From Conflict to Cohesion: Designing Interventions for Socio-Political Polarization in Pittsburgh

by Team Co-Evolution: Jen Brown, Jiyu Kwag, Brian Mathews, Revati Naniwadekar, Zoe So
Carnegie Mellon University, Transition Design Seminar 2024

Recap

Over the past several months, we deeply explored socio-political polarization in Pittsburgh. Initially, we mapped it as a wicked problem across social, technological, economic, environmental, and political dimensions. We then undertook a stakeholder analysis, investigating how different groups impacted each other, their interrelated fears and concerns, as well as their common hopes and dreams. After gaining this perspective, we looked backwards at the history of polarization across the city and region. This historical lens helped us understand how conflicts, ideologies, and innovations emerged and collided. Viewing this problem over a long stretch of time provided us with a more comprehensive perspective. With this insight, we began to imagine a more united future based on our stakeholder analysis and other sources. Next we considered what existing aspects would need to be dismantled and maintained, as well as new innovations and practices that could challenge, alter, or improve the status quo, steering the city towards a more equitable and inclusive future.

This post accompanies our work on the final assignment “designing systems interventions,” which will outline a series of actions that can help move Pittsburgh toward a more desirable future. But first, we want to articulate more on the causes of polarization and then frame our suggested ecology of actions to help address it.

Where We Are Today and How We Got Here

Pittsburgh’s transformation from a military fort into an industrial powerhouse shaped its societal divisions, as the steel mills and heavy manufacturing demanded a diverse workforce that included immigrants and freed Black people. These groups contributed to the city’s expansion but experienced longstanding tensions and disparities. The decline of the steel industry in the 1970s led to economic hardships, yet the city managed to reinvent itself by transitioning into the education, technology, and health sectors. This shift introduced new dynamics and tensions among the existing blue-collar communities and newer immigrant populations, exacerbated by media sensationalism. The polarization that Pittsburgh sees today is the result of historical layers of division, intensified by modern challenges and outdated laws, policies, and ideologies.

When considering the present situation and the deep past of polarization, we identified many interdependent factors:

• Deepening Distrust: There is increasing distrust between political and social groups. People view opponents not just as adversaries but as enemies, impacting how communities interact and coexist.
• Echo Chambers: Both online and offline, individuals segregate into communities that reinforce their own beliefs and viewpoints, intensifying divisions. This phenomenon is bolstered by selective media consumption and social media algorithms that create feedback loops.
• Avoidance of Dialogue: There’s a notable reluctance to engage in open discussions on controversial topics. Conversations that do occur often aim to convince rather than understand, leading to further entrenchment of views.
• Wealth Inequality: Economic disparities are growing, with the affluent increasingly isolated in terms of where they live, socialize, and send their children to school. This isolation fosters policies that may neglect or adversely affect lower socioeconomic groups.
• Job Market Shifts: As Pittsburgh transitions largely from heavy industry and manufacturing to education-medical-technical industries, the divide between those who benefit from new economic opportunities and those who feel left behind is widening.
• Cultural Identity Conflicts: Changes in cultural identity and demographics are leading to tensions. Long-standing residents and newer communities often have differing views on the city’s direction, cultural norms, and policies.
• Racial and Ethnic Divides: Racial and ethnic tensions are significant, with systemic inequalities affecting access to opportunities and resources. These divides are heightened by social narratives and media portrayals that often polarize communities further.
• Geographical Divides: Urban and rural areas experience different realities and challenges, leading to distinct political and social views that contribute to polarization.

How Do We Begin to Move Forward?

Much of our time in this course was spent trying to understand and untangle the messy, wicked, seemingly impossible problem of polarization. We constantly encountered news headlines highlighting this issue across the global landscape. In fact, things are seemingly worse now in early May than when we started this journey back in January. It feels discouraging and hopeless. Where do you even begin? The weight of this problem is heavy.

As our coursework and readings turned more toward the future, we began to speculate and visualize more harmonious possibilities. Yet, when envisioning the world fifty to seventy years from now, having such an expansive canvas for ideation was inspiring, but it also felt distant and disconnected from our current realities. Essentially, we could understand the problem of polarization and we could imagine a better future, but how do we bridge the gap?

In contemplating the evolving identity of Pittsburgh, we recognized its remarkable capacity for reinvention: from a frontier outpost to the industrious ‘Steel City’, and now a hub of knowledge and innovation. The critical question we posed was: what will Pittsburgh transform into next?

An overarching long-term strategy that we recommend is for Pittsburgh to embrace the identity of ‘The Resilient City.’ This branding not only reflects the capacity to adapt and thrive through steady changes but also sets a forward-looking tone that can unite our community under a common banner of resilience. By doing so, Pittsburgh can become a beacon of hope and a model for other cities. This positioning highlights how a city known for its industrial past can transform into a symbol of sustainable and inclusive growth.

The genesis of this transformation lies in shifting mindsets, followed by the implementation of iterative progressive policies, programs, and legislation. A constellation of thematic goals and initiatives emerged as we worked on this final assignment. This made the transition from today to tomorrow more tangible, enabling us to consider a series of experimental actions and to cultivate a hopeful, unified future for the coming decades. This strategic approach underscores the importance of foresight and adaptability in urban development and community cohesion.

