The Center for Equity Practice and Planning Justice is dedicated to expanding opportunities for historically marginalized communities by addressing the deep-rooted patterns of racial segregation in urban and regional planning. Our mission is to dismantle these systems that perpetuate inequality and to develop equitable practices that foster inclusive, healthy, and sustainable neighborhoods.
Through innovative research, collaboration, and community engagement, the center focuses on addressing disparities in housing, transportation, economic development, public health, and education. By providing actionable strategies and resources, we aim to transform segregated regions like Milwaukee into thriving, equitable communities for all residents.
A Vital Resource Hub
The Center for Equity Practice and Planning Justice serves as a resource hub for community organizations, government agencies and urban planners striving to deconstruct racially segregated placemaking. Activities include public forums on equitable economic development and research initiatives focused on zoning reforms, transportation justice and other areas of concern for marginalized communities.
Center for Equity Practice & Planning Justice Partners
The center is supported by key partners and community leaders committed to advancing equity and social justice. Collaborations among partners help drive the center’s research, outreach and advocacy efforts to create more equitable planning practices throughout the region.
Academic
- UWM School of Architecture & Urban Planning
- UWM Urban Studies Program
Advocacy & Community
- 1000 Friends of Wisconsin
- Riverworks Development Corp
- The Redress Movement
- Walnut Way
Communications
- Wisconsin Public Radio
Community Wealth Building
- Democracy Collaborative
- Milwaukee Land Trust
Education & Youth Development
- Educational Policy and Leadership, College of Education, Marquette University
Environment
- Sierra Club
Equity & Inclusion
- Office of Equity, Milwaukee County
Government
- Office of the County Executive, Milwaukee County
- Office of Congresswoman Gwen Moore
- Office of the Mayor, City of Milwaukee
Health & Wellbeing
- Health Department, City of Milwaukee
- Medical College of Wisconsin
- UWM Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health
Housing
- Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council
- Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity
Philanthropy
- Greater Milwaukee Foundation
Planning & Development
Wisconsin American Planning Association
Department of City Development, City of Milwaukee
Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
Join us in this critical work.
Partnering with the Center for Equity Practice and Planning Justice connects your organization to meaningful research, community impact and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Join current and future leaders in our shared commitment to address key urban and regional challenges while advancing innovations in planning and community-building practices that mitigate and deconstruct the causes and consequences of racially segregated placemaking.
Contact us at ceppj-sarup@uwm.edu
Advancing Equity Through Innovative Practice
“Advancing Equity Through Innovative Practice” is a research-driven podcast created by Master of Urban Planning students in Race, Class and the Just City, a course taught by Dr. Kirk Harris, founding director of the center. The podcast explores issues that directly align with the focus of the Center for Equity Practice & Planning Justice.
Collective Action: Renters and the Power to Claim Community When You Do Not Own
Edain Altamirano, Organizing Director, Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia (United Renters for Justice)
Farming as Reclamation: A Conversation with Martice and Amy Scales
Martice Scales, Co-Founder and Farm Manager of Full Circle Healing Farm and Apothocary
Amy Kroll-Scales, Co-Founder and Healing Center Manager of Full Circle Healing and Apothocary
Highways and Harm: Unpacking Environmental Injustice in Communities of Color
Dennis M Grzezinski, an environmental lawyer and advocate in Wisconsin
Passionate about promoting equity?
Here’s how you can join us in this critical work.
In The Media
Equity Does Not Happen By Accident
The American Planning Association invited Dr. Kirk Harris to participate in “Voices of Equity,” a video series featuring planners who have been centering equity in their work to correct racial injustice, mitigate disparity, and improve the quality of life for marginalized people in all communities. In “Equity Doesn’t Happen by Accident,” Dr. Harris helps explain equity practice by emphasizing that planners must be aware of the historical structures, institutions, and policies that perpetuate racial inequalities, and organize themselves to resist those structures or risk being complicit in the process.
