Decolonizing Planning

Book excerpt: The continued strengthening of Indigenous communities is globally recognized as an urgent priority, and the creation and application of practices that prepare planners for walking with Indigenous people in this process are becoming important necessities for their discipline. Planners of Indigenous origin are reclaiming and recreating traditional methods, and their contributions, though as yet modest in relation to needs, are growing and standing strongly within planning institutions. In this context, critical planners of non-Indigenous origin have begun to question and cast off past practices that perpetuated colonial relations. They strive to transform the ways that planning is thought of and carried out, working alongside Indigenous planners and community members. This book draws on Masters of City Planning theses recently completed at the University of Manitoba which show how, in several different situations, the authors have contributed to planning projects and to the decolonization of their discipline. The work presented here addresses physical planning and social services with Indigenous communities in the city, as well as planning in First Nations. The experiences are based in the region of Winnipeg, Canada, yet have global relevance for work with different Indigenous peoples, and they contribute to the consolidation of Indigenous planning.