The Collaborative City

Edited by John J. Betancur and Douglas C. Gills, this volume gathers a varied set of scholars and writers to consider how Black and Latino Americans share a similar urban experience in American cities. Its focus is on the economic and political shifts that have reshaped these neighborhoods and on how public policy might be redesigned to respond to them.

The contributors look closely at moments when Black and Latino communities have worked together and at moments when they have clashed. They also propose ways to push back against the cumulative impact of racism, particularly in a climate where that racism is often left unacknowledged.

The book grows out of a continuing exchange between the contributors and the communities they study. It offers fresh perspective on the difficulties these two populations confront, on the responses already underway, and on how they might join forces to address those difficulties.