things looked grim for our communities. But hold on to hope! In Taking Ownership of Community Development we discuss the challenges of communities getting their voices heard in development process. Our guest is Dana McKinney, Class of 2011, who is an architect, an urban planner, and so much more. Dana is presently a Design Critic at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. More importantly, she is the co-founder of enFOLD Collective, an interdisciplinary architecture, planning, and design practice. Dana represents what we hope is a new wave of architects/urban planners and designers. If you want to understand what the difference is between those three things you’ll have to listen to the episode.
Although the development process can be complicated and expensive, Dana believes it can also be receptive to a community of color’s desire for beauty and affordability. But first, the planners have to learn how to listen to, and value the community. And just as importantly, the community has to pay attention to what is happening around it. She encourages us to take notice and find ways to participate when development decisions are being made in our communities.
An extra interesting piece of Dana’s background is that she is a prison abolitionist. She founded Studio KINN, a consulting practice that advises on design and planning considerations of social justice, equity, and alternatives to incarceration. We’d love to hear more about that in the future.
For those of you in the Los Angeles area, enFOLD Collective has its first installation called “Black-Still” coming up in your area at the end of May. Here’s the link for the details. In the meantime, enjoy: Taking Ownership of Community Development.