Urban Studies Commons^™

Quality Of Water In Relation To Diarrheal Disease Incidence In Obunga, Tianna Herman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Kenyan cities are experiencing a serious dilemma in dealing with the large influx of people from rural parts of the country to the cities. Most people come to the city in pursuit of better opportunities and jobs. Rapid urban growth with little planning and preparation by the national and county governments has led to the development of informal settlements. These informal settlements are characterized by poor environmental conditions that predispose their residents for poor health conditions. Because of their illegal status, most residents of informal settlements in Kenya do not receive government services such as water, drainage, sewerage, and rubbish …

Solid Waste Management In The Developing World: The Role Of Local Government In Kisumu, Kenya, Rachel Schlueter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As the world becomes more urbanized, more waste is being produced. According to United Nations projections in 2014, 66% of the world’s population will be living in cities by 2050 with the majority of growth occurring in African cities. Managing urban waste in lower-middle income countries, such as Kenya, poses a particular challenge as income levels rise, municipal capacities are stretched, and foreign loans complicate accountability. This project sought to assess the practical role of local government when managing solid waste in the context of long-term development strategies. The objectives of this study are to first establish the current role …

The Year 2014: A Banner Year For Institutional Racism, Andrew I.E. Ewoh

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

The Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs is dedicating this special issue to the profound and pervasive effects of institutional racism that were prominent in 2014. The year 2014 might be viewed as a remarkable year for institutional racism. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Section IV of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is no longer necessary.

Race And Justice Outcomes: Contextualizing Racial Discrimination And Ferguson, Jason M. Williams

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

While scores of literature may hint at the tumultuous relationship between the criminal justice system and Blacks, such literature, however, fail to assess, comprehensively, the intersectional purpose of present criminal justice processes and race. This paper will examine contemporary applications of justice along racial lines. It is argued that current justice outcomes are advantageous to the status quo. It is no secret that the American system of justice has a race problem; however, if the goal is to administer justice then, as this paper argues, the current system needs to be seriously examined and rebuilt. The paper also argues that …

Overpopulation And The Impact On The Environment, Doris Baus

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this research paper, the main focus is on the issue of overpopulation and its impact on the environment. The growing size of the global population is not an issue that appeared within the past couple of decades, but its origins come from the prehistoric time and extend to the very present day. Throughout the history, acknowledged scientists introduced the concept of “overpopulation” and predicted the future consequences if the world follows the same behavioral pattern. According to predictions, scientists invented the birth control pill and set population control through eugenics. Despite that, population continued to increase and fight with …

Effective Traffic Noise Policy Of Urban Development Projects In South Korea, Jaechang Jo

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In 1980, South Korean government built a large scale apartment complex in the Seoul metropolitan area because of consecutive urbanization and rapid industrialization. However, in late 1980, as the housing market surged rapidly, the government constructed several huge new towns. These new towns and urban development projects contributed to stabilizing the housing market, but residents in new towns began to suffer from traffic noise and this became social problems.

Traffic noise is caused by tire friction and also influenced by various factors such as vehicle volume and traffic speed. There are two primary measures to mitigate the traffic noise; reducing …

The Potential And Limits Of Extended Producer Responsibility: A Comparative Analysis Study, Jessica Bass

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis draws on the concept of product stewardship and its focus on incorporating all of the actors in a product’s lifecycle into steps to take responsibility for waste management. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) recognizes the producer’s distinct potential to consider and drive change in waste management. Producers often serve like mediators between the design and use phases of a product’s lifecycle. Through EPR policies, the producer takes on the costs of ensuring safe end-of-life waste disposal. In this way, EPR can be expected to help relieve the public of some of the costs of waste disposal, and to support …

A Green Oasis: What Makes Community Gardens Worth Saving? While Researchers Amass Evidence Of Benefits, Advocates Develop New Strategy To Prove Their Value., Joel Wolfram

