Right Sizing Flint’s Infrastructure in the Wake of the Flint Water Crisis Would Constitute an Additional Environmental Injustice

Abstract

Right sizing has become an essential talking point in discussing next steps for postindustrial and shrinking cities as they struggle to maintain outdated, outsized infrastructure. Yet the literature has been clear that balancing economic and social objectives must be a key part of the discussion, especially given that historical patterns of disinvestment have disproportionately affected socioeconomically disadvantaged and racial/ethnic minority populations. In this Viewpoint, we illuminate concerns on a recent article published in this journal on right sizing that Flint (MI) should have enacted in the wake of its catastrophic water crisis. We present the nature of decline in Flint, as well as evidence from Flint’s recent master plan and its history with urban renewal that demonstrates why recommending such a policy not only goes against common urban planning practice but misses the local context in Flint, which is marked by deep-seated apprehension of the inequitable underpinnings of historical urban planning practice.

Keywords:

• right sizing
• smart decline
• social justice
• structural racism
• urban renewal

This article is referred to by:

Right Sizing for Efficiency and Equity but Achieving Neither

Commentaries on Flint, Right Sizing, and Justice

Right Sizing Is Not What You Think It Is

Rational and Advocacy Planning in Flint Will Have to Come to Terms to Forestall Future Crises

Beyond Crises

Better Planning Practice Lies in a Community-Based, Analysis-Informed Process

Toward a Transformative Planning Infrastructure

This article responds to:

Flint (MI) Missed an Opportunity to “Right Size” With Its Water Crisis

RESEARCH SUPPORT

This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities [U54MD011227].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard C. Sadler

RICHARD C. SADLER ([email protected]) is an assistant professor in the Division of Public Health at Michigan State University.

Debra Furr-Holden

DEBRA FURR-HOLDEN ([email protected]) is the C. S. Mott Endowed Professor in the Division of Public Health at Michigan State University.

Ella Greene-Moton

ELLA GREENE-MOTON ([email protected]) is the methodology core community director for the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions.

Brian Larkin

BRIAN LARKIN ([email protected]) is the chief of staff for the City of Flint.

Moses Timlin

MOSES TIMLIN ([email protected]) is an urban planner in the Flint community.

Dayne Walling

DAYNE WALLING ([email protected]) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography, Environment, & Society at the University of Minnesota and the former mayor of Flint from 2009 to 2015.

Thomas Wyatt

THOMAS WYATT ([email protected]) is the director of Neighborhood and Community Services at Kettering University.