Latin American Gentrification: The Case of Santiago

Gentrification: a word we hear every day in discussions concerning planning in the United States, particularly around central city revitalization, real estate development, housing, economic development, and the list goes on. It generally involves two elements: The movement of high-income groups into urban areas where they have greater resources to pay for land and housing when compared to existing residents. An increase in land values, … Continue reading Latin American Gentrification: The Case of Santiago

Best Masters Project, 2015

Each year the UNC Department of City and Regional Planning bestows the Best Masters Project Award to a graduating Masters student. Mikey Goralnik was the 2015 recipient of the award. Below is an excerpt of his Masters Project titled “Resource Resiliency: preparing rural America for an uncertain climatic future through community design and ecosystem service provision.” A link to his entire project is provided at the … Continue reading Best Masters Project, 2015

The World Trade center Transportation Hub: Worthwhile or Wasteful

Some are questioning whether the exuberant lower Manhattan Transportation Hub was a good investment. The first iteration of the new World Trade Center Transportation Hub opened in early March, 2016. The new transportation hub forms the main transit access point for the new WTC complex, which includes 1 World Trade Center, several other high-rise office buildings, and the September 11th memorial, flanked by reflecting pools … Continue reading The World Trade center Transportation Hub: Worthwhile or Wasteful

Selections from La Ciudad Actual

In 2014 and 2015 I spent nearly a year in Mexico City as a Fulbright National Geographic Fellow, exploring the city’s feathered edges. While the anchor of Mexico’s capital, the Distrito Federal (or Federal District) has around nine million residents, the larger metropolitan zone of the Valley of Mexico is home to more than twenty one million people. The sixty municipalities surrounding the DF form … Continue reading Selections from La Ciudad Actual

Seven Creative Placemaking Resources

It’s that time of year again: the Carolina Planning Journal is being copyedited and proofread and then copyedited and proofread again. And it is looking very beautiful. So: we’ve compiled a list of seven creative placemaking resources in order to get all of you excited about this upcoming volume, “Just Creativity: Perspectives on Inclusive Placemaking.” ArtPlace’s Blog Series called “The Huddle” ArtPlace is a funder … Continue reading Seven Creative Placemaking Resources

March Mapness: And the Winners are…

We feel certain that your enthusiasm for these maps helped the Heels make it to Houston. Thank you to everyone who participated in the mapness! We grouped the maps into a handful of categories and came out with five winners, displayed below, along with a description of the map provided to us by the person submitting. Winners, please see Taylor McAdam or another CPJ board member to … Continue reading March Mapness: And the Winners are…

General Assembly Lifts Light Rail Spending Cap

Citing a shift in political philosophy, legislators in the North Carolina General Assembly voted to lift the light rail spending cap in a special session in Raleigh on Friday. This comes in the wake of a contentious politicization of the infrastructure project, which has been considered in transportation planning conversations since the 1980s. GoTriangle, the region’s newly renamed regional transit authority, estimates the light rail … Continue reading General Assembly Lifts Light Rail Spending Cap

Beyond DCRP: Alumni Updates

This weekend (March 1st & 2nd)  is the annual Carolina Planning open house for the prospective class of 2018. As we welcome the new cohort to our community, it’s a perfect time to check in with our recent graduates and see what they’re up to. Enjoy this update from the DCRP class of 2015! Walker Freer ‘15 Associate, Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Boston, MA In compact … Continue reading Beyond DCRP: Alumni Updates

12 Takeaways from TRB

Back in January, most of the UNC Planning students specializing in transportation made their annual pilgrimage to Washington, DC, to attend the Transportation Research Board conference. Here are a few of the highlights that we wanted to share: It turns out that sharrows might make roads less safe for bikes.  2. There’s still no consensus about exactly why people are moving back to cities at … Continue reading 12 Takeaways from TRB

Rap and the American City

At its genesis, Hip-Hop was a perverse art form breaking away from cultural norms and mainstream sounds. It’s vibrancy attracted people, it encompassed rapping, DJing, breakdancing and graffiti. The Godfather of Hip-Hop, Afrika Bambaataa, started this community through block parties in the Bronx as a way to unite young people through the medium of music. Furthermore, Lisa Alexander described hip-hop as a way for the … Continue reading Rap and the American City