Baltimore is a city of contradictions. Within its boundaries, one can find self-avowed social justice warriors who are determined to undo centuries of injustice in the city. One can also find people who have never left the sanctuary of whiteness of the Inner Harbor. Continue reading Charm City Grit: Change in Baltimore Starts with the Community
As planners, we often engage in visioning processes with communities to identify and elaborate on the kinds of communities we want to plan. Our vision plans build an image of what could be in order to inform the agenda, strategies and policies we then develop and implement as planners. Vision planning can be an imaginative space to respond to the needs and desires of a … Continue reading Science Fiction and Planning
Whether through attending protests, organizing community groups, or coordinating postcard-writing campaigns, the planning students of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Department of City and Regional Planning have refused to stay silent in response to the Trump administration’s attacks on immigrants, people of color, women, and the low-income. Jason Rece, who is an assistant professor of City and Regional Planning at the Ohio State University, wrote in a post … Continue reading Planners in Protest
Historic Stagville tells this story of buildings and the history of enslaved people prominently, in contrast to many other preserved and historic plantation sites around the nation. Continue reading Historic Stagville: This Place Matters
A few weeks prior to the election I was asked to facilitate the first Plan for All Safe Space. Plan for All is a sub-committee of the student governing body of the UNC Department of City and Regional Planning (DCRP); its mission is to increase inclusivity, equity, diversity, and social justice within DCRP and the broader planning profession. The concept of a “Safe Space” emerged … Continue reading Planners as Warriors
A special post from participatory practitioner James Rojas Immigrants bring new, innovative urban planning ideas to this country based on their prior lived experiences, yet these ideas are rarely heard in an urban planning meeting or incorporated into zoning and plans. Most immigrants don’t attend public meetings. Many are busy struggling and often live in the shadows of our communities. Many may be too humble, or … Continue reading Incorporating Immigrants’ On-the-Ground Knowledge and Lived Experiences into the Planning Process
On September 28th, Durham City Councilwoman Jillian Johnson and Mel Norton of Duke University’s Cook Center on Social Equity visited UNC’s Department of City and Regional Planning to discuss with students and faculty the work of balancing social justice advocacy while serving in local government. Continue reading Injecting Social Justice into Local Government
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
The passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has been dissected for its potential impact on litigious issues from campaign finance to abortion. Yet one surely settled issue is the court’s June 2015 ruling on the limits of control a government may use to regulate signs. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court found that the small town of Gilbert, Arizona exceeded its authority when … Continue reading Free Speech, Signs, and the City
There’s a narrative surrounding public spending, and transportation infrastructure and transit projects are no exception. Typically regarded as short-term economic stimuli to a local economy, transit projects provide quality jobs and are investments in the future. Despite the current political climate around public spending, these jobs are generally popular because they are geographically constrained and cannot easily be outsourced. This perception was recently reinforced with … Continue reading Employment Equity & Transit Construction