Interventions: Our Future-Oriented Strategies

As we worked toward designing an ecology of interventions, we thought of this as a multi-program series of activities, policies, and engagements that could start to help address the interdependent causes of polarization. We took on a very ambitious and expansive approach that merged together five frameworks:

1. STEEP dimensions: Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, and Technological.
2. Multi-level perspectives: household, neighborhood, city, state/region, nation, and planet landscapes
3. Multi-stakeholder perspectives: insight from various communities such as working class, immigrants, and other groups
4. Transition methods: dismantling, maintaining, innovating, and future finding
5. Three time horizons: short, medium, and long-term (stretching 70 years into the future)

When we combined all of these layers together, we began to connect multiple dots in new ways. We began to see what a path forward could look like. This would not be a purely linear trajectory, but for us, by having a long-term destination to work towards, we could begin to see the types of changes that would be necessary to at move in that direction.

Short-Term Interventions (Present Day to 2025)

The establishment of a city-level ‘Neutral Committee,’ comprising a diverse array of experts including educators, writers, religious and union leaders, social and political scientists, psychologists, and journalists, is the initial proposal. This committee aims to maintain equal representation from across the political and social spectrum, ensuring its ability to operate in a rational and neutral manner.

The primary function of this committee will be to review existing laws, customs, and policies, analyze the impact of social media, and identify sources of discord, from which it will propose fair and equitable solutions. With the backing of official city support, the committee is expected to significantly enhance community cohesion and deliver sustained impact.

One of the immediate tasks of the Committee will be to launch an educational and training program targeting influential community figures such as pastors and teachers, who hold considerable sway over public opinion. This program is designed to equip these leaders with the necessary tools and skills to advocate for unity and cooperation. By referencing historical examples such as the American Civil War, World War II, and Vietnam, where polarization had catastrophic results, the initiative seeks to dismantle the prevailing “us vs. them” narrative and foster a counter-narrative of unity in diversity, emphasizing the detrimental effects of polarization.

Addressing polarization in the digital realm is another critical task. The Committee will initiate a social media campaign targeting individuals who consume highly polarized content on platforms like Meta and X. Collaborating with designers, psychologists, and marketing experts, the strategy aims to gradually expose this polarized audience to a diversity of opinions, helping them break free from social media echo chambers and socio-political bubbles. The core message of the campaign, “We are not as different as we think we are,” seeks to challenge and reshape perceptions.

In summary, the proposed Neutral Committee of diversified experts becomes poised to begin the transition away from polarization by harnessing the power of narrative, which could profoundly influence the city’s social fabric.

Medium-Term Interventions (2025 to 2040)

The transition plan outlines a series of long-term interventions designed to achieve equity, transparency, and sustainable development by the year 2070. This comprehensive approach utilizes multiple layers of intervention, targeting scales ranging from individual households to global systems, to ensure a cohesive and effective implementation of Pittsburgh’s developmental goals.

The first intervention focuses on Building Equitable and Secure Economic Foundations. This approach moves beyond the limitations of neoliberal capitalism, which often exacerbates disparities, by integrating a Universal Basic Income (UBI) with an Integrated City Information System. The UBI aims to provide a stable financial base for all citizens, ensuring they can meet their basic economic needs and participate actively in public discourse. The Integrated City Information System will monitor the socio-economic effects of the UBI in real-time, allowing for dynamic adjustments to policies that strive to balance economic support with civic engagement.

The second intervention, Advancing Inclusive Digital Governance and Literacy, tackles the challenges posed by the digital divide. It involves installing a Smart Home Civic Engagement Hub in residences, which not only facilitates civic education but also provides mechanisms for political engagement and policy tracking. This effort is supported by a National Digital Literacy Program, designed to equip citizens with the necessary skills to navigate and influence the digital landscape effectively, promoting a more inclusive and well-informed public discourse.

The third intervention, Steering Towards Sustainable Stewardship and Political Cohesion, highlights the paramount importance of environmental sustainability and its impact on socio-political stability. It introduces the Global Development Sum (GDS), an innovative economic metric that incorporates environmental factors into economic assessments, ensuring that economic growth does not compromise the health of our planet. The Policy Monitoring Network, backed by a satellite-based planetary ground station, will provide real-time data on environmental changes and policy impacts, serving as a crucial tool for informing global policy actions and discussions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our efforts throughout this assignment and the entire course extended beyond addressing the polarization challenges facing Pittsburghers today. The overarching intention that emerged on this journey was to capitalize on the broader restorative opportunities that lie within our reach. By embracing an identity as ‘The Resilient City,’ and implementing a comprehensive series of interventions, we have outlined a course of action, demonstrating how a city renowned for its industrial past can transform into a leader of innovation and inclusivity. This strategic approach includes various initiatives designed to bridge existing divides and foster a cohesive community fabric, positioning Pittsburgh as a representation of hope and a model for continuous urban transformation.

Our vision forward is about more than just overcoming polarization; it’s about leveraging our collective strengths and desires to cultivate a thriving, equitable, and sustainable city that emphasizes unity, sustainability, and resilience. With a commitment to this path, Pittsburgh is not just moving away from its divisive past, but rather, is actively transitioning towards a promising future that holds better days for everyone.