Borderlands without borders: How poetry can dismantle the walls between planners and communities

Blog post by Rodney Gomez
July 22, 2022

Kinder Institute for Urban Research   (Houston)

As a method of community planning, and as an impetus for creative placemaking (and placekeeping), poetry can help anyone–not just writers–think about how they are situated within their local communities and urban spaces. By writing poetry, any member of the public—in particular, those who are historically underrepresented—can turn conceptions into things that can be discussed and implemented. Since poetry has dislodged itself from patrician control and has found fertile ground in the digital landscape, it can be easily shared within local contexts and beyond.