Decades of redlining and urban renewal, rooted in racist planning and design policies, created the conditions for gentrification to occur in American cities. But the primary concern with gentrification today is displacement, which primarily impacts marginalized communities shaped by a history of being denied access to mortgages.

By all accounts, Tulsa’s riverfront project is a smashing success. Can Tony Moore work that same magic between the levees here?

The pandemic quickly shifted most community engagement to virtual arrangements, but not all citizens have ready access to online forums. Public officials can address inequities by finding alternative ways to gather valuable community input.

This latest designs for Trinity River in Dallas represent refreshingly holistic approaches to thinking about the river. The designers have redirected their focus to enhancing the natural possibilities for the basin by understanding and designing for its form, function, and ecology.

Two organizations are approaching the challenge of a Trinity River park with different—though not necessarily conflicting—ideas for moving forward.

Trinity Park Conservancy’s Brent Brown speaks to the challenges of transforming a key piece of Dallas’ flood control into a space for recreation—one that makes everyone feel welcome.

Buffalo Bayou Park is a strong model for Dallas’ Trinity Park—one that suggests that it’s possible to design a park that can withstand historic levels of flooding and quickly bounce back, just so long as that design is robust, respectful of local ecologies, and properly supported by a fund for maintenance.

Mayor Mike Rawlings wants to create a local government corporation to take on the Trinity River Park project. The public-private partnership would be responsible for planning and building the 200-acre park.

Dallas, Texas, is getting a lot greener.

The Dallas-Fort Worth region, with a population of 7.1 million, is already the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States and is projected to grow 55 percent to reach almost 11 million by 2040.