Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

How Racially Equitable Are The Outcomes Of Sustainability Planning?, Anastasia K. Cale

Access*: Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Research and Scholarship

Sustainability planning embodies ideals of how cities should be planning for a tomorrow that the entire world will share, and it places a third of its theorized emphasis on the importance of equity. This essay explores the tenets of sustainability planning, urban form values, and how to achieve a sustainable city. A framework of sustainability planning and urban form over time was applied to the City of Tacoma through an investigation of the One Tacoma Plan and historical documents with special emphasis on equity. This research shows that Tacoma has followed the urban form values through time and that although …

Dear Prudence: Power, Campus-Community Collaborations, And The Elusive Space Between Constructive Disruption And Neoliberal Subcontract, Anne Taufen

Conflux

The democratic ideal of inclusive, communicative, practical reason associated with collaborative urban partnerships is increasingly criticized as being poorly empowered in the midst of urban development dynamics favoring established regime elites. Do public universities unwittingly abet such disparities? The tension between critical and/or marginalized voices, and more dominant modes of urban development is demonstrated in three forms of campus-community engagement at a public, urban-serving university. In each case, the university serves as a source of capacity for urban political actors and governance leaders, providing a venue to 1) elevate visibility of their agendas; 2) enlist faculty, student, and campus-based research …

Locating Art Worlds, James W. Harrington Jr.

Conflux

This paper uses a varied literature to define “art” as literary, musical, or visual creations, and theatrical, dance, or musical performances that: are not motivated by utility; play some role in interpreting a culture or place; and are recognized as art by some number of audiences, vendors, producers, and critics. Thus, art benefits cultures and places through its interpretive value.

The production and dissemination of artistic creations requires a constellation of materials, standards, techniques, producers, and vendors that is called an “art world” relevant to that type of art. Though the impulse to create art is universal, art worlds are …

Re-Mapping Tacoma's Pre-War Japantown: Living On The Tideflats, Lisa Hoffman, Mary Hanneman, Sarah Pyle

Conflux

This article, drawing on oral histories with Nisei, addresses the dearth of publications about pre-WWII Japanese life in the urban U.S. and provides evidence of Japanese immigrants’ active presence in the lumber industry and on Tacoma’s tideflats. This is important not only for Tacoma’s history and a fuller accounting of the major industries that shaped the south Puget Sound region, but also because Japanese contributions to early industrial development are often overlooked. The oral history narratives also stretch the boundaries of what has been depicted as a densely-connected and lively Japanese community in the downtown core. Also, stories of moving …

Uwt Experiences In The Townships Of South Africa, Bridging Borders, Breaking Bread, Fern Tiger, Christopher Knaus, Maija Thiel, Anneka Olson, Autumn Diaz

Conflux

In late August, 2017, twelve students representing all academic levels (undergraduate, masters, and doctorate) from all three University of Washington campuses (Tacoma, Bothell, Seattle) journeyed to Cape Town, South Africa, where they participated in a three-week UWT study abroad course. Students examined a range of community development activities and gained an understanding of pressing “township” development issues, including a range of conflicts between business interests and community needs. Students also learned how schools and non-governmental organizations have sought to empower and transform communities. This paper synthesizes key reflections of this remarkable urban experience from Professor Fern Tiger, Christopher Knaus and …

Desalination Concentrate Disposal: Ecological Effects And Sustainable Solutions, Ryan Hanley

Global Honors Theses

Freshwater availability is a growing global concern, and desalination is often presented as the solution, but from this important technology comes issues of toxic waste. Ecosystems are delicate areas that contain species adapted to that specific location, and any chemical or physical changes can disrupt the fitness of species. The concentrate byproduct waste from desalination plants is toxic to species if the concentrate is not compatible with the receiving water body. A critical review of scientific articles, industry-leading books, conversations with industry experts, and information from the American Membrane Technology Association conference was used to analyze the current knowledge. Species …

A Temporary Hometown: Gendered Labor And Social Citizenship In Bremerton, Washington, A Domestic Military Colony, Anna K. Fern

MAIS Projects and Theses

This mixed-methods study addresses social construction of home and belonging for residents of a vice labor and military veteran class in Bremerton, Washington, a US military manufacturing and base city. This thesis seeks to explain how some workers and residents in the city of Bremerton, Washington have been historically marginalized, even as their roles, framed as patriotic contributions, have been integral to the socioeconomic efforts and successes of the dominant militarized culture. I explore how study participants make meaning of their experiences – some in gendered and sexualized vice labor in service to military and federal personnel, and some who …

Evaluating The Policy–Practice Gap In A Transitional Housing Program An Innovation In Process Evaluation, Jessica Perez, Anaid Yerena

Urban Studies Publications

In the United States, in 2013, 610,042 people were estimated homeless in one night. Improving the effectiveness of homeless assistance programs, particularly aligning programs’ practices with their goals, is critical to serving this population. Using a theory that predicts homeless exits, this study presents an innovative, low-cost evaluation tool that can be used by a wide range of human service providers to conduct more frequent “in-house” process evaluations. The Gap Assessment of Policy and Practice (GAPP) tool streamlines process evaluations thus improving social programs. To test this tool’s effectiveness, we compared the results of a traditional process evaluation and a …

The Effect Of Community Involvement On Disaster Relief, Ryan M. Brookman

Global Honors Theses

The response to the March 22, 2014 landslide in Oso, Washington offers an opportunity to examine a new approach to disaster relief. This community based participatory research analyzes responses obtained from a focus group composed of Oso residents. While there is much in the literature on responding to the physical community, little has been discussed on responding to the less tangible but equally important social aspect of community. Successfully addressing issues of relief and rebuilding requires both elements of community to be considered. Following the Community-Driven Development model, successfully implemented in the developing world by The World Bank, this paper …

Advocacy In Action: Understanding The Influence Of Advocacy Organizations On Local Affordable Housing Policy In The U.S., Anaid Yerena

Urban Studies Publications

This research examined the factors affecting city support for affordable housing. Specifically, it sought to better understand the influence of advocacy organizations on city affordable housing spending decisions (using HCD expenditures as the dependent variable).

