Investing in the Spatial Practice of Democracy

American Sustainable Business Network presents Investing in the Spatial Practice of Democracy, an interactive webinar with April De Simone (Trahan Architects) and Dyvar Anderson (Restore The Old Benevolent Society).

We are in a pivotal societal moment where many of us are grappling with the (forward) direction of democracy. For far too long, the very truths we look to with hope and hold “to be self-evident” have been selectively applied and grossly abused, leaving this concept of democracy and equality tattered and worn. The contiguous, generational impact of social and spatial inequities and injustice has ignited deep conversations and alliances around how do each of us define our place of value to steward the kind of democracy necessary to grow our shared humanity. It is within this very context a rhetorical query of “How do we invest in the spatial practice of a more equitable and just democracy?” launched Designing For Democracy (DFD).

This webinar explores how a growing interdisciplinary consortium of practitioners are using the DFD platform to spatially interrogate and actualize democratic values we strongly believe are intrinsically important in scaling a just and inclusive built environment. April shares DFD’s framework which investigates and defines how they view spatial practice from the lens of healing, equity, and justice. This grounds the application of DFD’s tools and methods centered on transforming the conditions that inform, guide, and manifest our society. By humanizing data and harnessing empathy, we can achieve palpable results that can correct our built environment’s disparate impacts.