Resisting desperation for development: The power of community-based disruption in rewriting the culture of public–private redevelopment

Meghan Z Gough and Kathryn Howell
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Meghan Z Gough: Virginia Commonwealth University, USA
Kathryn Howell: University of Maryland at College Park, USA

Urban Studies, 2026, vol. 63, issue 1, 137-155

Abstract: Similar to other US cities, publicly funded highways and urban renewal projects destroyed many thriving Black neighbourhoods in Richmond, Virginia (USA), including the Navy Hill neighbourhood. In 2017, invoking the name of the former neighbourhood as a branding tactic and framing the redevelopment project as critical to the city’s success, a public–private redevelopment proposal sparked debate around the goals and processes of planning and ignited community resistance. This article analyses interviews and contemporary and archival documents to gain insight into the case and to develop the historical context important for understanding Navy Hill. Building on scholarship that considers the nature of justice in urban development decisions and the role of community resistance in shaping the process and outcomes of these projects, we use Marcuse’s framework for social change and theories on power, process and place in decision making to examine the Navy Hill process. Results highlight the power of community-based disruption to resist growth-orientated development rhetoric, successfully politicise the problems of the redevelopment proposal and rewrite the culture of public–private redevelopment processes.

Keywords: justice; memory; power; redevelopment; resistance; 正义; 记忆; æ ƒåŠ›; é‡ å»º; 抵制 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:63:y:2026:i:1:p:137-155

DOI: 10.1177/00420980251342521

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