Planning, Civil Rights, and African American Voting: The Case of Montgomery, Alabama

Abstract

This paper explores the link between African American civil rights activism and city planning before the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Using historical and spatial analyses, we discern the relationship between civil rights activism and leadership, voter registration, and city planning in Montgomery, Alabama, concluding—planning and African American activism and voting coevolved—with three distinct periods of planning and civil rights activism. The article suggests that housing demolition sought to curb potential political power through voting and civil rights activism alongside maintaining racial segregation and creating economic development in the postwar era.