The Just City Essays - Volume One - 26 Visions for Urban Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity

Aug 22, 2026

A curated collection of essays presents 26 visions for advancing urban equity, inclusion, and opportunity. It frames the “just city” through urgent conversations about unresolved issues such as equity, race, access, and ownership, while also addressing affordability, climate adaptation, and resilience. Contributions from authors across multiple continents offer provocation and practical strategies, highlighting both shared themes and points of tension as a call to imagine and build more just urban futures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages112

Reading Time2 h 52 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Defining the Just City Beyond Black and White

In It Together

Cape Town Pride; Cape Town Shame

Urban Spaces and the Mattering of Black Lives

Ceci n’est pas une pipe: Unpacking Injustice in Paris

Reinvigorating Democracy

Right to the City for All: A Manifesto for Social Justice in an Urban Century

How to Build a New Civic Infrastructure

Turning to the Flip Side

A Just City is Inconceivable without a Just Society

Public Imagination, Citizenship and an Urgent Call for Justice

Designing for Agency

Karachi and the Paralysis of Imagination

Up from the Basement: The Artist and the Making of the Just City

Justice that Serves People, Not Institutions

Resistance, Education and the Collective Will

Inclusive Growth

The Case for All-In Cities

A Democratic Infrastructure for Johannesburg

Creating Universal Goals for Universal Growth

The Long Ride

Turning Migrant Workers into Citizens in Urbanizing China

The Big Detox

A City that is Blue, Green and Just All Over

An Antidote for the Unjust City: Planning to Stay

Justice from the Ground Up

Elevating Planning and Design

Why Design Matters

Claiming Participation in Urban Planning and Design as a Right

Home Grown Justice in a Legacy City

Epilogue

Cities in Imagination

THE JUST CITY ESSAYS 26 Visions for Urban Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity VOLUME ONE EDITED BY TONI L. GRIFFIN | ARIELLA COHEN | DAVID MADDOX Published by The J. Max Bond Center on Design for theJust City at the Spitzer School of Architecture, City College of New York, Next City and The Nature of Cities ©2015 All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of The J. Max Bond Center, Next City and The Nature of Cities. Illustrations by Andrea Posada Thank you to the Municipal Art Society of New York for support in the production of this collection. The Just City Essays were produced with funding from the Ford Foundation. TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Introduction Toni L. Griffin, Ariella Cohen and David Maddox TEARING DOWN INVISIBLE WALLS 6 Defining the Just City Beyond Black and White Toni L. Griffin 10 In It Together Lesley Lokko 15 Cape Town Pride; Cape Town Shame Carla Sutherland 18 Urban Spaces and the Mattering of Black Lives Darnell Moore 21 Ceci n’est pas une pipe: Unpacking Injustice in Paris François Mancebo REINVIGORATING DEMOCRACY 26 Right to the City for All: A Manifesto for Social Justice in an Urban Century Lorena Zárate 30 How to Build a New Civic Infrastructure Ben Hecht 33 Turning to the Flip Side Maruxa Cardama 37 A Just City is Inconceivable without a Just Society Marcelo Lopes de Souza 40 Public Imagination, Citizenship and an Urgent Call for Justice Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman DESIGNING FOR AGENCY 46 Karachi and the Paralysis of Imagination Mahim Maher 50 Up from the Basement: The Artist and the Making of the Just City Theaster Gates 53 Justice that Serves People, Not Institutions Mirna D. Goransky 55 Resistance, Education and the Collective Will Jack Travis INCLUSIVE GROWTH 60 The Case for All-In Cities Angela Glover Blackwell 63 A Democratic Infrastructure for Johannesburg Benjamin Bradlow 67 Creating Universal Goals for Universal Growth Betsy Hodges 70 The Long Ride Scot T. Spencer 72 Turning Migrant Workers into Citizens in Urbanizing China Pengfei Xie THE BIG DETOX 79 A City that is Blue, Green and Just All Over Cecilia P. Herzog 82 An Antidote for the Unjust City: Planning to Stay Mindy Thompson Fullilove 85 Justice from the Ground Up Julie Bargmann ELEVATING PLANNING AND DESIGN 88 Why Design Matters Jason Schupbach 91 Claiming Participation in Urban Planning and Design as a Right P. K. Das 96 Home Grown Justice in a Legacy City Karen Freeman-Wilson EPILOGUE 100 Cities in Imagination David Maddox CONTRIBUTORS Introduction TONI L. GRIFFIN, ARIELLA COHEN AND DAVID MADDOX O ver the past decade, there have been numerous conversations about the “livable city,”“green city,”“sustainable city” and, most recently, the “resilient city.” At the same time, today’s headlines—from Ferguson to Baltimore, Paris to Johannesburg—resound with the need for frank dialogue about the structures and processes that affect the quality of life and livelihoods of urban residents. Issues of equity, inclusion, race, access and ownership remain unresolved in many communities around the world, even as we begin to address the challenges of affordability, climate change adaptation and resilience. The persistence of injustice in the world’s cities—dramatic inequality, unequal environmental burdens and risks and uneven access to opportunity—demands a continued and reinvigorated search for ideas and solutions. Our organizations, the J. Max Bond Center on Design for the Just City at the City College of New York, The Nature of Cities and Next City, have built our respective missions around creating and disseminating knowledge, reporting and analysis of the contemporary city. All three organizations offer platforms for though

FAQs

How are the contributions from different authors and cities intended to work together?

Each author offers a distinct perspective rooted in place and practice, creating shared threads and deliberate dissonance. Together, the collection is meant to provoke imagining and build more just urban futures.

Aug 22, 2026

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