In a new video game, the player is a no-good raccoon wreaking havoc on the world around him.
Ben Esposito’s new video game, Donut County, is an allegory about gentrification. A raccoon named BK lives to “meet the locals, steal their trash, and throw them in a hole.” But, as Liz Ohanesian explains, that is only until he finds himself on the other side:
When BK and his friend Mira are also swallowed by the hole, they end up at an underground campfire, confronted by those whose lives the raccoon has ruined. One by one, the displaced tell their tales as they try to make BK realize that he’s a douchebag with no regard for anything more than his own material gain.
Esposito developed the game after living in Brooklyn and then Los Angeles and realizing his own role in displacing people. He is BK, a representation of the high-income tech worker moving in and forever changing a neighborhood.
The goal of the game is to get BK to understand the consequences of taking over everything in sight along with his raccoon buddies, led by the Trash King. Ultimately, says Esposito, Donut County is about how technology and money perpetuate and magnify the gentrification of cities.
FULL STORY: This New Video Game Is an Allegory for Gentrification in L.A.
The Winners and Losers of Atlanta’s Transformation
The city has reinvented itself in many ways, but its residents are not reaping those benefits equally.
Revealed: Inequality And Urban Flight Were Products Of The Federal Government.
If you believe sprawl just magically happened, here's something that visually suggests otherwise.
Neighborhood Polarization in a Canadian City
In Canadian cities, rising income inequality has been reflected in neighborhood polarization. The experience of Hamilton, Ontario, has been typical. Here, inner-city decline is now giving way to gentrification, displacing poverty to the suburbs.
National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.
Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.
Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.
Test News Post 1
This is a summary
Test News Headline 46
Test for the image on the front page.
Balancing Bombs and Butterflies: How the National Guard Protects a Rare Species
The National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap uses GIS technology and land management strategies to balance military training with conservation efforts, ensuring the survival of the rare eastern regal fritillary butterfly.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service