Placemaking Week 2024

Dr. Lawrence Brown, a Morgan State professor, researcher, and author of The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America, has developed a board game called Urban Cipher. According to his website: ''Urban Cipher is a creative way to unpack how cities and federal agencies created urban apartheid by design. It is a refreshing twist on the monopoly genre. By illuminating how public policy and real estate practices shape our destinies, Urban Cipher is a fun learning tool to use in schools, staff trainings, and DEI workshops.'' For this interactive, educational workshop, EnviroCollab proposes co-facilitating games of Urban Cipher with attendees in partnership with Dr. Brown. Game-playing will be prefaced by a summary of historic redlining and racist urban renewal practices in Baltimore and in other cities across America. Maps and data will be shared to provide contextual information about Baltimore's neighborhoods. At the end of the session, the facilitators will prompt workshop attendees on observations made and lessons learned, and will share strategies for addressing placemaking inequities through our collective work and advocacy efforts.