This chapter examines the socio-economic disparities in cities, particularly the division caused by freeways in communities like East Palo Alto and other regions like East Pittsburgh, East Detroit, and East Oakland. The speaker explains the historical reasons why marginalized communities often end up on the east sides of cities, linking it to prevailing wind patterns.
What do communities on the social, economic and environmental margins have in common? For one thing, they tend to be on the east sides of cities. In this short talk about a surprising insight, anthropologist and venture capitalist Stephen DeBerry explains how both environmental and man-made factors have led to disparity by design in cities from East Palo Alto, California to East Jerusalem and beyond — and suggests some elegant solutions to fix it.