What Would a Decolonial City be Like?

• In-person event
• A220, Loeb Building, Carleton University
• 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6

• Contact
• Natalia Fierro Marquez, natalia.fierromarquez@carleton.ca

FOUNDERS SEMINAR

Presents
Dr. Heather Dorries
Assistant Professor
Carleton University
School of Public Policy and Administration

What Would a Decolonial City be Like? Speculations on Planning Theory, Sovereignty, and Indigenist Urbanism

Abstract:

Having recognized planning’s role in settler colonialism, planning scholars have begun to grapple with the question of how urban planning theories and practices might be decolonized. However, Indigenous epistemologies and methodologies have been largely absent from this literature. The central argument of this paper is that if the city is to be target for anti-colonial struggle, planning and urbanism must begin to prioritize the political agenda that has been set by Indigenous peoples. This paper also contemplates possibilities for an “Indigenist urbanism”, which foregrounds Indigenous political goals and considers how Indigenous intellectual traditions might be interpreted within the realm of planning and urbanism to provide a vision for the flourishing of urban Indigenous life.

Bio:

Heather Dorries is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University, where she teaches in the Indigenous Policy and Administration Program. She received her MScPl and PhD from the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto. Following her graduate work she held positions in Geography at McMaster University and the University of British Columbia. Before coming to Carleton she worked as a research associate for the City of Toronto.