What Does This Election Mean for Our Cities?

Illustration from A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America

In his book, A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America, renowned architect and city planner, Vishaan Chakrabarti remarks very early on, “In election after election, our presidential candidates rarely utter the word “city” or “suburb” in their speeches.” That wasn’t the case for this election. 

In a bid to win the suburban vote, President Trump boasted earlier this July about reversing an Obama-era fair housing rule which guaranteed low-income housing in suburban municipalities. It wasn’t lost that this was a clear racist dog whistle, meant to tap into white America’s paranoia of their neighborhoods becoming like the feared “inner city.” The topic took center stage in the presidential debates, with Joe Biden claiming that as a proud suburbanite himself, the suburbs are diverse and hardly reflect the reality present in Trump’s rhetoric. Neither candidates were correct, perhaps showing how out of touch the larger political establishment is with the average American. Soon after, Trump declared New York City, Seattle, and Portland as “anarchist” jurisdictions. The decision, made by the Department of Justice, was a condemnation due to what they saw as the cities’ inability to manage the destruction caused by the riots that ensued after the police murder of George Floyd. The intent was to cut federal funding to the cities in question, which was soon met with counter lawsuits.

In an unprecedented fashion, this election finally challenged the mainstream imagination of what constitutes our cities and suburbs. At a time where New York’s Lower East Side is some of the most prized real estate in the country, and a suburb like Harvey, Illinois is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicagoland, we have to think harder about where our communities are headed. In this day and age, moving into a two-story house in the suburbs is a financial pipe dream. More people are moving to cities and renting than ever before, and despite what some may have said earlier this year, our cities will be fine after the pandemic and protests. But what does this all mean when our cities are at risk of being defunded? When gentrification has rendered nearly every major city in North America unaffordable, and our suburbs no longer have affordable housing, where will the nation’s poor go? When immigrants that have revived our most neglected neighborhoods are at risk of being deported or turned away, what will happen to their communities?

There is no clear answer to these questions, and to propose that the survival of our cities hinges on a single election is a bit hysterical. Our cities are humanity’s vessels, and although they are hardly perfect, we have an obligation to render them as spaces of equity and justice. I’m optimistic no matter what the outcome of the election is, at the end of the day the people will always reclaim their cities. Whatever administration comes into power after today will decide whether that will be sooner or later.