Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Pursuing Antiracist Public Policy Education: An Example Connecting The Racist History Of Housing Policy To Contemporary Inequity, Craig W. Carpenter, Tyler Augst, Harmony Fierke-Gmazel, Bradley Neumann, Richard Wooten

Journal of Extension

We review the antiracism concept and contextualize it in Extension public policy education and the Extension system itself. Despite public policy education having a long history in Extension on a wide variety of issues, missing from this programming is the pursuit of antiracism. As a programmatic example, we review some historical causes of present-day housing inequities and an associated example approach for pursuing antiracism in housing policy education. Finally, we conclude by noting additional opportunities to pursue antiracism in Extension public policy education. In doing so, we emphasize that public policy education cannot be “nonracist” if it is not antiracist.

Spatialising Degrowth In Southern Cities: Everyday Park-Making For (Un)Commoning, Manisha Anantharaman, Marlyne Sahakian, Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

Answering the call in this special issue to spatialise degrowth studies beyond the Global North, this paper examines practices of ‘park-making’ in Chennai and Metro Manila as a potential degrowth pathway. Parks in the coastal mega cities of Metro Manila and Chennai can be seen as relics of a colonial era, and spaces coherent with capitalist, growth-oriented and consumerist logics. At the same time, however, they become spaces that prefigure alternative ways of organising social life in the city based upon values of conviviality, care and sharing. Using qualitative methods of analysis, this paper examines what practices people engage with …

Historic Downtown Streetscape Plan Price City, Utah, Patricia Beckert

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The idea of a small-town Main Street has profound meaning within the American culture that has prevailed for the past two centuries. Historically, Main Street serves as the beating heart of a community, a place where economic, social, cultural, and civic activities are centered (Francaviglia, 1996; Main Street America, n.d.). Since the beginning of the 19th century, many factors have led to the decline of Main Streets, and despite a variety of efforts from different stakeholders, that decline has only intensified in recent decades (Isenberg, 2008; Orvell, 2014 Howard, 2015). In 1980, after a three-year project conducted by the National …

A Healthier Community For Generations To Come: Creating Resilient And Equitable Development On Lower 9th Ward Corridors, Sarah Bechdel, Dov Block, Bailey Bullock, Ellis Combes, Laura Harris, Samuel Mercier, Maya Struhar

Planning and Urban Studies Reports and Presentations

The Healthier Community for Generations to Come report provides Sankofa Community Development Corporation with programmatic recommendations to assist in the revitalization of the Lower Ninth Ward (LNW). This report draws on extensive research in urban planning best practices to propose strategies that promote economic revitalization, housing sustainability, community health, and environmental resilience. The research was guided by an Urban Land Institute (ULI) Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) which engaged the LNW community to inform recommendations. Sustainability analysis, equity planning, resilience planning, market analysis, and GIS analysis methodologies were employed to create the report. The final report recommendations included a site SWOT, …

A Spatial Analysis Of Food Access Within Saint Louis City By Walking, Public Transit, And Personal Vehicles., Nicole Eanes

Undergraduate Research Symposium

According to The United States Department of Agriculture, 44 million Americans, including 13 million children, are food insecure as of 2022. Many factors contribute to inadequate food access and food insecurity, including poverty, unemployment, low wages, historical redlining, and structural racism.

As a city with minimal thoroughfares that are safe to walk along and an often unreliable or time-consuming public transit system, I wanted to visualize how the mode of transportation impacts a resident’s access to food in Saint Louis City.

Based on my findings, the Saint Louis Metro Bus System provides the most access to residents in Saint Louis …

Building Strong Foundations The Importance Of Homebuyer Education And Counseling, Jose Patricio Hermosilla

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Nonprofit Studies Capstone Projects

Homebuyer Education and Counseling (HEC) are programs that provide skills and knowledge to families that seek homeownership. This research presents a review of related literature on the barriers to homeownership for low- to moderate-income families, as well as the benefits of HEC programs. Through surveying participants in the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville Southwood program in Charlottesville, Virginia, the study assesses the impact of HEC on securing and preparing homebuyers for successful homeownership. The research finds that HEC plays a crucial role in empowering families to navigate the complexities of homeownership and recommends that policy makers and program managers …

No. 08: Young People’S Mobilities, Farming Aspirations And Engagements In Northern Ghana, Siera Vercillo, Bruce Frayne

