Segregation by Design: Local Politics and Inequality in American Cities

This volume draws on more than 100 years of quantitative and qualitative data from thousands of American cities to explore how local governments generate race and class segregation.

Starting in the early twentieth century, cities have used their power of land use control to determine the location and availability of housing, amenities (such as parks), and negative land uses (such as garbage dumps).

The result has been segregation - first within cities and more recently between them.

Documenting changing patterns of segregation and their political mechanisms, Trounstine argues that city governments have pursued these policies to enhance the wealth and resources of white property owners at the expense of people of colour and the poor.