Reproducing spatial inequality? The sustainability fix and barriers to urban mobility in Portland, Oregon
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Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2020
Type of Work
Department
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Program
Geography and Environmental Systems
Citation of Original Publication
Dillon Mahmoudi, Amy Lubitow & Mackenzie A. Christensen (2019) Reproducing spatial inequality? The sustainability fix and barriers to urban mobility in Portland, Oregon, Urban Geography, DOI: 10.1080/02723638.2019.1698865
Rights
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This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Urban Geography on Dec. 2, 2019, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2019.1698865
Access to this item will begin on Dec. 2, 2020.
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Urban Geography on Dec. 2, 2019, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2019.1698865
Access to this item will begin on Dec. 2, 2020.
Abstract
We explore how the language of “just sustainability” may become subsumed into a sustainability fix strategy, depoliticizing the utility of concepts such as justice and/or equity. Building from critical GIS insights, we combine digitized spatial data from participatory mapping exercises and community-organization-based focus groups in Portland, Oregon, regarding a proposed six-mile biking and walking path around downtown. We find that 80% of participants’ typical travel destinations are outside of downtown Portland and that participants experience planning and sustainability in a highly localized manner, challenging the equity rationale of downtown investment. We argue the top-down planning model, which presumes the spatial diffusion of benefits is equitable, is inherently ahistorical and fails to benefit those in historically marginalized neighborhoods. Finally, we argue for the value of community-oriented research, which, in this case, inspired a coalition of community organizations to formally oppose a city-led project based on the inequitable distribution of infrastructure benefits.