Enhancing Big Ideas Through Regional Planning: Cross-Jurisdictional 'Value Added' In Washington State, Yonn Dierwechter, Brittany Hale, Robert Woodmark, Cody Wyatt, Wendy Moss, Matthew Hall, Whitney Hays, Shanna Schubert, Cheng Wang, Seth Lundgaard, Caleb Rawson

Conflux

This paper argues that enhancing multi-jurisdictional planning - i.e. regionalism in various forms -- should be at the center of how we ameliorate most of our major developmental challenges. Put another way, efforts to improve the planning profession’s contribution to concerns like “climate action,” “economic development,” “social equity,” “local government capacity,” and so on, all require more attention to stronger regional planning processes. The paper is divided into three sections. In the first section, we develop the over-arching theme that experiments in regionalism longer refer to significant institutional-structural reforms - in particular, to consolidation or centralization of planning authority -- …

From Progressive Planning To Progressive Urbanism: Planning's Progressive Future And The Legacies Of Fragmentation, Stephen Atkinson, Joshua Jorgensen

Conflux

Since the 1980’s numerous urban scholars have taken to proclaiming one city or another as being ‘progressive.’ Planning websites like American Planning Association, Planetizen or Progressive Planning Magazine are inundated with examples of progressive planning in action. The examples of touted progressive cities are many: Burlington, Berkeley, Cleveland, Boston, L.A., Chicago, Cincinnati, Portland, Minneapolis, Austin, Denver, and Seattle have all been championed as progressive cities. Most of them come with brackets: Boston was progressive [under Mayor Flynn]; Chicago was progressive [under Mayor Washington]; Burlington was progressive [under Mayor Sanders]. There is also no shortage of descriptors about what makes a …

Tacoma's Japanese Language School: An Alternative Path To Citizenship And Belonging In Pre-Wwii Urban America, Lisa Hoffman

Conflux

No abstract provided.

Urban (R)Evolutions: Museums, Spectacle, And Development In Reform Era China, Hope St. John

Conflux

Over the past thirty years, China’s museum sector has experienced exponential growth with the expansion of thousands of new museums, both public and private. This paper seeks to understand this growth as an urban phenomenon that is simultaneously reconfiguring urban space and citizen subjectivities by framing the emergence of new and increasingly spectacular exhibitory institutions in China within the context of political, economic, and cultural policy shifts. Through the examination of the evolution of the museum in China and its symbolic relevance from its origins in an era of semi-colonialism into the contemporary period and recent trends of property-led redevelopment, …

Lesson For Puget Sound? The City-Region And The Politics Of Scale In Cape Town, Yonn Dierwechter

Conflux

No abstract provided.

Global Economic Impacts Of Shoreline Degradation: A Socioeconomic Analysis, Alexa Brockamp

Global Honors Theses

Shoreline Degradation is an economically important issue, which damages coastal tourism economies, and causes shifts in flows of tourist capital. Shifts in flows of tourist capital have the potential to cause shifts in economic power relationships between nations. Governments and planning agencies should acknowledge the inherent dependence of coastal tourism economies on shoreline health and water quality, and conceptions framing the two issues as dichotomous are destructive – causing urban decisions to be made as if environmental and economic interests are mutually exclusive. It is important that such perceptions shift in order to maintain healthy coastal economies. Additionally, the socio- …

Welcome To Tacoma, Mr. Florida. Have A Beer., Gerard Leconte Iii

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Urban Foodsheds Western, Wa, Jason Hayes

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Future Prairie Prospects In The Puget Sound, Kyle Reneman

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Proposed Educational Community Garden Locations In Tacoma, Washington, Christina Mcallister

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Optimizing Residential Msw Routes In Tacoma, Jerremmy Miller

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Using Spatial Analysis For Siting Athabasca Oil Sands Tailings Ponds, Lindsay Priest

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Tracking Non-Point Source Pollution In Tacoma, Washington, Ryan Ulsberger

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Defining Healthy Communities Within The Framework Of Economic Vulnerability: A Study Of King County, Washington, Lisa M. Bruce

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Locational Analysis For Church Planting In Pierce And King County, Robert E. Leavitt

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Smart Growth Development? A Parcel Level Analysis Of Sumner, Gina M. Owens

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Disc Golf Course: A Gis Design In Locational And Cost Distance Analysis, Aaron A. Copado

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Gray Wolves In Washington: Possible Habitat And Corridors For Movement, Joey Bisig

GIS Certificate Projects

Introduction:Increasing the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) population in Washington state plays two important roles. First, they are an important part of many ecosystems as they are a keystone species. This means that they are a top predator and their absence has reverberating effects on the rest of the ecosystem. As seen at Yellowstone State Park in Wyoming, elk populations ran rampant for many years and reached their peak of roughly 25,000 individuals in 1988 (Kauffman et. al. 2008). The issue lies in the grazing that these elk partake in of a vital habitat producer, Aspen saplings. In 1995 thirty …

Music Venue Clusters In Tacoma And Seattle, Wa: Identifying Indicators Of Vibrancy, Christopher Coutsouridis

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.

Improving Pedalcyclist And Pedestrian Safety In Olympia, Wa, Brian Brannies

GIS Certificate Projects

No abstract provided.