Remedies for Residential Segregation

Project Leader: Olati Johnson, Columbia Law School, Chair of Advisory Group

Overview

This project aims to assess the effectiveness of current policy approaches to addressing residential segregation, and to conduct research designed to suggest new approaches that extend beyond the current regulatory and private enforcement dynamic.   The goal will be to identify the latest and best initiatives for addressing residential segregation, identify contemporary challenges, and develop a research agenda focused on developing effective solutions.

The Remedying Residential Segregation project began with several roundtables, co-sponsored by Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRAAC) and supported by the Center and the Ford Foundation. The roundtables brought urban planners, sociologists, and public health specialists together with legal experts to help identify contemporary challenges and develop effective solutions.  These roundtables examined the future of existing race-conscious government programs and initiatives aimed at addressing persistent segregation in housing in light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Parents Involved v. Seattle School District.  The workshop also focused on identifying what we know about the reciprocal relationships among schools, housing, neighborhood crime, and health – and what additional research is needed to help better structure programs in these other areas to support housing integration. 

This collaboration brings together thoughtful academics, policy makers and activists from different fields to consider how to address structural inequality at the intersection of housing, health, criminal justice and education. The project, in addition to identifying the latest and best initiatives for addressing racial segregation, plans to examine the challenges and possibilities posed by gentrification.