Toward Culturally Enriched Communities: Building Design and Policy Partnerships to Address Disparities and Inequality

Tasoulla Hadjiyanni University of Minnesota

This paper shares lessons learned from the author’s collaboration with the Urban Land Institute Minnesota (ULI MN) on how to work toward Culturally Enriched Communities (CEC), communities in which everyone can thrive. The study, which began in 2013, uses interviews with organizations, institutions, policy makers, and elected officials around the state to identify design-related best practices and challenges in the creation of CEC. The premise is that social inequities are partly spatially constructed and are therefore, malleable (Hadjiyanni, 2015; Hadjiyanni, Hirani, & Jordan, 2012).

Findings lend depth to eight principles: Synergistic Communities, People-Centered Communities, Globally-Oriented Communities, Meaning-Making Communities, Relationship-Building Communities, Health-Supporting Communities, Capability-Building Communities, and Innovation-Driven Communities. Examples of design interventions identified include the Hennepin County Medical Center switching from a chapel to a Spiritual Center that recognizes the spiritual needs of different faiths; the Hennepin County Library providing space for Conversation Circles, where adults can practice English; and Target retail stores expanding their aisles in order to accommodate large families and multiple carts, a common occurrence with the extended family structure of many new immigrant groups.

Developing the resource that is shared on ULI MN’s web site opened a window into the complications that must be overcome when design and planning decision-making get grounded in publicly-engaged research: What are the ethical implications of co-production of knowledge? How can collaboration be meaningful for all parties involved? And, what data are needed for the creation of constructive design solutions? Academic partners must also juggle tenure and promotion expectations with dissemination formats that can be relatable; peer-reviewed definitions; forms and timing of assessment for research whose impact often takes years to surface. The paper closes by proposing a new model of academia where relationship-building is the motto and performance is not measured only in outcomes; it is also measured in process.