Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

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

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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.

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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

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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

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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 …

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

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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

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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

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No abstract provided.

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

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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

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No abstract provided.