Metropolitics

An Unexpected Victory in the Fight to Save Philadelphia Chinatown

Andrew Lee — 2025-10-14T05:00:00Z

Grassroots efforts to counter gentrification-inducing megaprojects often fail as elected officials negotiate various interests. Using the case of 76 Place in Philadelphia, Andrew Lee examines the nuanced interplay of forces that spared Chinatown from a new arena.
“When they raze these streets, I'll no longer know which way my toes are pointed.” — Dylan Tran, “My Soul Travels Between Three Cities”
On December 19th, 2024, Philadelphia City Council voted 12–5 to approve 76 Place, a

- From the Field / Chinatown, Philadelphia, gentrification, Pennsylvania, United States, mobilization

Education Myths, Black Self-Determination, and University Accountability to the City

Christopher R. Rogers & Laura Wolf-Powers — 2024-03-08T06:00:00Z

Laura Wolf-Powers interviews scholar and community organizer Chris Rogers about his extensive work in Philadelphia. They discuss his journey to Penn and activism against the University of Pennsylvania's “parasitic relationship to Black Philadelphia,” including policing on campus, housing struggles, and efforts for payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs).
---- Series: Black Power and Black Self-Determination in a New Time and New Spaces I'm Laura Wolf-Powers, a professor of urban planning at CUNY

- Interviews / Philadelphia, education, Black Lives Matter, Black politics, university, self-determination, housing, activism, Black Power, Movement for Black Lives

The Making of a Progressive Mayor: James Kenney of Philadelphia

Richardson Dilworth — 2018-10-17T05:00:00Z

Philadelphia's voters elected James Kenney Mayor in 2015 after he had served more than two decades as an at‑large member of the city council. Given Kenney's roots in relatively conservative South Philadelphia, there was little to suggest that he would become a progressive mayor. Yet his personal proclivities—and need for votes as an at‑large councilmember—ultimately led him to construct an electoral coalition that combined Black, White working-class, and liberal groups.
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- Essays / United States, progressive urban politics, Philadelphia, local politics, politics, mayors, progressive mayors

Institutional Roadblocks to Achieving Environmental Justice Through Public Participation: The Case of CSO Control in US Cities

Rebekah Breitzer — 2018-01-24T06:00:00Z

Rather than meaningfully involving representatives of environmental-justice communities in decisions about the hazards that disproportionately affect their health, public participation efforts initiated by federal and municipal agencies often perpetuate inequities. Rebekah Breitzer argues that the problem stems in part from the adoption of social diffusion theory, which conditions policymakers to think of low-income people as targets for behavior modification rather than as potential

- Essays / participation, environment, inequalities, water, New York, socio-spatial inequalities, citizens, Philadelphia, environmental justice, combined sewer overflow, social diffusion theory

Demystifying Urban Agriculture in Detroit

Flaminia Paddeu — 2017-12-14T05:30:00Z

Urban agriculture projects in North American shrinking cities have been the subject of much media attention in recent years. Taking the example of Detroit as her starting point, Flaminia Paddeu asks what the real benefits of this practice are for the residents of cities in decline.
---- Series: Shrinking Cities The French documentary Demain, showcasing a world tour of ecological alternatives and viewed by more than a million people to date, depicts the city of Detroit as a Mecca of

- From the Field / deindustrialization, Rust Belt, Baltimore, urban agriculture, agriculture, farming, Detroit, Philadelphia, vacant lots, urban decay, shrinking cities, urban decline, Cleveland, smart shrinkage, urban shrinkage, degrowth, shrinkage, wasteland, revegetation, ecological transition, socio-ecological transition

The Arts as Fundamental—and Fragile—in Community Life

Andrew Zitcer & Julie Hawkins & Neville Vakharia — 2017-02-22T06:00:00Z

Arts funding in America mirrors the inequality found in society more broadly. Yet amid persistent poverty and other challenges, West Philadelphia residents assert that arts access and participation are central to their conception of a life well-lived. Andrew Zitcer, Julie Hawkins and Neville Vakharia discuss their research in West Philadelphia, noting the vibrant cultural production taking place there and maintaining that arts should be considered a fundamental right.
Amid the existential

- Essays / culture, United States, art, artist, arts, community, Philadelphia, community development, community arts

Food Deserts and Wage Deserts: The Importance of Metaphor in Policy and Activism

Laura Wolf-Powers — 2015-04-28T04:50:00Z

So-called “food deserts,” or neighborhoods deprived of businesses that sell healthy foods, are also poor neighborhoods, where even workers don't make enough for basic living, regardless of food options. Laura Wolf-Powers introduces the concept of “wage deserts” to shed light on these islands of poverty and advocate for economic and policy measures that go beyond access to food.
Since the early 2000s, food deserts—“low income neighborhoods, both urban and rural, that have limited access to

- From the Field / United States, food, poverty, food deserts, wage deserts, Philadelphia, activism