Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

From Pandemic Response To Portable Population Health: A Formative Evaluation Of The Detroit Mobile Health Unit Program, Phillip Levy, Erin Mcglynn, Alex B. Hill, Liying Zhang, Steven J. Korzeniewski, Bethany Foster, Jasmine Criswell, Caitlin O'Brien, Katee Dawood, Lauren Baird, Charles J. Shanley

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

This article describes our experience developing a novel mobile health unit (MHU) program in the Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area. Our main objectives were to improve healthcare accessibility, quality and equity in our community during the novel coronavirus pandemic. While initially focused on SARS-CoV-2 testing, our program quickly evolved to include preventive health services. The MHU program began as a location-based SARS-CoV-2 testing strategy coordinated with local and state public health agencies. Community needs motivated further program expansion to include additional preventive healthcare and social services. MHU deployment was targeted to disease “hotspots” based on publicly available SARS-CoV-2 testing data and …

Counteracting Crime Or Wasting Time? Examining A Blight Abatement Cpted Project In Philadelphia, Mandolynn Mcclusky

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines the relationships between a blight abatement CPTED project and the total, violent, and property crime rate in Philadelphia from 2000-2019. After controlling for certain demographics (population, median household income, median age of population, poverty level, and unemployment rate) as well as the national crime rate, no statistically significant relationship was found between the CPTED project and the crime rates with the data and measurements available to the researcher.

Intra-Urban Migration To The New Cities In The Greater Cairo Region: Causes And Consequences, Salwa Abdel Maksoud Abdulla Eissa

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Lifelong Instability And Perceived Risk Of Future Homelessness In Older Adults, Sarah Dys, Anna Steeves-Reece, Paula Carder

Institute on Aging Publications

Housing has long been considered a social determinant of individual and population health. Older adults with low incomes face several challenges to maintaining stable, affordable housing. Using data from a previous explanatory study of older adults waitlisted for housing assistance (n = 267), we explore individual characteristics and themes associated with older adults’ perceived housing instability and risk of future homelessness. This mixed-methods study identifies salient themes of financial insecurity, age discrimination, employment and health, interpersonal relationships, and trauma. Our analysis and findings highlight experiences of instability over the life course related to older adults’ current housing circumstances.

Resilience And Urban Regeneration Policies. Lessons From Community-Led Initiatives. The Case Study Of Canfugarolas In Mataro (Barcelona), Diego Saez Ujaque, Elisabet Roca, Rafael De Balanzó Joue, Pere Fuertes, Pilar Garcia-Almirall

Publications and Research

This paper addresses socio-ecological, community-led resilience as the ability of the urban system to progress and adapt. This is based on the socio-cultural, self-organized case study of CanFugarolas in Mataró (Barcelona), for the recovery of a derelict industrial building and given the lack of attention to resilience emerging from grassroots. Facing rigidities (stagnation) observed under the provisions of urban regeneration policies (regulatory realm), evidenced in the proliferation of urban voids (infrastructural arena), the social subsystem stands as the enabler of urban progression. Under the heuristics of the Adaptive Cycle and Panarchy, the study embraces Fath’s model to analyze the transition …

Focus On Sustainable Cities: Urban Solutions Toward Desired Outcomes, M. Georgescu, M. Arabi, Winston T. L. Chow, E. Mack, K. C. Seto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Urbanization represents the single most impactful and long-lasting transformation of the Earth system since the dawn of civilization. Cities are simultaneously locations of innovation, social connectivity, and wealth, but they also create local-to-global environmental degradation and socioeconomic disparities. For example, food provision for cities has required significant land-use change and fertilizer input, has altered regional climate, biogeochemical cycles, and degraded marine and landscapes through biodiversity loss, algal blooms and fish kills. To maintain urban livelihoods and the provision of goods and services, cities require vast amounts of energy (e.g. to provide access to transport, cooling systems), which are massive producers …

Validating The Resident View In Long-Term Care Settings: Final Report To Oregon Department Of Human Services, Aging & People With Disabilities Division, Diana L. White, Ozcan Tunalilar, Serena Hasworth, Jaclyn Winfree, Institute On Aging, Portland State University

Institute on Aging Publications

In 2015, Portland State University Institute on Aging (PSU/IOA) received a grant from the Quality Care Fund to develop the Resident VIEW (Voicing Importance, Experience, and Well-being), a measure of person-centered care (PCC) from the perspective of residents. Structured open-ended interviews were conducted with residents living in nursing homes (NH), assisted living (AL/RC), and adult foster homes (AFH) settings to learn more about their everyday concerns, values, and preferences. Each interview focused on one of eight domains of PCC. These domains had been identified from the literature and in prior research. Personhood, or as described by residents as being “treated …

Retention Of A Diverse Construction Workforce, Maura Kelly

PSU Transportation Seminars

Having a strong pipeline of workers will be critical for ongoing efforts to improve transportation infrastructure, such as roads, highways, and bridges. This talk first provides an overview of the recruitment and retention of a diverse construction workforce in Oregon. Next are findings from research studies over the last ten years demonstrating the challenges experienced by workers on construction job sites that lead to low retention levels. The talk concludes with a discussion of several initiatives within the construction trades that have been implemented to address job site culture.

