Description
Explores how spatial justice shapes equitable, empowering, and inclusive experiences
In an era increasingly defined by questions of equity and inclusion, Spatial (In) Justice: How Does It Manifest in the Built Environment? offers a vital, global interrogation of how architecture and planning impact the lived experiences of marginalized communities. Edited by Adnan Zillur Morshed, this timely volume brings together contributions from 33 leading thinkers and practitioners—architects, planners, scholars, and academics—who reflect on the ethical and philosophical responsibilities of those who shape space.
Rather than offering simplistic answers or prescriptive solutions, this book explores the complex and often contradictory ways justice is interpreted and enacted through space. The essays examine built projects from around the world to ask whether design can foster dignity, hope, and community empowerment—and how design education must evolve to foreground these values. The contributing authors grapple with the mechanisms through which spatial practices can exclude, disempower, or uplift, addressing topics ranging from justice in the city to the politics of community engagement. Throughout the book, the essays advance a critical pedagogy of design—one that scrutinizes how space organizes power and shapes human possibility.
Contributors (in alphabetical order):
Annmarie Adams
Esra Akcan
Glenn Albrecht
Thomas Barrie
Tom Beaudoin
Bryan Bell
Julio Bermudez
Prem Chandavarkar
Howard Davis
Kim Dovey
Andrew Freear
Tammy Gaber
Megan Gee
Iqbal Habib
Adam Hart
Aseem Inam
Kathleen James-Chakraborty
Mark Jarzombek
Khondaker Hasibul Kabir
Pamela Karimi
Fernando Lara
Yasmeen Lari
Paco Mejias Villatoro
Jason Montgomery
Donghwan Moon
Adnan Zillur Morshed
Dahlia Nduom
Susan Piedmont-Palladino
Sharon Prince
Katie Swenson
Marina Tabassum
Diane Rhyu Taylor
Junjie Xi
Table of Contents
Authors Bios (alphabetically) ix
Editor Bio xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction: The Problem of (In)Justice in the Built Environment 1
Adnan Zillur Morshed
Part 1 Theorizing Spatial (In)Justice 15
1.1 Working Through Injustice 17
Mark Jarzombek
1.2 Human Rights and Everyday Space 25
Prem Chandavarkar
1.3 Architecture, Power, and Spatial Justice 32
Kim Dovey
Part 2 Right to Space 41
2.1 Right-to-Truth and Transitional Justice in Urban Space 43
Esra Akcan
2.2 Two Blocks, Two Cities: Critical Points 55
Susan Piedmont-Palladino
2.3 Gender and Geometry of Power: Rehearsing Spatial Justice in Tehran 62
Pamela Karimi
Part 3 Urbanity of Justice 71
3.1 From the Bottom- Up: Gillett Square in London 73
Howard Davis and Adam Hart
3.2 Favelas as Sites of Resistance 83
Fernando Luiz Lara
3.3 Frontstage/Backstage in Las Vegas: A Metaphorical Approach Toward Understanding Spatial Inequality in the Contemporary City 89
Aseem Inam
3.4 Reclaiming the Public Realm: Designing American Cities for Urban Wellbeing 99
Jason Montgomery
Part 4 Community Engagement as Spatial Justice 109
4.1 Specializing in Public Interest Design to Achieve Spatial Justice 111
Bryan Bell, Emma DeMagistris, Devesh Balakrishnan, and Miraz Reza
4.2 In Conversation with Architect Andrew Freear 121
4.3 From Ideas to Impact: Architecture as a Tool for Equity 132
Katie Swenson
4.4 Co- Creating Resilient Landscapes in the Rohingya Refugee Response 143
Diane Rhyu Taylor and Khondaker Hasibul Kabir
4.5 Justice for the Land of Maya 154
Donghwan Moon
Part 5 Spatializing Justice 163
5.1 Hide and Seek: Indigenous Remains and Canadian Institutional Architecture 165
Annmarie Adams
5.2 The Belgian Friendship Building at Virginia Union University 176
Kathleen James-Chakraborty
5.3 Spatializing Freedom as Justice 184
Adnan Zillur Morshed
Part 6 Symbiocene as Justice 199
6.1 In Conversation with Environmental Philosopher Glenn Albrecht 201
6.2 Transforming the Built Environment Through Ethical Sourcing 209
Sharon Prince
6.3 In Conversation with Architect Marina Tabassum 217
6.4 The Rivers That Bind Us 229
Iqbal Habib, Rubana Huq, and Shadman Iqbal
Part 7 Justice in Sacred Space 239
7.1 Spatial Justice and Spirituality 241
Thomas Barrie, Julio Bermudez, and Tom Beaudoin
7.2 Designing “Gendered” Worship Spaces is an Accessibility and Justice Issue 248
Tammy Gaber
Part 8 Spatial Justice Literacy 261
8.1 When the State Fails to Rehabilitate Destitute Communities 263
Yasmeen Lari
8.2 The Ambiguities of Spatial Justice: Understanding Macro and Micropolitics in Informal Settlements 270
Paco Mejias Villatoro and Junjie xi
8.3 Flattened Earth Society: How Map Makers Transform Our Reality 281
Megan Gee
8.4 Climate Change, Health, and Housing: Design Frameworks for Justice and Repair 290
Dahlia Nduom
Index 303
