Equity Considerations

Question 1

Equity Considerations

Answer 1

The exam contains questions requiring planners to respond in a way that is sensitive to racial, multicultural, and gender perspectives.

Question 2

Race (Equity Considerations)

Answer 2

Urban planners strive for a fully integrated society. However, statistics show that the US is not fully integrated and that there are still substantial disparities between whites and other racial and ethnic groups.

While the civil rights movement resulted in major gains, there are many people who have still been left behind. In many of the worst housing projects, African Americans still live in uninhabitable housing, despite public reforms like HOPE VI. And we are still feeling the effects of redlining. (Color of Law). Federal housing policies of the 40s and 50s mandated segregation and undermined the ability of black families to own homes and build wealth.

Some believe that race should be the first way to frame a local planning problem rather than the last consideration.

Question 3

Gender (Equity Considerations)

Answer 3

While race has been recognized by planners as an important consideration, gender has often been ignored. Feminism gained momentum in the US during the 60s and 70s. Feminism arose at the same time as suburbanization, urban renewal, and growing levels of female poverty and single-parent households. Beginning in the 70s, planners began to focus on the definitions of housing and housework. There are differences between men and women that are relevant to planning:

• there is a larger portion of women over the age of 65 then men
• there is a significant wage gap between men and women. According to a 2016 study, female full-time, year-round workers made 80.5 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 20 percent.
• according to a study by the candian institute of planners, women planners earn 82 cents for every dollar earned by a male planner
• single-women-headed households were commonplace
• women have different uses of transportation then men
• women have different safety needs than men.

In economic development planning, consideration should be given to those who will be employed by the jobs that are created. Another consideration is home-based businesses. parents might wish to operate a business out of their homes while caring for children. most zoning ordinances are quite prohibitive in terms of home occupations, and this can be inhibitive for families.

Zoning has generally not taken gender into account. The strict separation of land uses has resulted in daycare facilities being separated form housing, requiring parents to drive to take children to daycare. This strict separation of uses results in the primary caregiver taking more trips to take care of daily activities, such as picking up children, grocery shopping and other errands.

Question 4

Social Justice

Answer 4

Might be defined as “equal access to wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society”. In planning, social justice is about people being able to relaize their potential in the communities in which they live. This often invokes spatial justice: how our cities are organized has a significant bearing on whether people have access to what they need. For example, if affordable housing is located in an area with poor transporation access and few jobs, people will struggle to find and sustain employment, thus diminishing social justice.