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

Development policies targeting young people and African agriculture tend to focus on their abandonment of the sector and the need to attract new generations to agricultural activities through its commercialization. This paper points to potential gaps in such interventions by investigating the diverse mobilities, aspirations, and engagements of young people in farming, through a qualitative case study in rural northern Ghana. Our study also challenges the prevalent assumption of African farmers’ movements from rural to rural areas, from rural to urban areas, and out of farming altogether, as we found evidence of young people migrating from urban to rural areas. …

Exploring The Association Of Brownfield Remediation Status With Socioeconomic Conditions In Wayne County, Mi, Brendan F. O'Leary, Alex B. Hill, Colleen Linn, Mei Lu, Carol J. Miller, Andrew Newman, F. Gianluca Sperone, Qiong Zhang

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Urban neighborhoods with locations of environmental contamination, known as brownfields, impact entire neighborhoods, but corrective environmental remedial action on brownfields is often tracked on an individual property basis, neglecting the larger neighborhood-level impact. This study addresses this impact by examining spatial differences between brownfields with unmitigated environmental concerns (open site) and sites that are considered fully mitigated or closed in urban neighborhoods (closed site) on the US census tract scale in Wayne County, MI. Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s leaking underground storage tank (LUST) database provided brownfield information for Wayne County. Local indicators of spatial association (LISA) …

Property Pillagers: Effects Of Dirty Urbanism, Chase Wilson, Kayli Clark

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

This podcast dives into American urbanism and its associated development targeting certain minority communities; the ill intentions to disrupt specific neighborhoods led us to refer to the practice as “dirty urbanism”. The pair of I-40 and Jefferson Street in north Nashville, alongside similarly treated areas across the United States, exemplify dirty urbanism. Exercising their raw power and ability to cover up to 90% of the costs, the federal government incentivizes the local governments to construct the highway system: a highway system used as a racially motivated tool to sever black-built urban fabrics. With the highways, vehicular space overrides …

Grabbing The Paycheck: A Glimpse Into The Modern Economic Livelihoods Of Xe Máy Grab Drivers In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Maddie Davis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Woven into the very fabric of urban life in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam is commuting via motorcycle (Vietnamese: xe máy). The versatility of xe máy can be witnessed in the surge of rush hour traffic, the shipment of a great variety and quantity of goods, and the crunch of people in order to get the whole family atop a single bike. Due to xe máy as the primary way much of the population gets around, Ho Chi Minh City’s transportation infrastructure and traffic patterns are highly conducive to this method of transit. Resulting from these favorable conditions, a multitude …

Youth Perceptions And Constructions Of Urban Space In Morocco, Hadwynne Gross

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Moroccan urban spaces are influenced by 800 years of history, and in particular, legacies of colonialism. This research seeks to examine urban space in Morocco through the lens of youth between the ages of 18 and 25 in the capital city of Rabat. Inspired by the book The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch, this research uses a variety of qualitative methods, namely a semi- structured interview and two mental mapping exercises, to explore how youth in Rabat perceive the city’s ability to both adhere to its historical roots and adapt to a rapidly changing world. Exploring urban geography …

No. 07: The Sdgs, Migrant Remittances And Food Security In Jamaica, Elizabeth Thomas-Hope

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

This paper raises questions about the implications of migration for inclusive social development in Kingston, Jamaica. This is based on an assessment of the relationship between remittances and food security at the household level. Emphasis is placed on whether remittances have made a difference in reducing the food insecurity associated with poverty and thus could contribute to inclusive social development. A city-wide survey of Kingston based on a sample of households in communities spanning different socioeconomic sectors was conducted to provide the data. Three indicators were used to measure food security/insecurity. Since there were the highest levels of food insecurity …

Doing Urban History In The Global South, Anwesha Ghosh

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

An Exploratory Study On Museum Visitor Ship Trends In Singapore, Aldy Gunawan, Chentao Liu, Heranshan S/O Subramaniam, Melissa Tan, Ranice Tan, Clarence Tay, Tasaporn. Visawameteekul

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The COVID-19 outbreak has unpredictably disrupted the operations of numerous museums. Museum visitor experience has a physical, personal, and social context, which are not achievable during the pandemic. Despite the depreciation during the Circuit Breaker period, the disruption also presents an opportunity for local museums to develop new strategies of audience engagement to accommodate the altered audience behavior. This exploratory study analyses data from six Singapore-based museums to understand the visitorship patterns across different ages and genders. The impact of COVID-19 is also analysed. Using R-studio and relevant packages, we conducted statistical tests such as hypothesis testing, Chi-square testing and …

Defining Dementia-Friendly Communities From The Perspective Of Those Affected, Iris Alexandra Wernher

Dissertations and Theses

More and more communities across the globe are pledging to become more "dementia friendly," yet many initiatives lack direction as to what this pledge might entail. The intent of this qualitative study, conducted in the metropolitan area of Portland and several other cities in Oregon, was to better understand how communities can increase their dementia friendliness – from the perspective of people living with dementia and their care partners. The study further aimed to clarify if and how age- and dementia-friendly efforts can be integrated.

