Architecting the Social Fabric: Pluralism, Urban Redevelopment

Abstract

A literature review that synthesizes three sources into one argument: cohesion in a diverse society is built deliberately, through spaces and processes, and does not follow from proximity. Patel’s case for civic “builders” sets the frame. Eck’s distinction between diversity, a demographic fact, and pluralism, active engagement, sharpens it. A 2025 mixed-methods study of the Jordan Downs public-housing redevelopment in Watts, Los Angeles, grounds it: 21 stakeholder interviews and a survey of 647 residents found higher social cohesion there than at two comparison sites. The review closes with implications for planners and policymakers. I then built it into a single-page HTML and CSS research poster sized for a 48 × 36 inch board, with a source-synthesis table, a conceptual framework diagram and a print stylesheet.