Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

The Mirror Effect, The Law Of Attraction, And "Points Of Attraction" That Can Nurture The Evolution Of Human Consciousness, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

This message has several purposes. First, I want to express my immense joy that Chip Baggett and I are serving as Co-Presidents of AHP since August 16, 2009. In my view, Chip and I are long-time friends, who have a transcendent connection and synergistic energies. My desire and intent is for our co-presidency to mirror the effect(s) of synergistic collaboration as a “point of attraction” that can assist in the evolution of human consciousness across often “perceived personal and societal boundaries” (e.g., race, culture, ethnicity, class, individual and collective belief systems, and dogma). More generally, however, this message is intended …

Consulting And Evaluation With Nonprofit And Community-Based Organizations, Judah J. Viola, Susan D. Mcmahon

Judah J. Viola, Ph.D.

Archetypal Energies, The Emergence Of Obama As A Practical Idealist, And Global Transformation, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

During this time of change, AHP and kindred spirits on the edge have important roles to play. We are the keepers and nurturers of a transformative and evolutionary Vision for Consciousness and a more humane world. At issue is what I will call the “psychic politics” for global transformation, nurtured by practical idealism and the Archetypal Energies. In other writings, I have described Archetypal Energies as Higher Vibrational Energies, operating deep within our individual and collective psyches, which have their own transcendent value, purpose, quality, and “voice”, unique to the individual. We experience them as “creative urges” to move us …

Keeping It Local : Geographic Patterns Of University Attendance, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

The university attendance habits of Australians, in a geographic sense, are different from those in the United States, the United Kingdom and many other western countries. Australian university students are less likely to move between major cities to study. In this article, university attendance patterns of Melbourne government school Year 12 completers in 2004 are presented. The article examines the link between location of school and location of university attended among this cohort. The article finds that in addition to this, within a large metropolitan area, university campuses attract a substantial share of the university-attending population who completed their schooling …

Repaying Favours: Unravelling The Nature Of Community Exchnage In An English Locality, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

A recurring assumption in community development has been that when material support is provided on a one-to-one basis to the extended family or social and neighbourhood networks, such favours are repaid by offering help in return rather than money. Reporting a study of the community exchanges of 120 households in an English locality, however, the finding is that well over one-third of these were repaid using money. The outcome is a call for the community development literature to recognise and respond to the existence of this sphere of ‘paid favours’ which demonstrates how monetary transactions can be neither market-like nor …

Urban Nightlife, Social Capital, And The Public Life Of Cities, David Grazian

David Grazian

Sociologists and urban scholars emphasize how nightlife establishments contribute to the social capital and public life of cities. In the interests of tempering this line of argument, I suggest three generalizable empirical findings that provide grounds for skepticism on this score: (1) the racial and class barriers to participation imposed by urban nightlife enterprises; (2) the normalization of gender differences and the routine harassment of women within such scenes; and (3) the lack of inclusiveness surrounding local nightlife in urban neighborhood communities. These findings suggest that nightlife scenes may function more efficiently as generators of bonding rather than bridging social …