Countering spatial injustice in the U.S.: The promise of “zoning for equity”

Countering spatial injustice in the U.S.: The promise of “zoning for equity”

Date: Tuesday, 1 April 2025

Time: 5:00pm—6:00pm

Location: Michael Spence Building Auditorium, Level 1

The U.S. is infamously segregated by class, race, and ethnicity, and planners are partly responsible. Zoning in the U.S. excludes low-income families from affluent neighborhoods and communities, exposes vulnerable people to harms and hazards, and limits housing choices for renters. In recent years, however, U.S. planners have recognized these injustices and advanced new proposals to “zone for equity.” After a review of the legacy of zoning as an instrument of “American Apartheid,” this lecture will highlight recent efforts to make spatial planning and zoning more equitable in the U.S

Speaker Bio

Rolf Pendall, Ph.D., AICP, is Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His mission is to learn and show how planners can contribute to greater spatial justice. With 35 years as a practitioner, scholar, and teacher, he has researched and taught about how core planning domains—especially land use and housing policy—connect with harmful outcomes like urban sprawl and spatial injustice.