Environmental Planning, Urban Development, and the Making of Environmental Injustice in Minneapolis

Abstract

This dissertation examines the intersection of urban environmental planning, real estate,and inequality in three case studies in Minneapolis, MN. The first chapter, focused on the period in which racial segregation began to characterize the urban landscape, considers the intersection of racial covenants and park development in Minneapolis in the 1910s. The second chapter connects the historical insights from Chapter 1 to contemporary environmental outcomes through an analysis of patterns of urban heat and tree canopy cover relative to the historic geographies of racial covenants and the HOLC redlining maps in Minneapolis, MN. The final chapter considers contemporary green gentrification and the re-entrenchment of patterns of environmental injustice. Together these chapters aim to understand how environmental inequalities were built into the fabric of Minneapolis, addressing key themes related to 1) the role of nature in the construction of racialized space, 2) the legacy effects of racial discrimination and implications for planners, and 3) the role of planners in producing and maintaining environmental injustices.