Capstones

Green Valley Community Garden in Brownsville, Brooklyn, is one of about a dozen gardens on land owned by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development that are being uprooted by plans to build affordable housing. The gardeners are fighting back to prevent the garden’s destruction, saying that the food-producing green space is a source of healthy eating in a community with high rates of health problems, like diabetes and obesity. Researchers are attempting to tease out the public health benefits of community gardens as one metric of their value, but the science is still catching up with …

Solar Urban Planning: Addressing Barriers And Conflicts Specific To Renewable Energy Policy And The Current Field And Practice Of Urban Planning Within The Context Of A Changing Climate, Toryl P. Hanna

Capstone Collection

The world is in a period of rapid urbanization while experiencing unprecedented rise in global temperature as a result of climate change. Questions have been raised as to how strategies for urbanization will be able to address the fetish for energy, while halting carbon emissions produced by traditional energy sources for urban inhabitants around the world. First, this paper seeks to look to cities, at the intersection of solar energy and the field of urban planning, looking into the opportunities and challenges that are currently surfacing. Conflicts and barriers in traditional urban land use patterns emerge as a topic of …

Climate Change, Smart Growth, Racial Oppression, And White Privilege, Laura Stivers

Collected Faculty Scholarship

In this paper I will examine how people of differing environmental perspectives—namely anti-growth preservationists and environmental justice advocates—frame their responses to smart growth, using Marin County in the San Francisco Bay Area as a case study. Then I will offer a race analysis of these frameworks based on the thesis that to address climate change through smart growth we need to challenge the ways certain groups try to retain their white privilege. As foundation for this thesis I will develop the norms of reparations and restoration to argue for an equitable smart growth approach that entails structural transformation to address …

Climate Adaptation And Resiliency Planning For New England Communities: First Steps And Next Steps, Charles Colgan, Jack D. Kartez Ph.D., Martha P. Sheils

Publications

Hurricane Irene tearing Vermont roads and bridges apart and Superstorm Sandy ripping through coastal areas; such phenomenal events are being joined by more frequent rain, tide and wind impacts that are disrupting communities and risking property and lives. New challenges arise from weather events that are driven by a less stable climate. The key difference between what communities already plan for and climate adaptation planning is the level of uncertainty about how impacts may change in the future and the potentially enormous and devastating damages that a community may sustain. This Guide presents an overview of that task, with links …

Healthy Fails To Wealthy Trails: Revitalization Opportunities For Underused Spaces Alongside Residential Areas In Arleta, California, Jorge Martinez

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Study Of Urban Forest Management Programs For Three Major Cities In Santa Clara County: A Benchmarking Study, Suzanne Remien

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

Exchange Patterns And Relations In Collaborative Governance., Charles Wharton Kaye-Essien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collaborative governance has received considerable attention in recent years. From environmental resource management to public safety, collaborative governance continues to play a vital role in regional problem solving. In spite of this increasing popularity previous attempts to model the political, economic, and demographic determinants of collaboration have in most cases produced inconsistent results, thereby undermining the ability to generalize from such findings. Additionally, our understanding of the relational patterns that emanate from collaborative agreements remains fairly rudimentary. The main objective of this research is to address some of the gaps in the literature and improve our understanding of collaborative governance …

Social And Equal Justice In America In The Case Of Stand Your Ground Law, Andrew I.E. Ewoh

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

No abstract provided.

Stand Your Ground In Florida: The Effect Of Race, Location And Weapons On Convictions, Kevin M. Wagner, Dukhong Kim, Jeremy C. Hagler

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

The implications of laws allowing citizens to respond with deadly force when they believe they are threatened is the subject of significant conjecture in the media and scholarship. The adoption of “Stand Your Ground” laws has increased across the nation despite little data or findings that attempt to capture the ramifications of enacting this policy. This research explores the effect of the “Stand Your Ground” legal defense on criminal convictions in Florida. After exploring the historic assumptions and motivations behind the adoption and use of the Stand Your Ground law in Florida, we use data gathered from local newspapers, the …

The Fight Or Flight Response: A Look At Stand Your Ground, Andrea Headley, Mohamad G. Alkadry

