Beyond apology: designing reparative justice for Africville

Abstract

Systemic racism in Nova Scotia has been subtly engraved within architecture and infrastructure in the location and design of Black settlements historically. This has resulted in environmental racism, segregation, and displacement. It has deprived Black and Indigenous communities of access to basic infrastructure, including sanitation and protection from health hazards, while urban renewal has often been used to justify the demolition of Black communities across North America. Today, many former Black neighbourhoods exist as vast public parks, empty, manicured spaces with little purpose, memory, and identity. Planners design no real use for them; continually displacing Black, Indigenous, or Immigrant communities due to explicit racism. This thesis focuses on Africville, a Black community in Halifax, Nova Scotia, dis- placed by systemic racism. It explores how design can enable reparative justice, strengthen community infrastructure, prevent displacement, and honor the memories and future joy of displaced residents through a contemporary, rebuilt vision of Africville.