Student Ruth Belay, alum Abigail Moriah, Saquib Ahsan, and Gervais Nash provide insights in Spacing Magazine on Why is urban planning so white? sharing research results from a study conducted by MscPl students in 2019 and presented to MIPOC
“Critiques of contemporary urban planning have urged the profession to critically reflect on systemic issues affecting both the profession and dominant planning approaches. In a profession charged with planning for the coming generations of people living in urban and rural settings, we must ask why the professionals employed to carry out this work do not reflect the diversity of the Canadian communities they plan.
In the absence of this diversity, how can planning understand the contexts of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (POC) communities, as well as address the issues these communities face: displacement, gentrification, socio-economic polarization, food insecurity, homelessness and gun and police violence.
In 2019, a team of University of Toronto masters in planning students sought to answer the question within the scope of the Greater Toronto region. They posed this research question: what experiences did Black, Indigenous, and other persons of colour have in navigating their planning education and work life?”