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

In addressing the historical importance—or lack thereof—of the Stand Your Ground law, this article discusses the evolution of self-defense laws. Specific landmark cases are discussed as they relate to establishing the foundation of self-defense. The article also examines various issues that have been inherent within the Stand Your Ground debate. Statistical analysis of Stand Your Ground data from the State of Florida is conducted using binary logistic regression model to test the relationship between case outcomes and a number of other variables involving demographics, and the nature of the confrontation that led to the crime

Codification Of Fear: Syg Laws, Thelma L. Harmon

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

There is a long history of American states’ codification of “fear” into laws. Laws that can be traced as far back as the 17^th century, which were devised to appease white America’s perceived fear of Blacks. Slave Acts were the first of such laws. When slavery was abolished rendering slave laws obsolete, Black Codes and then Jim Crow laws took effect. For over three centuries, these overt racial laws justified racial fear and legitimized the deprivation of basic human and civil rights of Black Americans. Although overt racial laws such as the Codes and Jim Crow have …

Food Policy: Urban Farming As A Supplemental Food Source, Bessie Didomenica, Mark Gordon

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Food policy has a unique role for public, nonprofit, private, and academic stakeholders. Growing food in the city is a challenge worldwide. Food systems can be destroyed by external (weather extremes) and internal (zoning regulations) forces. This study explores urban farms as a secondary food source and their common themes across four sectors. A Northeastern U.S. city was the case study to examine how it implemented its formal urban agriculture program. The positive social change implications of urban farms include greater food visibility and food access in low-income areas and more consumer awareness about growing fresh food. This study contributes …

The Influence Of Urban Development Dynamics On Community Resilience Practice In New York City After Superstorm Sandy: Experiences From The Lower East Side And The Rockaways, Leigh Graham, Wim Debucquoy, Isabelle Anguelovski

Publications and Research

While (urban) resilience has become an increasingly popular concept, especially in the areas of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA), it is often still used as an abstract metaphor, with much debate centered on definitions, differences in approaches, and epistemological consider- ations. Empirical studies examining how community-based organizations (CBOs) “practice” resilience on the ground and what enables these CBOs to organize and mobilize around resilience are lacking. Moreover, in the growing context of competitive and entrepreneurial urbanism and conflicting priorities about urban (re)development, it is unclear how urban development dynamics influence community- based resilience actions. Through empirical …

Are Bay Area Cities Inclusive? Evaluating How San Francisco Bay Area Cities Can Address Environmental Justice Challenges By Strengthening Their Engagement Practices With Low-Income And Minority Communities Through The California Environmental Quality Act Process, Kenneth Antonio Rosales

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

Fishing For A Sustainable Future: Aquaponics As A Method Of Food Production, Richard Ramsundar

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis compares and explains the advantages aquaponics farming has over modern industrial intensive farming. Through a comparison natural capital usage, conservation, recycling and cost, the thesis advocates for the expansion of aquaponics usage in urban settings. The thesis also explains the history of intensive farming and aquaponics in America, the science of how aquaponics operates, the economic and environmental costs of modern intensive farming versus aquaponics farming, and the social implications of aquaponics. Lastly, I propose a policy that reallocates farm subsidies by modifying the Farm Bill. Then I propose policies that support creating a new standard of farm …

A Community Needs Assessment To Improve Lung Health Within Substandard Housing Units, Stephanie M. Goble

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

The Census Bureau states “more than 45 million people, or 14.5 percent of all Americans, lived below the poverty line last year [2013].” Many of these individuals are living in substandard housing conditions, which are causing preventable poor lung health among the population. The CDC reported that asthma was linked to 3,404 deaths in 2010. The link between poor health and living conditions is a hypothesis that has been contemplated for a long time now. Florence Nightingale speculated, “The connection between health and the dwelling of the population is one of the most important that exists...” (Jacobs) Based on this …

An Intersectional Approach To Criminological Theory: Incorporating The Intersectionality Of Race And Gender Into Agnew's General Strain Theory, Wyatt Brown

