Map of noise pollution in The Bronx, showing the intense concentration of noise emanating from the highway network. Purple is as loud as a jackhammer, 2026. © Adam Paul Susaneck.
Adam Paul Susaneck’s talk will cover how transportation infrastructure has been used as an instrument of class and racial division within US cities, and how activists and (some) officials around the country are addressing these physical divisions with concrete solutions. Featuring historic photography, historic aerial surveys, and data visualizations, the talk will cover (1) some of the ongoing socioeconomic and public health impacts of highways in urban settings, (2) the history of how these highways were planned and built, and (3) potential solutions for overcoming this legacy and creating a more just city (including design solutions and otherwise).
Map of asthma rates per census tract in The Bronx, revealing that nearly every census tract in the South Bronx is in the 99th percentile. This is partially a result of the intense concentration of fumes and particulate matter spewing from highway traffic and descending on the neighborhood, 2026. © Adam Paul Susaneck.
Chicago’s Near West Side before and after “urban renewal” and freeway construction, 2026. © Adam Paul Susaneck.
Much of the Near West Side was demolished in 1963 for the construction of a new campus of the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), as well as for the Dan Ryan (I-90) and Eisenhower (I-290) Expressways, 2026. © Adam Paul Susaneck.
Aldine Square on the South Side of Chicago, before and after urban renewal. In 1939 the Chicago Housing Authority destroyed this block and dozens of surrounding ones, which were in the northern portion of Bronzeville, a large neighborhood known as “The Black Metropolis,” due its large Black middle class, many Black-owned businesses (including the first Black-owned theater in the US), and more, 2026. © Adam Paul Susaneck.
Chicago "redlining" map overlaid on a contemporary (1930s) aerial image, with selected corresponding comments from the accompanying surveyors' reports, 2026. © Adam Paul Susaneck.
