Spatial Justice Studio
Our Mission
The Spatial Justice Studio (SJS) seeks to establish and sustain interinstitutional, interdisciplinary, and inter-sectoral programs that bring faculty, students and the community together across disciplines into diverse experiences to develop meaningful solutions to issues related to spatial (in)justice. The SJS will explore alternative possibilities for urban areas and ways of achieving more equitable urban futures through active research agendas, engaged teaching practices and community based participatory research which will lead to the creation/regeneration of equitable, functional and sustainable communities for all.
Spatial Justice Topics of Inquiry
- Food Deserts
- Urban Resiliency
- Environmental Injustices
- Housing Discrimination/Segregation
- Gerrymandering
- Economic Mobility
- Spatial Planning
- Healthcare Inequalities
- Transportation Deserts
- Local Government Boundary Change
What is Spatial Justice?
Our Work
Mapping Prejudice in Forsyth County
This project works to identify and map systemic racism in the sale of property through racial covenants as a path toward change.
Spatial Justice Studio Faculty/Community Fellows Program
The Faculty / Community Fellows program is open to all faculty at UNCSA and WSSU, as well as interested community members. This year’s program will also allow past fellows to reapply for funding to continue their research into issues of spatial justice impacting the community.
Spatial Justice Indicators
This research proposal seeks to explore the issue of spatial justice through the development of a Spatial Justice Index (SJI). To date, most work associated with spatial justice has been qualitative and case study based. In this research, the SJI will be created by quantitatively exploring geographic (i.e. land uses, distance to parks, schools, vices, etc.), demographic (i.e. race, ethnicity, age, etc.) and socio-economic variables (i.e. income, education, poverty, etc.) of census tracts in an effort to apply the concept of spatial (in)justice to NC communities.
Forsyth County Neighborhood Opportunity Atlas
The Spatial Justice Studio @ CDI, in partnership with Forsyth County, is developing a Neighborhood Opportunity Atlas to provide a holistic analysis of conditions across the county that can be used to identify, compare and assess neighborhoods in Forsyth County now and into the future for planning, programming, budgeting and evaluation.
Spatial Justice Studio, Faculty Lead
Dr. Russell M. Smith is a Professor of Geography in the Department of History, Politics & Social Justice at Winston-Salem State University and the Founder/Faculty Lead for the Spatial Justice Studio in Winston-Salem, NC. He received his doctoral degree in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His research interests include exploring issues of spatial (in)justice related to the built environment, urban sustainability and local government boundary change. Dr. Smith is the author of numerous research publications (30+), contracted reports, and scholarly and community presentations. In 2018, Dr. Smith published a book titled, Municipal Incorporation Activity in the United States: Patterns, People and Procedures.
During his time at WSSU, Dr. Smith has been recognized for his dedication to teaching, community and university service, and his research accomplishments. He has received the Wilveria B. Atkinson Distinguished Research Award (2023), Bill Sheppard Master Teacher Award (2019), and the Cedric S. Rodney Distinguished Service Award (2018). Since 2019, Dr. Smith has also served as a Fulbright Specialist, specializing in urban planning and is an Associate Partner at TU Delft’s Centre for the Just City. Prior to joining Winston-Salem State University, Dr. Smith was an AICP certified urban planner for a variety of local governments where he specialized in land use planning and urban redevelopment.
