The Black Experiences
with Planning in Canada

Our Collaborative Project to better understand the nature of structural racism in Canada through the planning process

Canadian planning has a tense history with/in Black communities shaped by a legacy of racism and settler colonialism. Since the first arrival of people of African descent, informal and formal practices of settlement, land tenure and use, urban and regional planning, and development have been shaped by anti-Black racism and White supremacy, creating inequitable outcomes for Black communities until this day. However, Black communities, individuals, and planning practitioners have developed and still enact practices rooted in Black knowledge and traditions, which have enabled Black spaces to survive and thrive through resistance, resilience, and creativity. Still, the field of planning has yet to centre Black experiences, priorities, and knowledge in practice, theory, and education. The Black Experiences with Planning in Canada (BEPIC) research partnership seeks to learn from the lived experiences of Black communities and planners in order to create conceptual and practical planning tools that enable more equitable outcomes in Black communities, but also for diverse publics more broadly. BEPIC has been conceptualized by the Black Planning Project, together with community and academic partners committed to racial and spatial justice.

The Black Experiences with Planning in Canada (BEPIC) partnership seeks to Adopt an assets-based Framework

BEPIC’s main goals are

1) to explore and document the experiences of Black communities and practitioners with/in/against planning in Canada;

2) to create a framework for community-based, Black-centered, Black-informed planning practices; and

3) to pilot the framework with Black individuals, community organizations, and planners working with predominantly or historically Black communities.

By building on the knowledge of Black communities and planners, this research will help challenge dominant planning discourses, address questions of Black exclusion and anti-Black racism in planning, amplify community-led planning practices, and inform planning pedagogy and the training of future planners, especially emerging Black planners. Ultimately, BEPIC will propose tools grounded in Black knowledge and traditions, which can be adopted by Black communities and planners to preserve and strengthen Black contributions to planning, community-building, and city-making.

Meet The Project Team

Hanaa Ali

Hanaa Ali is an architect, urban designer and planner, with international experience teaching and researching architecture and urbanism. Her research focuses on forced displacement. She has published a number of articles and a book chapter on the topic. Her publications include “At Home with Displacement? Material Culture as a Site of Resistance in Sudan” in Home Cultures and has contributed a book chapter to The Road to the Two Sudans, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, chapter title ‘Settlement and Displacement in Sudan’.

In her recent experience Hanaa has served as Chair of Architecture at the Hekma School of Architecture and Design, at D.A.H University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She has also assumed a number of leadership positions in the DEI space within professional organizations and nonprofits. First as Co-Chair of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Allyship (IDEA) Committee, at Toronto Commercial Real Estate for Women and later as Executive Director of BAIDA (Black Architects and Interior Design Association).

Hanaa teaches planning theory as an adjunct professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and Queen's University.

As Research Project Manager, Hanaa will work with the Project Director to manage the project, monitoring timelines, coordinating the budget with TMU University, and supporting logistics.

Dr. Andrea Roberts

Dr. Andrea Roberts is the consultant/owner of Freedom Colonies Project LLC, Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, and Co-Director of the Center for Cultural Landscapes at the University of Virginia. She is also the founder of The Texas Freedom Colonies Project), a research & social justice initiative documenting placemaking history and grassroots preservation practices in the African Diaspora. Her research frames planning and historic preservation practices as avenues to social justice.

As part of the Advisory Committee, she will advise on methodology development, data collection and applied research techniques for working with historic Black communities, and developing research knowledge mobilization products.

Dr. Leela Viswanathan

Dr. Leela Viswanathan, is the principal and founder of Viswali Consulting. She is a community-driven researcher, educator, and advisor on equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, and decolonization.

As part of the Advisory Committee, Dr. Leela Viswanathan (she/her) will contribute to theory building and help embed equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research design, team development, and knowledge mobilization. Dr. Viswanathan will provided strategic research advice to the Leadership Team and Steering Committee.

James Rhule

James Rhule is the founder and Chief Idea Officer of Project: Human City. He studied Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University. Wanting to make a greater impact for the underrepresented public, he designed an organization to meet the needs of all people living together, rather than following traditional means. James has worked for the City of Toronto for ten years. His professional interests include particle physics, algorithms and human interactions. When not designing impact initiatives for Project: Human City, James enjoys reading, writing, cooking and spending time with his three young nephews

Stephanie Pondamali

Hi, I'm Stephanie Pondamali! I'm a Congolese-Canadian urban planning student from Edmonton, and I'm currently studying at Toronto Metropolitan University. I'm passionate about exploring cities and finding ways to improve them, especially through transportation systems and geographical analysis. My experiences as a black student have made me aware of the injustices faced by BIPOC in the planning process. I am committed to advocating for black urbanism and working towards creating equitable and sustainable cities by addressing inequality and systemic racism in our city-building institutions.

Jodie Laborde

I am a third-year Urban and Regional Planning student passionate about gender-responsive urban design, anti-Black racism and the current/historical effects of planning on these and many more equity-seeking and deserving groups. With prior experience in EDI Planning, I hope to contribute positively to the lived experiences of Black people in Canada by shifting dominant planning discourses and practices.

Words from Our Project Leaders

Quotes from Toronto Metropolitan University article

“The Black Planning Project is leading powerful work to amplify Black voices and perspectives in the field of planning, and it is a privilege to collaborate to grow a partnership that can take that work in new directions. Universities can play an important role in supporting community-initiated research, which in turn can transform how planning is taught and practiced. This grant will allow us to do precisely that: centring the knowledge and experiences of Black communities and planners in order to rethink mainstream planning tools and approaches through a racial justice lens.”

Dr. Magdalena Ugarte, Director, BEPIC, Assistant Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University,

Co-director Abigail Moriah from the Black Planning Project notes that this research will help build an understanding of Black planning that can shape practice. “Our goal is to explore how planning can play a role in creating more equitable outcomes in Black communities, specifically through highlighting asset-based approaches and tools that are grounded in Black city and community building knowledge and traditions,” she said, adding that those tools can be used to inform both planning education and training as well as amplify community-led planning practices. Other collaborators include Black-led community organizations from Halifax and Toronto, Black planners from across Canada, and additional researchers and experts in areas such as planning, community building and Black studies.

Abigail Moriah, MCIP RPP, Co-Director, BEPIC, Founder, The Black Planning Project