Through The Ivory Curtain: African Americans In Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Before The Fair Housing Movement, J. Mark Souther

History Faculty Publications

This article examines the largely neglected history of African American struggles to obtain housing in Cleveland Heights, a first-ring suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, between 1900 and 1960, prior to the fair housing and managed integration campaigns that emerged thereafter. The article explores the experiences of black live-in servants, resident apartment building janitors, independent renters, and homeowners. It offers a rare look at the ways that domestic and custodial arrangements opened opportunities in housing and education, as well as the methods, calculations, risks, and rewards of working through white intermediaries to secure homeownership. It argues that the continued black presence laid …

Geographic Study Of Latinx Immigrant-Owned Markets In Cobb County, Georgia, Brittney Brown

Symposium of Student Scholars

Immigrant-owned businesses allow for immigrants to establish themselves in a foreign country and can also provide a sense of community to other immigrants living in the same area. Immigrants tend to settle in areas where there are others of the same nationality and speak the same languages, because it provides immigrants with a social connection. Immigrant-owned businesses can be indicative of an ethnoburb, which is defined as a notable cluster of an ethnic minority population in a suburban context. With a focus on Latinx immigrant-owned markets in Cobb County, Georgia, this study aims to find the connection between Latinx immigrant-owned …

From Displaced To Our Place: Using An Educational Narrative To Build Community In A Displaced Community, Morgan Frederick

Symposium of Student Scholars

Thomasville heights is a displacement neighborhood for people pushed out by Atlanta’s Urban Renewal projects. Thomasville Heights remains a casualty of a system of economic segregation. Under this system of segregation these neighborhoods are left in detrimental states. It is in places like Thomasville Heights where the phrase “place matters” becomes a call to action. A town of 6000 residents and only one elementary school, Thomasville heights is bordered by multiple freight yards, a cemetery, landfills, and Atlanta’s US penitentiary, just a 5-minute walk from that one elementary school. There remains a vast difference between that of low-income urban, and …

No. 01: South-South Migration, Food Insecurity And The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jonathan Crush, Diana Thomaz, Sujata Ramachandran

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

The implementation of global migration governance processes such as the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Global Compact for Migration has been stalled by the COVID-19 crisis as flows of and opportunities for international migrants shrink through the containment strategies adopted by most governments in response to the pandemic. Migrants have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and the policies taken in response to the pandemic, with higher risk of exposure to the virus, greater likelihood of working in sectors that have experienced major economic downturn, lower rates of access to social support mechanisms and health care, and increased vulnerability to …

No. 02: Food Remittances, Migration And Rural-Urban Linkages In Kenya, Elizabeth Opiyo Onyango, Jonathan Crush, Samuel Owuor

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

Rural-urban migrants in Sub-Saharan Africa do not generally cut their links with rural homes and much has been written about the character, types and implications of connections between rural areas and rapidly growing cities. The persistence of circular migration and the perpetuation of rural-urban connectivity is a distinctive feature of Kenyan urbanization. Informal non-market food remitting from rural to urban areas has received little attention in comparison with cash remitting from city to countryside. This paper presents new evidence from a household survey in Nairobi on the extent, frequency and nature of informal food remitting from rural areas to migrants …

Factors Associated With Voluntary Refusal Of Emergency Medical System Transport For Emergency Care In Detroit During The Early Phase Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nicholas E. Harrison, Robert R. Ehrman, Andrea Curtin, Damon Gorelick, Alex B. Hill, Erin Brennan, Robert Dunne

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Importance
Emergency department (ED) and emergency medical services (EMS) volumes decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the amount attributable to voluntary refusal vs effects of the pandemic and public health restrictions is unknown.

Objective
To examine the factors associated with EMS refusal in relation to COVID-19 cases, public health interventions, EMS responses, and prehospital deaths.

Design, Setting, and Participants
A retrospective cohort study was conducted in Detroit, Michigan, from March 1 to June 30, 2020. Emergency medical services responses geocoded to Census tracts were analyzed by individuals’ age, sex, date, and community resilience using the Centers for Disease Control and …

Central Plaza Recommendations, Jim Speer

2021 Spring Reports (Sullivan)

The City of Sullivan intends to leverage the new Central Plaza and Civic Center as key to the city. The Quality of Life plan indicates a desire to construct appealing aspects to Central Plaza. ENVI460 students were tasked with providing recommendations for a water feature and other sustainable features like a green roofing. This report reflects students’ recommendations for a sustainable water feature at Central Plaza.

