Memorandum
July 1, 2009
To:Mark Stewart
Office of Sustainability Coordinator
From:Alex Chen, Urban Studies and Planning Program
RE:Syllabus Revision, HNR 228B, Planning for Cities
Chesapeake Project
I was a participant in the Summer 2009 workshop, “The Chesapeake Project”, sponsored by the Office of Sustainability, UMD. I found it well designed and enlightening. As part of the workshop arrangement, I reviewed my Fall 2009 course, Planning for the Cities (HNR 228B) to see how the principles and practices of sustainability could be integrated into the course. The following summarizes how this goal was achieved. .
In many respects, the format and activities of the class are similar to last year’s class. The class is designed to introduce students to the challenges and opportunities facing the city and addresses such subjects as revitalization, education, crime, housing, and transportation. Initially, the plan was to add one lecture which would addresses the relationship between sustainability and the city. However, it soon became evident that the principles and practices of sustainability are very much aligned with good planning practice. The challenge was to develop a means to deftly incorporate the ideas of sustainability into the class without turning this “planning” course into one on sustainability. As such, the class approaches the issue from a variety of ways, including readings and a class lecture, as well as guest lecturers and student presentations. As noted in the syllabus, sustainability is a theme which will resonate throughout the course.
As we introduce the topic of cities, Sarah Imhulse, the Assistant City Manager to College Park, will talk about the City’s Green Initiative and how a City’s plans for the future. In addition, you will be coming to the class, to discuss the campus efforts to achieve a sustainable campus. Your presentation will provide the background for student presentations on the role of students in promoting a sustainable campus. These presentations will be linked to discussions regarding the role of citizen participation in city plans and programs. I was very impressed with the remarks of Stephanie DiPietro, a doctoral candidate in criminal justice who spoke at the workshop on crime and sustainability. She has graciously accepted my invitation to speak to the class as part of the introduction to the session on crime in the city.
The set of new course readingshighlight and extend the metaphor of the city as living organism. In essence, rather than limit the image of the city as a set of complex and interrelated social, economic and cultural systems, the readings focus on the urban “metabolism” or the technical and socioeconomic processes that occur in cities, that results in growth, production, and elimination of waste. This concept is not unfamiliar to the biological sciences, and this focus is in part due to the workshop discussions. Class discussions will seek to identify those metabolic processes (social as well as environmental) that threaten the sustainability of city. The final student presentation will focus on the SustainableCity and provide students an opportunity to synthesize the ideas introduced in the classroom.