Twenty-five community-dwelling individuals living with dementia and their 25 informal carers participated separately in semi-structured …

The Making And Unmaking Of Urban Citizenship In The Maspero Triangle, Nadine Abd El Razek

Theses and Dissertations

Cairo is undergoing a moment of sharpened exclusion and inclusion, with the city’s residents of informal settlements disproportionately experiencing displacement and abrupt interruptions to their social fabric to make way for investment opportunities. In pursuit of achieving the status of a global city, the Egyptian state has effectively widened its practice of structural violence, in order to accumulate capital through dispossession. In the process of doing so, the state has problematized the contested status of urban citizenship, disenfranchising the urban dwellers of Cairo from their right to the city. Following the temporal shifts in the negotiation for urban citizenship, the …

No. 06: Incomplete Documentation, Isolation And Food Security Among Central American Migrants In Mexico City, Tiana Bakić Hayden

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

This paper examines some of the factors that contribute to food insecurity among the growing populations of Central American migrants who reside in Mexico City. It contributes to a growing body of literature that focuses on the relationship between migration and food security by analyzing the specific challenges faced by migrants who are (semi)permanently settled in an urban area (rather than border region). The main argument of this paper is that although many of the challenges faced by migrants are parallel to those faced by low-income citizens and internal migrants in Mexico City, transnational migrants face unique challenges that contribute …

No. 05: Migrant Women’S Food Insecurity Experiences In The Breadbasket Of Ghana, Jemima Nomunume Baada, Moses Kansanga, Joseph Kangmennaang, Isaac Luginaah

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

Migration has become a safety net for smallholder farmers across Africa in response to rapidly deteriorating climatic conditions and the resulting low agricultural productivity. In semi-arid northern Ghana, especially the Upper West Region, many people migrate to rural farming communities in the Middle Belt of the country – popularly referred to as Ghana’s breadbasket – to meet their food security needs. In recent times, there has been an increase in the involvement of women in these migration patterns. This notwithstanding, many studies on migration and food security in Ghana continue to focus on the experiences of households or male migrants, …

New Frontiers Of Integration: Convergent Pathways Of Neighborhood Diversification In Metropolitan New York, Kasey Zapatka, Van C. Tran

Publications and Research

This article examines the most recent trends on neighborhood racial integration in New York—the country’s largest metropolitan area in 2019 with a total population of 19.2 million. We ask how the suburbanization of both immigration and poverty have transformed suburbs over the last two decades. We highlight four findings. First, ethnoracial diversification has led to a significant decline in nonintegrated neighborhoods and a sharp rise in integrated neighborhoods, but such a decline is more dramatic in suburbs than in cities. Second, White-integrated neighborhoods remain the most prevalent form of neighborhood integration in both cities and suburbs. Third, immigrant neighborhoods are …

The Rent Is Too Damn High:The Spatial And Longitudinal Dimensions Of Housing Affordability, Kasey Zapatka

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As the housing affordability crisis intensifies, I content that the spatial and longitudinal aspects of housing affordability are important dimensions of affordability. While much has been written about the sources and drivers of this new housing crisis, I investigate the impact of space, gentrification, and the life course on affordability patterns. I specifically address questions about the (1) role of space in shaping affordability patterns, the (2) impact of gentrification on neighborhood and household affordability, and (3) the trajectory of affordability over the life course. Broadly, I find that neighborhoods that are gentrifying in 2013 see increased affordability in 2019, …

Marshall Recreation Opportunities, Craig Morehead

2022 Fall Reports (Marshall, IL)

This course has been developed to introduce students to the principles and practice of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and managing various spaces and venues throughout the sport industry. NOTE: SPM 340 course builds the foundation of facility management. This course is an extension into this field for students wanting to potentially build a career in this field.

Marshall, Il Community Foundation Project, Nathan Myers

2022 Fall Reports (Marshall, IL)

This class will examine the behavior of public and non-profit agencies, and how various internal and external factors affect the performance of these organizations. The course will consider such factors as they are discussed in classic and current scholarship in the field of organizational behavior, as well as examples from the media.

Marshall, Il Communication Plan Project, Nathan Myers

2022 Fall Reports (Marshall, IL)

This class will examine the behavior of public and non-profit agencies, and how various internal and external factors affect the performance of these organizations. The course will consider such factors as they are discussed in classic and current scholarship in the field of organizational behavior, as well as examples from the media.