Mitigating Urban Heat Island Effect At Southern City Park, Jim Speer

2021 Spring Reports (Sullivan)

The City of Sullivan indicated the southern City Park as an area of interest for redevelopment as a neighborhood area and for sustainable features. There are existing structures and habitats that they are looking to bolster. Students in ENVI 460 identified multiple components of the city park that could be updated and upgraded to provide more sustainable infrastructure and community focus. They recommended permeable pavers in two locations in the park area, green roofing on some existing structures, and adding native habitats to the overall area.

Our Diversity Is Our Strength: Explaining Variation In Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Emphasis In Municipal Arts And Cultural Plans, Carolyn G. Loh, Amanda Ashley, Leslie Durham, Karen Bubb

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Problem, Research Strategy and Findings: Municipal arts and cultural plans direct significant amounts of public investment and set far-reaching policies, as arts and culture investment becomes an increasingly widespread economic development strategy. While these plans frequently advertise the city’s diversity, they often lack specific strategies for supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition, the creation of these plans often does not involve urban planners, nor do the plans often connect to the city’s comprehensive plan or contain the types of fact bases and commitments to equity that comprehensive plans do. In this study of 64 US municipal arts and cultural …

Régionalisation Représentative : Vers Un Gouvernement Local Plus Équitable, Démocratique, Réactif Et Efficace Au Nouveau-Brunswick, Zack Taylor, Jon Taylor

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

En réponse au Livre vert sur la réforme de la gouvernance locale du gouvernement du Nouveau- Brunswick publié en avril 2021, le présent rapport fait le diagnostic des problèmes du système de gouvernance locale existant de la province et propose une solution qui tire parti des actifs existants pour créer un système de gouvernance locale plus équitable, démocratique, réactif et efficace. Un système de gouvernance locale remanié aidera les Néo-Brunswickois à faire face aux difficiles défis économiques et démographiques actuels et futurs.

Le présent rapport recommande de renforcer les commissions de services régionaux en s’inspirant des districts régionaux de la …

Dreaming Of Home: Youth Researchers Of Color Address Nyc’S Housing Crisis, Samuel Finesurrey, Waleska Cabrera, Meldis Jimenez, Brittiny Ando, Alanna Garcia, Alexander Garcia, Jayden Johnstone, Abdul Mohammed, Sheylany Paulino, Edwin Reed, Emelyn Saavedra, Gisselle Saavedra, Rajendra Singh, Aysia Smith, Marlena Syriaque

Publications and Research

New Yorkers are facing a housing crisis. Long-standing disparities of race and class in New York City have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus and the looming eviction crisis threaten working-class communities, immigrant families and youth searching for housing stability throughout the city. This report is a call to action demanding that city and state elected officials, along with civic leaders, address the housing crisis that youth are inheriting. A team of youth housing fellows, housing organizers from the Broadway Housing Communities, and CUNY academics shaped this project around the ethos, “No research about us, without us.” The work …

Tourism And The Climate Crisis: A Travelers' Guide To Low Carbon, Madison Mcconnell, Jonathon Day

Tourism Insights

This report provides recommendations for reducing your carbon footprint while travelling

Addressing Social Inequity: A Case Study Of Success, Ed Tarlton, Robert Harper, Brandi Blessett, Brian N. Williams, Jarrad Carter

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Social equity is relatively easy to define but much harder to accomplish. As a result, achieving social equity continues to be difficult in American society and across the globe. We present a case study of a collaborative effort by two nonprofits to conduct a program for public high schools and local law-enforcement agencies across the United States. The program was designed to acknowledge and address the historic harms that impact police-community relations. Our paper delineates the origins of the problem and our approach, presents data that demonstrate the positive impact the program had on bridging gaps, changing perceptions, and lessening …

Cost Of Oregon Evictions Report (Updated), Lisa K. Bates, Marisa Zapata, Jacen Greene, Stefanie Knowlton

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

Earlier this year, PSU’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative used a calculator developed by the University of Arizona and estimates of how many renter households are at risk of eviction to evaluate the downstream community costs of evictions in Oregon during the pandemic. In light of the state eviction moratorium that is set to expire this month and the CDC moratorium that expires at the end of July, the center is once again looking at the number of households at risk of eviction and the downstream costs.

The data gathered from emergency shelters, inpatient and emergency medical services, child welfare, …

Ua3/10/4 Naming & Symbols Task Force Report & Recommendations, Wku President's Office - Caboni

WKU Administration Documents

Report of the Naming & Symbols Task Force concerning four major areas:

• Solicit input and perspectives from a broad range of constituencies and stakeholders that will guide us as we examine the origins of the names and symbols used on campus.
• Audit the names used on buildings and other campus symbols to determine which may be connected to exclusion, segregation, racism or slavery.
• Create a set of guiding principles and a range of options for how we should address any issues raised.
• Provide to University leadership a set of recommendations.

