Chicago Case Study — Urban Inequality
Chicago Case Study — Urban Inequality · Years 10–12
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions
- Investigate a significant question using evidence from multiple sources
- Analyse and evaluate information to form and support a reasoned position
- Connect learning to real-world contexts, including Aotearoa New Zealand settings
- Communicate understanding clearly and accurately for a specific audience
Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria
- I use at least two sources and can evaluate their credibility
- My position is clearly stated and supported by specific evidence
- I can connect my learning to at least one real-world Aotearoa context
- My communication is clear, organised, and appropriate for the audience
Chicago's South Side — A Mirror for South Auckland
🏙️ Urban inequality · systemic racism · community resilienceChicago's South Side is one of the most studied examples of urban segregation in the world. Since the Great Migration (1910–1970), millions of African Americans moved to Chicago from the South, only to be confined to specific neighbourhoods by redlining (government-enforced racial zoning), discriminatory lending, and racially restrictive covenants. The result: systematically under-resourced schools, inadequate health services, high unemployment, and higher rates of violence — not because of the people who live there, but because of deliberate policy decisions that denied them access to capital, opportunity, and investment. Sound familiar? This handout asks you to examine Chicago through the lens of South Auckland — and to find the structural similarities.
Part 1 — He Tūāhuatanga: Comparative Data
🇺🇸 Chicago South Side (Englewood/Woodlawn)
🇳🇿 South Auckland (Māngere/Ōtara)
- The life expectancy gap in Chicago between Englewood (66 years) and nearby Lincoln Park (83 years) is 17 years — the same as between some high-income and low-income countries. What does this tell us about whether inequality is a civic problem or a development problem?
- Identify THREE specific statistics where Chicago's South Side and South Auckland show similar patterns. For each, explain: is this a coincidence, or does it suggest a structural cause — something built into how cities and economies are organised?
- What data would you want to see that is not included above? Why might that data be harder to find — or politically sensitive?
Part 2 — Ngā Take Tōmua: Historical Causes
| Period | Chicago mechanism | South Auckland parallel | Impact today |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910–1970 | Redlining — Black families denied mortgages in 75% of Chicago | Māori Land Court policies stripped ~95% of Māori land by 1960 | Wealth gap, no intergenerational property asset |
| 1940s–60s | Urban renewal — highways built through Black neighbourhoods | State housing relocations to South Auckland, away from city jobs | Concentrated poverty, social isolation |
| 1970s–90s | White flight + disinvestment — businesses and tax base leave | Deindustrialisation — manufacturing jobs disappear from Māngere | Youth unemployment, reduced local services |
| 1980s–present | Mass incarceration — 1 in 3 Black men incarcerated nationally | Māori over-representation — 53% of NZ prison population | Disrupted whānau, limited post-release opportunities |
| 2020s | COVID-19 death rate 3× higher in Black communities | COVID-19 hospitalisation 3× higher for Māori/Pacific | Widening inequality, vaccine hesitancy from historic distrust |
- The concept of structural racism argues that racial inequality is not caused by individual prejudice but by systems and policies that consistently disadvantage certain racial groups. Using TWO rows from the table above, explain how this concept applies.
- Barack Obama grew up partly in Chicago and wrote about the South Side in The Audacity of Hope. He argued: "The path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not exist in isolation." What did he mean? How does your table support or complicate his point?
- New Zealand has no legal history of redlining — but Māori land confiscation (raupatu) had a similar economic effect. In what ways are the two mechanisms different, and in what ways do they have the same outcome?
Part 3 — Ngā Kaupeka Hapori: Community-Led Responses
In both cities, the most effective responses to inequality have come from within communities — not from government programmes.
🇺🇸 Chicago Responses
- IMAN (Inner-City Muslim Action Network): Community health centre, green construction training, arts programmes
- Growing Home: Urban farm employing returning prisoners in Englewood
- Fearless Leading by Youth (FLY): Youth-led violence interruption
- Obama Presidential Centre (opening 2026) — deliberately placed in Jackson Park on South Side
🇳🇿 South Auckland Responses
- Manukau Urban Māori Authority (MUMA): Whānau support, economic development, housing
- Ōtara Flea Market: By-Māori/Pacific-for-community economic hub since 1979
- Vaka Tautua: Pacific mental health and disability services
- Kāinga Ora papakāinga: Community land trust housing models
- What common principles do you see in both cities' community responses? (e.g., What do Growing Home and Ōtara Flea Market have in common beyond being "helpful"?)
- The paradox of community resilience: Critics argue that celebrating community-led responses lets governments "off the hook" — it shifts responsibility for systemic failure onto the people who suffer from it. Do you agree? Write a 150–200 word argument for OR against this view, using at least one piece of evidence from this handout.
🌍 Whakamutunga — Ko tātou tēnei
Chicago and South Auckland are not anomalies — they are the predictable results of deliberate decisions made by governments, banks, and corporations over decades. Understanding those decisions, naming them, and tracing their effects to the present is the beginning of being able to change them. As James Baldwin wrote: "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."
Te wero: Research one specific policy change in either Chicago or South Auckland over the last 10 years that was intended to reduce inequality. What happened? Did it work? Why or why not?
🌿 Ngā Rauemi Hono
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Curriculum alignment for this handout has not yet been verified against the live curriculum statements. A generated placeholder that stood here was removed on 2026-08-29 because it matched no real statement.
Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts
Reflect on your learning. What was the most important idea? What question do you still have?
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
This resource sits within a kaupapa that recognises mātauranga Māori as a living knowledge system with its own frameworks, values, and ways of understanding the world. The New Zealand Curriculum calls for learning that reflects the bicultural partnership of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which means every subject area has an obligation to engage authentically with Māori perspectives — not as cultural decoration but as substantive contributions to how we understand our topics. The concepts of manaakitanga (care for others), kaitiakitanga (guardianship), whanaungatanga (relationship and belonging), and tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) provide a values framework applicable across all learning areas, and all are relevant to the work in this handout.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Resources already provided
This handout is designed to be used alongside other resources in the same unit. This handout stands on its own; it is not part of a linked unit planner. All content is provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.