Chicago 2050: Tonika Lewis Johnson imagines a city skyline that bridges racial dividing lines
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By Tonika Lewis Johnson
Published on March 22, 2026.
Tonika Lewis Johnson, author of a multimedia project Folded Map, imagines a vision for a city skyline that bridges racial divides. She argues that segregation in Chicago was not accidental but built into the geography of the city. Policy, finance, and law decisions determined where investment would flow and where it would be withheld over generations. This decision was made over generations, leading to uneven wealth being distributed across different neighborhoods. The author argues that when a city directs opportunity unevenly, it becomes visible in its architecture. The article also suggests that the future of Chicago lies in a vibrant skyline that could have been built across commercial corridors throughout the city's South Side.
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