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Urban Studies and Planning Commons™

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Selected Works

Shrinking cities

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Urban Studies and Planning

Smart Shrinkage: Better Planning And Decision-Making For Legacy Cities, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Oct 2019

Smart Shrinkage: Better Planning And Decision-Making For Legacy Cities, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Neighborhoods, cities and regions facing long-term declines in population and economic activity may consider alternative responses, such as revitalization, regeneration, shrinkage and abandonment. In this presentation I show that planning decisions intended to improve quality of life, informed by qualitative and quantitative data and analytic methods, implemented through accessible and affordable technologies, and based on notions of social impact and social justice, can enable residents to play a leading role in the positive transformation of shrinking cities and
distressed communities.

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Planning With Justice In Mind In A Shrinking Baltimore, Jeremy Nemeth, Justin B. Hollander, Eliza Whiteman, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Feb 2018

Planning With Justice In Mind In A Shrinking Baltimore, Jeremy Nemeth, Justin B. Hollander, Eliza Whiteman, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

In our 2011 paper “The bounds of smart decline: a foundational theory for planning shrinking cities,” we outline five propositions for just planning processes in cities losing population: inclusion, deliberation, recognition, transparency, and scale-appropriateness. Each proposition addresses a perceived weakness of planning processes in shrinking cities, and with each we list a set of actions planners can take in “moving the dial” toward more just outcomes. In this article, we test this theory to what we call Baltimore’s Abandoned Housing Strategy, a series of citywide policy interventions intended to facilitate the productive reuse of vacant and abandoned properties. Through a …

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How Can School Districts In Shrinking Regions Remake Themselves To Support Their Communities? Policy And Operations Analysis For A Massachusetts School District, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Feb 2017

How Can School Districts In Shrinking Regions Remake Themselves To Support Their Communities? Policy And Operations Analysis For A Massachusetts School District, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

School districts in towns and regions facing long-term demographic and financial challenges are under intense
pressure to make difficult decisions so that they may continue to provide a quality education and enhance the vitality of the communities they serve. Such decisions may address: funding sources, education and non-education expenditures, facility utilization and community engagement. A recent engagement with Massachusetts towns by the Collins Center for Public Management has generated a case study in small-town school district revitalization. In this talk I will present results of community conversations that have enabled analysts, working with school district stakeholders, to propose a range …

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Community Data Analytics: Localized Data Analysis And Decision Modeling In The Era Of ‘Big Data’ And ‘Smart Cities’, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Jan 2017

Community Data Analytics: Localized Data Analysis And Decision Modeling In The Era Of ‘Big Data’ And ‘Smart Cities’, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Community-based organizations use data for program design, services provision and strategic planning. However, CBOs often have limited ability to identify, access and apply these data. Thus, CBOs may make decisions on the basis of inadequate data, or limited understanding of the local environment, or limited ability to generate mission-aligned solutions.Community data analytics (CDA) uses local know-how and clearly-articulated values in order to transform data into action. CDA is rooted in principles of operations research and management science for public benefi#12;t. These principles include: active participation by local stakeholders to identify problems of interest; a critical perspective on issues of problem …

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Smart Engagement: Planning And Decision-Making In Distressed Urban Neighborhoods, Justin Hollander, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Eliza D. Whiteman Dec 2015

Smart Engagement: Planning And Decision-Making In Distressed Urban Neighborhoods, Justin Hollander, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Eliza D. Whiteman

Michael P. Johnson

This book addresses the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of decision science and information technologies to help stabilize and revitalize distressed urban communities in the United States.

While cities in the U.S. grow and decline at various rates and for different underlying reasons, neighborhoods within cities that have faced sustained demographic and socio-economic challenges over time may have multiple factors in common, such as physical blight, widespread vacancies, underserved and marginalized populations and, in some cases, local markets that do not respond to traditional economic development strategies. These distressed communities are often indicative of high levels of spatial …

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Strategy Design For Community Response To Distress And Decline Using Data Analytics, Michael P. Johnson Jr. Oct 2014

Strategy Design For Community Response To Distress And Decline Using Data Analytics, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

The foreclosure crisis in the U.S. has resulted in immense economic and social losses for individuals and neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods face long-term declines in population and economic activity that have been compounded by the foreclosure crisis. How can government and non-profit organizations design responses to neighborhood distress that reflect distinctive community characteristics and are consistent with long-term policy and planning goals? In this talk, I discuss alternative decision modeling strategies that support neighborhood health. Where foreclosure responses are likely to ensure that neighborhoods remain vital places for residential housing, productive strategies may include property acquisition and redevelopment. Other neighborhoods, however, …

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Young Professionals As Ambivalent Change Agents In New Orleans After The 2005 Hurricanes, Renia Ehrenfeucht, Marla Nelson Dec 2012

Young Professionals As Ambivalent Change Agents In New Orleans After The 2005 Hurricanes, Renia Ehrenfeucht, Marla Nelson

Renia Ehrenfeucht

After the 2005 hurricanes, newcomers arrived in New Orleans to help rebuild the city. The influx of one identifiable group, young professionals and postgraduates, raised hopes and concerns that New Orleans would gentrify. Based on semistructured interviews with 78 young and mid-career professionals, this paper examines how the young professionals approached an ambivalent situation where they were working to rebuild a better city while retaining its distinct cultural qualities, given that their presence itself contributed to the cultural change. They reconciled these tensions with an appreciation for localism that, for newcomers in particular, was expressed through knowing and responding to …

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Recovery In A Shrinking City: Challenges To ‘Rightsizing’ Post-Katrina New Orleans, Renia Ehrenfeucht, Marla Nelson Dec 2011

Recovery In A Shrinking City: Challenges To ‘Rightsizing’ Post-Katrina New Orleans, Renia Ehrenfeucht, Marla Nelson

Renia Ehrenfeucht

No abstract provided.

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Planning, Population Loss And Equity In New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina, Renia Ehrenfeucht, Marla Nelson Dec 2010

Planning, Population Loss And Equity In New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina, Renia Ehrenfeucht, Marla Nelson

Renia Ehrenfeucht

Shrinking, slow-growth and fast-growth cities have different opportunities and constraints. This paper uses New Orleans following the severe flood damage from the 2005 hurricanes as a case study to investigate the challenges to developing equitable and effective plans in a city with significant population loss. By addressing four elements that are necessary for effective planning in depopulated areas—strategies for targeted investment and consolidation; alternatives for underused areas; mechanisms to reintegrate abandoned parcels; and plans for infrastructure and service provision—we argue that the lack of effective tools was a pivotal impediment to effective planning.

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