Invite to Cover: ‘My Just City is Black and White: Race, Space and Design’ – a Lecture by Prof Toni L Griffin
Date: 28 May 2018
From: Nelson Mandela Foundation
The Nelson Mandela Foundation, in partnership with the U.S. Embassy and the African Centre for Cities, invite media to attend a lecture and panel discussion with Toni L. Griffin, a Harvard Professor and founder of Urban Planning and Design for the American City. Joining Ms. Griffin as respondents will be Edgar Pieterse, the Director of the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town, and Mandisa Dyantyi, Deputy General Secretary of the Social Justice Coalition.
Toni L. Griffin’s presentation, “My Just City is Black and White: Race, Space and Design,” is open to the public and will provide an opportunity for panelists and audience members to reflect on and discuss urban spatial transformation in the context of working toward addressing inequality in South African and American cities. It is part of ongoing dialogue work that the Foundation has undertaken as the country grapples with land both in rural and urban settings.
Ms. Griffin is a professor in the Practice of Urban Planning at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. She has many years’ experience leading long-range urban planning initiatives for U.S. cities, including serving as Program Director for the Detroit Work Project. Ms. Griffin is also the founding Director of Design for the Just City at the Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York, which investigates the definition of urban justice and the just city, examining how urban planning can promote conditions of justice. Ms. Griffin has also served as the Director of Community Development for the City of Newark, New Jersey, and the Deputy Director for Revitalization Planning and Neighborhood Planning in the city of Washington, D.C.’s Office of Planning. Ms. Griffin began her career as an architect with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP in Chicago.
Event details:
Date: 31 May 2018
Time: 18:00 to 20:00
Venue: Nelson Mandela Foundation, 107 Central Street, Houghton, Johannesburg
For media queries and to RSVP:
Lunga Nene
The U.S. Embassy is hosting Ms. Griffin in South Africa as part of its series of events to commemorate the Mandela Centenary. Much of Ms. Griffin’s work has focused on how urban transformation can and should promote social equity. In addition to appearing at the NMF, she will participate in a series of public engagements and meetings in Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Cape Town. For additional information on her embassy-supported tour please contact U.S. Embassy Spokesperson Cindy Harvey at HarveyCR@state.gov.