The Community Case For Violence: Toward A Materialist Perspective On Community Work, Aven Handley-Merk

University Honors Theses

This paper examines and synthesizes existing critiques of contemporary community work in the United States. These critiques are substantiated and developed by a discussion of nonprofit history and formal structure, establishing the premise that contemporary community work is constrained both by its powerlessness and its collaboration with government. It is constrained to an extent that it cannot meaningfully address or remedy community problems. Theorists often see the root of this problem in the birth of neoliberalism in the 1970s, but this paper argues that it arises instead from liberal philosophy, and is rooted much more deeply in Western history and …

Equity In Accessibility, A Case Study Of City Of Sacramento, Meredith C. Milam

City and Regional Planning

This paper is a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial analysis of the transportation accessibility and equity in Sacramento, California. A literature review examines discriminatory regulatory policies in the 1900s that wrote racial segregation into law. The effects of these policies have lasting effects on spatial dispersal of people and create barriers to accessibility and therefore result in inequitable transportation systems. The accessibility and equity analysis in Sacramento explores demographic data, job concentration and available modes of transportation, and commuter data. The results of the analysis suggest that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach when it comes to measuring accessibility and equity. …

Journeyman International: Dwell Being Jonestown, Mississippi, Autumn Wagner

Architectural Engineering

Journeyman International is a non-profit organization that works with countries all over the world to support humanitarian projects by pairing clients with design professionals and volunteers to oversee the design and construction of projects. This specific project partners with Third Lens Ministries and But God Ministries, two organizations that are hoping to empower the community in Jonestown, Mississippi. Dwell Being promotes sustainability and affordable housing in a new housing community in Jonestown that is designed for healthy living and community interaction. Jonestown is a very small 0.4 square acre town that has roots in systemic racism and oppression. A once …

Representative Regionalization: Toward More Equitable, Democratic, Responsive, And Efficient Local Government In New Brunswick, Zack Taylor, Jon Taylor

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

Responding to the Government of New Brunswick’s Green Paper on Local Governance Reform released in April 2021, this report diagnoses the problems of the province’s existing system of local governance and proposes a solution that leverages existing assets to create a more equitable, democratic, responsive, and efficient local governance system. A reformed local governance system will help New Brunswickers confront difficult present and future economic and demographic challenges.

This report recommends strengthening New Brunswick’s 12 Regional Service Commissions along the lines of British Columbia’s regional districts—multi-purpose bodies that have coordinated service delivery and land-use planning in that province since the …

Budgetary Obstacles To Police Reform: The Case Of San Francisco, Hayden Anderson

Master's Projects and Capstones

In response to the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement issued a statement calling on cities to Defund the Police. The event sparked a nationwide reckoning that has reshaped the narratives and strategies for remedying the racial bias and police brutality apparent in the criminal justice system. The shift in police reform efforts embraces notions guiding police budgeting decisions. Today's advocates are transforming their approach to police reform to include budgeting decisions by promoting a municipal practice known as police budget reform. This Capstone explores the feasibility of successful police budget reform under current …

Planting Power Or Planting A Paradox? Urban Agriculture, Gentrification, And Community Development In Oakland, California, Elissa M. Mann

Master's Projects and Capstones

Urban agriculture has long been used as a tool for promoting food justice and urban sustainability in municipalities across the globe. From vertical and rooftop growing operations to community and residential garden plots, the idealistically transformative nature of urban agriculture is becoming an increasingly popular subject among scholars, city planners, policymakers, and activists alike. A handful of cautionary scholars, however, have begun to uncover the elusive role that food justice oriented urban agriculture projects can play in facilitating gentrification and displacement in low-income communities. My capstone project focuses on the relationship between urban agriculture and gentrification, specifically asking: How does …

Covid-19 And Racial Justice In Urban Education: Nyc Parents Speak Out, Kelly Brady, Mieasia Edwards, Whitney Hollins, José Luis Jiménez, Wendy Luttrell, William Orellana, David Rosas, Nga Than

Publications and Research

The COVID-19 pandemic and global calls for racial justice surfaced tremendous inequities and revitalized the debate about schooling and its purpose. NYC Parents Speak Out is a public engagement project, based on an interactive survey and interviews that records and reflects NYC family educational experiences during the unprecedented school year of 2020-2021. Our research collective, comprised of researchers, parents, advocates, teachers, and school leaders from the Urban Education Ph.D. Program at The Graduate Center (CUNY) identified three key recommendations based on research findings: to improve communication through family and community engagement; give greater attention to social-emotional and mental health; and …