The Black Metropolis in the Twenty-First Century

This book brings together key essays that seek to make visible and expand our understanding of the role of government (policies, programs, and investments) in shaping cities and metropolitan regions; the costs and consequences of uneven urban and regional growth patterns; suburban sprawl and public health, transportation, and economic development; and the enduring connection of place, space, and race in the era of increased globalization. Whether intended or unintended, many government policies (housing, transportation, land use, environmental, economic development, education, etc.) have aided and in some cases subsidized suburban sprawl, job flight, and spatial mismatch; concentrated urban poverty; and heightened racial and economic disparities.

This book brings together key essays that seek to make visible and expand our understanding of the role of government (policies, programs, and investments) in shaping cities and metropolitan regions; the costs and consequences of uneven urban and regional growth patterns; suburban sprawl and public health, transportation, and economic development; and the enduring connection of place, space, and race in the era of increased globalization. Whether intended or unintended, many government policies (housing, transportation, land use, environmental, economic development, education, etc.) have aided and in some cases subsidized suburban sprawl, job flight, and spatial mismatch; concentrated urban poverty; and heightened racial and economic disparities. Written mostly by African American scholars, the book captures the dynamism of these meetings, describing the challenges facing cities, suburbs, and metropolitan regions as they seek to address continuing and emerging patterns of racial polarization in the twenty-first century. The book clearly shows that the United States entered the new millennium as one of the wealthiest and the most powerful nations on earth. Yet amid this prosperity, our nation is faced with some of the same challenges that confronted it at the beginning of the twentieth century, including rising inequality in income, wealth, and opportunity; economic restructuring; immigration pressures and ethnic tension; and a widening gap between 'haves' and 'have-nots.' Clearly, race matters. Place also matters. Where we live impacts the quality of our lives and chances for the 'good life.'

Chapter 1 Introduction: The Significance of Race and Place
Chapter 2 The Black Metropolis in the Era of Sprawl
Chapter 3 Structural Racism and Spatial Jim Crow
Chapter 4 Residential Apartheid America Style
Chapter 5 Dilemma of Place and Suburbanization of the Black Middle Class
Chapter 6 Walling In or Walling Out: Gated Communities
Chapter 7 Spatial Mismatch and Job Sprawl
Chapter 8 Atlanta: A Black Mecca?
Chapter 9 Black New Orleans: Before and After Hurricane Katrina
Chapter 10 Health Disparities in Black Los Angeles
Chapter 11 Black Political Power in the New Century
Chapter 12 Achieving Equitable Development