Suburbs in the United States: Catalysts for Systemic Change

Congratulations to Humanity in Action Senior Fellow Erica Dorn who recently published her dissertation titled, “Relational Design for Transitions Within US Suburbs.”

We are excited to feature Erica’s work, which was partially informed by her Humanity in Action Fellowship experience. Erica’s research delves into the transformative potential of suburbs in the U.S., addressing the stigmas and challenges that often overshadow the rapid social and environmental changes occurring within these communities.

Suburbs: The Untapped Potential

• Suburbs in the United States, where more people live and work than in urban and rural areas combined, are emerging as some of the most demographically diverse regions in the country. These areas are the primary destinations for many immigrants, fostering diverse communities with unique challenges and opportunities. Erica’s dissertation sheds light on the critical issues suburbs face, such as institutional racism, lack of affordable multi-family housing, inadequate public transportation, and insufficient civic infrastructure.

Transition Design and Suburb Futures

• Erica’s dissertation is the result of 13 practice-oriented research projects, including the formation of the non-profit organization, Suburb Futures. Through the lens of Transition Design, she operationalizes theories related to place, mobility, and relationality, advocating for transdisciplinary, community-led approaches to drive systemic change. Her work emphasizes the importance of motion and polycentric relationships to place in designing for transitions.

Proposing an “Ecology of Systems Interventions”

• The culmination of Erica’s research is a proposal for an “ecology of systems interventions” designed to harness the trajectory of suburbanization towards more equitable and sustainable futures. Her dissertation argues for relational practices that leverage suburban dynamics to create systemic changes, highlighting the suburbs as crucial sites for catalyzing transitions.

Links to Humanity in Action

This dissertation was externally examined by Humanity in Action Senior Fellow Mariko Silver.

In the research statement section, Erica states:

• “During my doctoral studies, I became a fellow with Humanity in Action and the Alfred Landecker Foundation and pursued research on restoring democracy. The fellowship’s premise is that democracies worldwide are eroding in ways that adversely impact marginalized communities. The fellowship brings together and provides funding and resources for 30 fellows from the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe to work on specific projects that restore democratic values. Through the fellowship, I developed the fiscally sponsored entity, Suburb Futures, to work relationally toward advancing equity and sustainability agendas in U.S. suburbs. Establishing this organization helped to catalyze partnerships, funding, and a vehicle through which to share findings and ensure the research was accountable to a community of stakeholders with whom I was pushing the research through specific projects. I must acknowledge the importance of the fellowship on my dissertation findings through the lens of restoring democracy that the fellowship provided. The issues of who can participate in democracy and who cannot grew more critical to my research overall.“

Erica also explictely acknowledges the collaboration with Senior Fellow Christiana Bukalo:

• “Thank you to a fellowship colleague, Christiana Bukalo, Founder of Statefree. Designing the future of democracy and political representation requires participation by and distribution of power to those most currently marginalized by the system. Christiana Bukalo’s firsthand experience of statelessness is essential because her arguments for inclusion and mobile democratic processes are born from direct experience. Statefree is a movement to create more inclusive democratic processes.”

Erica Dorn’s work is a significant contribution to our understanding of how suburbs can be pivotal in achieving more just and sustainable futures. We are proud to support and share her innovative research with the Humanity in Action community.