Racism is a parks and public space issue

At Park People, we believe parks are vital to the health of Canada’s cities and our environment, and everyone—regardless of their income, identity, ability, or age—deserves equal access to the benefits of public green space.

Yet not everyone experiences parks in the same way. Systemic racism and white supremacy are prevalent and visible in our parks and public spaces where Black, Indigenous and racialized people experience suspicion, surveillance, harassment, and violence.

Our Canadian City Parks Report found Black, Indigenous, and people of colour were far more likely to report that concerns about policing, ticketing, and social judgment prevented them from visiting parks as much as they’d like. 

It’s clear we must do more to address the reality that in their current form, Canada’s parks are not for everyone.  

Park People is actively working with communities across Canada to disrupt and dismantle the implicit and explicit structures of power, privilege, and racism in parks and public spaces. 

Here are some useful reports, articles, toolkits, and webinars that we’re reviewing to better educate ourselves in this work. We hope you’ll join us.

• Kappler confronts what she describes as Canada’s “angel complex” in comparing ourselves more favourably against the anti-Black racism that exists in the United States. She documents the long history of anti-Black racism in Canada and its contemporary expression, and also links it with our prevalent anti-Indigenous racism. 

Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present, Robyn Maynard, 2017.

• Through in-depth research, Maynard traces the roots of present day anti-Black racism, surveillance, and policing to Canada’s 200-year history of slavery. She writes of how “both historically and in the present, policing Blackness occurs alongside and as a part of the policing of Canada’s Indigenous communities,” as a way of upholding “the aims of settler colonialism.”

Subdivided, Ed. Jay Pitter and John Lorinc. 2016.

• Through essays from a variety of voices, Subdivided challenges us to move beyond mottos like Toronto’s “diversity is our strength” to meaningfully integrate anti-racist and urban justice work into how we build our cities. While the book centres on the Greater Toronto Area, its essays on subjects such as policing, arts, housing, mental health, and public space are relevant across Canada.

Why Race Matters in Planning Public Parks, Brentin Mock, March 2016

• Mock writes about how the tendency to privilege white voices in public consultation perpetuates inequities in how parks are planned and designed. He shares a study of a Houston parks planning process that specifically engaged Black and Latino communities, and argues that cities “need to be inclusive of voices typically under-represented in planning processes, namely those of racial minorities and low-income populations.”

Public Space, Park Space, and Racialized Space, KangJae Lee, January 2020

• Lee writes about the social construction of parks as “white spaces.” When public spaces are “conceptualized, built, and managed by upper- and middle-class white males,” he writes, “the presence of people of color can be perceived as out of the ordinary, dangerous, or criminal.” 

Placemaking When Black Lives Matter, Annette Koh, April 2017

• In calling for a “politics of placemaking”, Koh urges public space professionals to engage deeper with systemic racial and class inequities. Discussing Jane Jacobs’ notion that neighbourhoods need “eyes on the street”, Koh writes, “we should ask ourselves if those eyes are attached to a person socialized to see non-white people as inherently dangerous.” 

Being Black in Public, Jay Pitter, November 2024

• How can municipalities move from awareness to action? The BEING BLACK IN PUBLIC SURVEY is a bi-national survey—developed by Jay Pitter Placemaking and administered by the Institute for Social Research—which examined the public space policies, design approaches and unspoken social attitudes that both diminish and enhance Black peoples’ experiences when navigating cities. 

Parks Need Leaders of Colour, Park People, July 2021

• In this story from our Canadian City Parks Report, we share research, quotes, and policy examples of how people working in parks and public space are responding to grassroots racial justice movements that call for the elimination of power imbalances in park design and operations and the right to exist, and thrive, in public space.

Urban Parks and Forests Are Missing in Racialized and Marginalized Neighbourhoods, Nature Canada, March 2022

• A summary of Nature Canada’s research which suggest we consider three interrelated dimensions of equity for racialized and low-income communities when expanding urban parks and green spaces: the proximity of parks and green spaces, the quality of these spaces, and increasing the voice and power of racialized and marginalized communities in governance and the planning and managing urban parks and forests.

Place Driving Equity, Reimagining the Civic Commons, November 2021

• An evidence-based action guide on the role of public space for shared prosperity, compiled from the discussions of a multi-city working group of practitioners and thought leaders. It features research, policy recommendations and actions that can advance more equitable communities through investments in public space.

A renewed attention on environmental equity and justice, National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health, December 2022.

• This webinar discusses the development and implementation of HealthyPlan.City, a tool that allows environmental health professionals, policymakers, planners, and advocacy groups alike to explore where environmental inequities are occurring in cities across Canada.

Five Ways Urban Planners Are Addressing a Legacy of Inequity, Jon Gorey, May 2023

• The urban planning profession has directly contributed to the systemic racism and segregation that plague US cities. In this blog from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Gorey spotlights urban planners who are trying to atone for that legacy through tangible strategies with the goal of creating inclusive, equitable communities.

Race and Nature in the City Engaging Youth of Colour in Nature-Based Activities, Jacqueline L. Scott & Ambika Tenneti, April 2021

• An in-depth, community-informed needs assessment of youth of colour in the Greater Toronto Area led to these tangible recommendations for meaningfully engaging racialized communities in nature and nature-based programming in urban areas.