Storyblock Oral History Collection, 2015, Cynthia Tobar, Oscar Zamora Flores

Finding Aids

Finding aid for the StoryBlock Oral history Collection 2015, prepared by Bronx Community College Archives.

No. 57: Pandemic Precarity And Food Insecurity In Urban Ghana During Covid-19, Elizabeth Opiyo Onyango, Bernard Owusu, Jonathan Crush

Hungry Cities Partnership

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on urban households in the Global South has not yet been adequately explored, despite an emerging consensus that impacts of the pandemic were more severe in urban than rural Africa. This paper addresses the knowledge gap by examining the relationship between pandemic precarity and food insecurity in Ghana’s urban areas during the pandemic in 2020. The data comes from the World Bank (WB) and Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) COVID-19 High-Frequency Phone Survey. Using a sub-sample of 1,423 urban households, the paper evaluates household experiences of the pandemic. Our findings show that household demographic characteristics …

No. 58: Wild Foods, The Nutrition Transition And Urban Food Security In Northern Namibia, Ndeyapo Nickanor, Lawrence Kazembe, Jonathan Crush

Hungry Cities Partnership

Rapid urbanization and food system transformation in Africa have been accompanied by growing food insecurity, reduced dietary diversity and an epidemic of non-communicable disease. While the contribution of wild and indigenous foods (WIF) to the quality of rural household diets has been of longstanding attention, research on their consumption and role amongst urban households is much more recent. This paper focuses on the consumption of WIF in three towns in northern Namibia with close ties to the surrounding rural agricultural areas. Based on data from a household survey of food sourcing and consumption patterns in 2018, the paper shows that …

No. 60: Opening Access To Urban Food Security Data In Africa From The Hungry Cities Partnership, Gareth Haysom, Bruce Mcdougall, Samuel Owuor, Ndeyapo Nickanor, Ines Raimundo, Lawrence Kazembe, Lynn Woolfrey, Jonathan Crush

Hungry Cities Partnership

The Hungry Cities Partnership (HCP) initiated a 7-year programme of food system research in eight cities of the Global South in January 2015: Mexico City, Mexico; Kingston, Jamaica; Windhoek, Namibia; Cape Town, South Africa; Maputo, Mozambique; Nairobi, Kenya; Bangalore, India; and Nanjing, China. This paper describes the research process in the four African cities of Cape Town, Maputo, Nairobi, and Windhoek. The HCP data provide rich and context-specific information useful in avoiding generalizations in theory and inserting a Southern and African perspective into wider food studies and global policy debates. The paper describes and compares the survey methodology in the …

No. 59: Increasing The Use Of Spatial Data In Urban Household-Level Food Security Measurement, Jordan Blekking, Kurt Waldman

Hungry Cities Partnership

Measuring urban food security in Africa is challenging because the current food security metrics were designed for rural contexts, and often feature a bias toward food availability, yet limited urban food production means urban food security measurement requires a multi-dimensional evaluation that also takes stock of the spatial and behavioural dimensions of food security. Current metrics are poorly suited to evaluate urban food security because they do not incorporate the spatial and behavioural dimensions of urban livelihoods, which relate to the variability of entitlements across space and how urban infrastructure accessibility enhances or constrains the choices available for a household …

No. 56: Towards A New Food Security Index For Urban Household Food Security, Cameron Mccordic, Bruce Frayne, Naomi Sunu, Clare Williamson

Hungry Cities Partnership

The multidimensionality of food security can confound both statistical modelling and clear policy narratives. That complexity can become amplified in urban areas where food security is often a function of both local and global factors. Rather than focusing on one dimension of food security metrics, this investigation proposes a method for building an index of urban household food access, utilization and stability. The performance of this index is compared across three aggregation methods using household surveys collected from five cities around the world. The findings indicate that each aggregation method was internally consistent, although one of the aggregation methods, relying …

Re-Redlining Richmond? Holc Grades, Market-Driven Development, And Resident Satisfaction In Richmond, Va, Addy Cooley

Graduate Research Posters

This study investigates the relationship between historical redlining policies, contemporary market-driven community development strategies, and resident satisfaction and quality of life in Richmond, Virginia. The purpose of the study is to understand the limits of using market-driven indicators to create and evaluate community development plans that seek to correct historical inequities created by redlining. To do so, it compares data from redlining maps used by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) in 1937 to a 2017 real estate Market Value Analysis (MVA) and a 2014 citywide resident satisfaction survey. Results show a significant, moderate correlation between redlining grades and market …