Right to the City

Location: International

Website:righttothecity.org

Through shared principles and a common frame and theory of change, RTTC is building a national movement for racial justice, urban justice, human rights, and democracy. RTTC seeks to create regional and national impacts in the fields of housing, human rights, urban land, community development, civic engagement, criminal justice, environmental justice, and more.

Right to the City was born out of desire and need by organizers and allies around the country to have a stronger movement for urban justice. But it was also born out of the power of an idea of a new kind of urban politics that asserts that everyone, particularly the disenfranchised, not only has a right to the city, but as inhabitants, have a right to shape it, design it, and operationalize an urban human rights agenda.

In the realm of ideas, a key resource and touchstone is “Le droite à la ville” (Right to the City) a book published in 1968 by French intellectual and philosopher Henri Lefebvre. In the sphere of human rights, this powerful idea was adopted by the World Urban Forum and elaborated into the World Charter of the Right to the City in 2004. Building from this powerful idea, international principles, and forward-looking grassroots organizing, the Right to the City Alliance was established in January 2007.

THE RIGHT TO THE CITY PLATFORM

Land for People vs. Land for Speculation:

The right to land and housing that is free from market speculation and that serves the interests of community building, sustainable economies, and cultural and political space.

Land Ownership:

The right to permanent ownership of urban territories for public use.

Economic Justice:

The right of working class communities of color, women, queer and transgender people to an economy that serves their interests.

Indigenous Justice:

The right of First Nation indigenous people to their ancestral lands that have historical or spiritual significance, regardless of state borders and urban or rural settings.

Environmental Justice:

The right to sustainable and healthy neighborhoods, workplaces, healing, quality health care, and reparations for the legacy of toxic abuses such as brown fields, cancer clusters, and superfund sites.

Freedom from Police State Harassment:

The right to safe neighborhoods and protection from police, INS/ICE, and vigilante repression, which has historically targeted communities of color, women, queer and transgender people.
Immigrant Justice:

The right of equal access to housing, employment, and public services regardless of race, ethnicity, and immigration status and without the threat of deportation by landlords, ICE, or employers.

Services and Community Institutions:

The right of working class communities of color to transportation, infrastructure and services that reflect and support their cultural and social integrity.

Democracy and Participation:

The right of community control and decision making over the planning and governance of the cities where we live and work, with full transparency and accountability, including the right to public information without interrogation.

Reparations:

The right of working class communities of color to economic reciprocity and restoration from all local, nation and transnational institutions that have exploited and/or displaced the local economy.

The right to support and build solidarity between cities across national boundaries, without state intervention.

The right of rural people to economically healthy and stable communities that are protected from environmental degradation and economic pressures that force migration to urban areas.

1,000 Friends of Fresno

Location: Fresno, CA

Website: www.1000friendsoffresno.org

1000 Friends of Fresno is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of all the citizens of our community. We will strive to foster and support initiatives by other civic-minded groups to achieve this goal. We are committed to ensure that public officials and governmental agencies make decisions, especially those regarding land use and development, that work toward this goal by meeting these criteria:

- they are the result of a planning and deliberative process that complies fully with the law and allows public scrutiny and participation;

- they have no deleterious effect on the public's health;

- they encourage the development and use of public transportation;

- they preserve the community's architectural heritage and show respect for its ethnic diversity;

- they do not contribute to urban sprawl;

- they serve to benefit the entire community rather than to enrich a few.

San Francisco Beautiful

Location: San Francisco, CA

Website: www.sfbeautiful.org

San Francisco is beautiful because we make it that way. When our plazas need help, we refresh them.

Our vision is to keep San Francisco beautiful.

Our mission is to create, enhance, and maintain the unique beauty and livability of San Francisco.

For more than 60 years, San Francisco Beautiful — a group of citizens, neighbors, friends, and philanthropists — has been integral in making San Francisco the extraordinary place it is today.

We work to keep San Francisco beautiful through civic engagement, partnering with communities to build better neighborhoods, and celebrating urban innovation.

If you love San Francisco, we love you. Join now to keep San Francisco beautiful.

Neighborhhods Partnershiip Network

Location: New Orleans, LA

Website: www.npnnola.com

The Neighborhoods Partnership Network (NPN) is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization consisting of a citywide network of neighborhoods that was established after the Hurricane Katrina disaster to facilitate neighborhood collaboration, increase access to government and information, and strengthen the voices of individuals and communities across New Orleans.

The disasters revealed significant weakness in many structures Americans took for granted – physical structures such levees & hospitals, but also governing and social structures from FEMA to state and local entities. Citizens have had to become their own “first responders” – from rescuing their neighbors to rescuing their neighborhoods. NPN is one such organization born from both the failures and opportunities the catastrophe has provided.

NPN realized that a need existed for a citywide framework to assist communities in maximizing the use of limited resources and information while providing connections to other communities that have similar obstacles so that communities can avoid duplicating efforts and work toward shared goals. The infrastructure of this organization answers New Orleanians’ desires to be involved in the formal decision-making processes that impact quality of life issues for citizens and neighborhoods.

NPN’s mission is to improve the quality of life by engaging New Orleanians in neighborhood revitalization and civic processes. NPN consists of a board of community leaders reflective of neighborhoods throughout the city and a diverse staff immersed in coalition building, public and government relations. NPN envisions a New Orleans where all neighborhoods are great places to live.

Neighborhoods Partnership Network
4902 Canal St., Room 301
New Orleans, La 70119

504-940-2207