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

Mainstream criminological theories often fail to incorporate demographic characteristics (which are robust predictors of criminal behavior). Also, many scholars suggest that theories of criminality need to move beyond sex or race or class etc. and utilize these dynamic characteristics in tandem. This theoretical perspective is often referred to as intersectionality. There is some criminological literature on the individual effects of these demographic characteristics as they represent social status as such they interact to effect experience, agency, and power. This analysis discusses how studying the intersectionality of gender and race may change explanations of criminal behavior. Specifically, how knowledge of gender …

Shelby County V. Holder: Nullification, Racial Entitlement, And The Civil Rights Counterrevolution, Albert L. Samuels

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

- 188 - Shelby County v. Holder: Nullification, Racial Entitlement, and the Civil Rights Counterrevolution Albert L. Samuels Southern University The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) which invalidated the “coverage formula” of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 bears an eerie resemblance to the spirit of the Civil Rights Cases (1883). In a tone similar to the one exhibited by the Supreme Court in The Civil Rights Cases, Chief Justice Roberts cited progress achieved in electoral participation and office holding by African Americans as evidence that the special protections that the Voting …

The Winding Journey To Justice: An Analysis Of The Voting Rights Act On Disenfranchised Populations And Its Impact In The State Of Georgia, Kristie Roberts-Lewis, Lakerri Mack

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

Today, the American landscape is more racially and ethnically diverse, yet minority populations have been and will likely be disenfranchised in the Post-Section 4 era. Minority voter participation Post-VRA has experienced some gains but achieving equality in terms of access and civic participation may be compromised. Hence, section one of this research will provide an introduction and highlight the conceptual framework that guides it. Section II will first provide a historical analysis of the significance of the VRA and its impact on minority voting rights from 1965 to the present. Section III will outline the methodology and theoretical framework that …

Editors’ Introduction: Exploratory Issues On Section 4 Of The U.S. Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Andrew I.E. Ewoh, Sarita Mccoy Gregory

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

No abstract provided.

Antidiscrimination Versus Nondiscrimination: Competing Perspectives On The Voting Rights Act, David Blanding

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

The Voting Rights Act is perhaps the most successful civil rights law ever. Yet while one set of scholars regards the legislation’s success as evidence that it remains necessary and appropriate, another set of scholars regards that success as a sign that the VRA is obsolete and inappropriate. In this article, I argue that disagreement about the VRA stems from two fundamentally different analytical approaches. The antidiscrimination paradigm focuses on how key indicators of political empowerment have progressed since 1965. The nondiscrimination paradigm focuses on how far those indicators are from what would be observed in the absence of racial …

Redistributing Power In Mississippi: The Reversal Of Section 4 Of The Voting Rights Act, Gloria J. Billingsley, Sylvester Murray

Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court declared Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 unconstitutional, essentially defanging preclearance requirements of Section 5 and leaving racial and other previously disenfranchised minorities unprotected. Using social contract theory as the theoretical framework, empirical field study research was used to examine whether the Voting Rights Act has achieved the results in Mississippi that the Supreme Court’s decision to revoke Section 4 has assumed. Data were collected on race-specific voter registration and voting data, measures of vote discrimination, litigations and Mississippi legislative activity regarding voting rights. Findings indicate that the gap between minority and …

Oregon Highway Cost Allocation Study: Carbon Tax Issue Paper, Portland State University. College Of Urban And Public Affairs. Northwest Economic Research Center

Northwest Economic Research Center Publications and Reports

The basic insight behind carbon pricing is not new, and is based in mainstream economic theory. If market interactions are leading to the overuse of resources outside of the market, imposing a price on the overused resource will bring it into the market and increase efficiency. Currently, the negative impacts associated with the release of carbon through fossil fuel combustion is not incorporated into the market. By imposing a price on carbon, fossil fuel consumers are incentivized to reduce their fuel usage. This reduction in fuel demand is not necessarily associated with lower economic output. In fact, depending on the …