Limits of diversity: Jane Jacobs, the Just City, and anti-subordination

Abstract

Diversity is a concept that Jane Jacobs places at the heart of her work and that Susan Fainstein similarly identifies as central to the definition of a just city. But what is the relationship between the diversity in the built environment that Jacobs emphasizes and the socio-economic diversity that Fainstein notes is so important? Drawing on Jacobs and Fainstein to analyze a case study of an affordable housing development in Boston, Massachusetts, we argue that planning with a just city in mind requires more than a commitment to diversity in urban form or demographic composition. Instead of setting out diversity as a goal that may help dominant individuals overcome irrational prejudices through the free flow of ideas when exposed to diverse peers, we argue for policies that identify and address historical inequalities and relations of domination along the lines of sex, sexuality, race, ethnicity, national origin, or other ascriptive characteristics.