School Closures and the Contested Unmaking of Philadelphia’s Neighborhoods

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of how people make sense of Philadelphia’s school closings in light of neighborhood change. I argue that as school districts make facilities decisions, they act as planners, legitimizing closure decisions and their racially disparate impacts by reifying quantitative metrics at the expense of meanings that residents use to understand schools. Considering schools as redevelopment sites in a larger urban context reveals how school districts are deeply engaged in the making and unmaking of places. Recasting the work of school districts as planning challenges planning researchers and practitioners to explore how to coordinate traditional planning efforts with school efforts.

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