Racial Contestations of Space: Rural Preservation and Black Municipal Development in the South Carolina Lowcountry

As newcomers flock to the South Carolina Lowcountry and drive development, the region has generally implemented strategies to preserve what remains of the region’s iconic rural landscapes by restricting new development in places that are designated as “Rural Areas”. These multi-scaler growth management strategies are problematic because they frame rural preservation as benefiting the greater good and prescribe a universal solution to urban sprawl, regardless of the individual needs of rural communities. This naturalizes and perpetuates forms of racial inequality across the landscape. Simultaneously, there are alternative spatial practices that aim to improve the quality of life for rural residents alongside rural preservation efforts. In this thesis, I examine racial contestations of place-production in Charleston County South Carolina, where there are tensions between white-led regional rural preservation strategies and Black-led municipal development in the Town of Awendaw. Awendaw is a Black-founded rural town located between two federally protected conservation areas. White-led governance at the federal and regional levels imagine Awendaw as a space for recreation, tourism, and resource management and prioritizes rural preservation efforts over the quality of life for the local community. Awendaw’s municipal incorporation emerged as a response to the systemic neglect under Charleston County and the Town adopted a development strategy that aimed to improve infrastructure and quality of life for residents. This transition challenged dominant rural preservation practices and asserted Black autonomy over development, thereby destabilizing racial hierarchies in the region. This prompted resistance from neighboring white municipalities, regional bodies of governance, and newcomers, who repeatedly attempted to undermine Awendaw’s development and spatial autonomy. White newcomers utilized discourses of development and rural preservation to construct a narrative that Awendaw’s Black long-time residents were unfit to lead the town to gain spatial control. Despite these challenges, the spatial practices devoted to sustaining Awendaw’s long-time community persist, signaling ongoing contestations over space.