HONR 228B Planning for Cities
Annapolis Hall Fall, 2009
Tu 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm www.elms.umd.edu
Alex Chen Office Hours;
T: 10 am to 11:30 am
301-405-6798 or by Appointment
1217 Architecture Building (call to confirm)
Introduction
Through lecture and discussion, field exercises, class activities, and guest lecturers, students will be introduced to the challenges and opportunities facing our nation’s cities. We will use a multidisciplinary lens, to view different aspects of the city and develop a holistic perspective of the city as a complex system of interrelated parts. This perspective will allow us to see how fields as diverse as design and economics, preservation and mathematics, and real estate development and sociology combine to respond to the challenges and opportunities of living in the city. By zooming in on specific issues and topics one will be able to focus on the complex dynamic between people and preferences, power and politics, as well as property and place. In addition, the principles and practices of sustainability will provide a “green” filter through which we view many of these issues. In this manner, we will examine in much greater detail the metaphor of the city as a living organism and the implications for planning for the city’s future.
Students will leave this course with an appreciation of the significance of property and place in defining the urban environment; with knowledge of the importance of people and preferences in planning for our urban environment; and with insight into the impact that power and politics has on the decisions that affect the city.
Required Text
Levine, Myron. Annual Editions: Urban Society 14/e. McGraw Hill Contemporary Learning Series. Dubuque, IA, 2010.
ISBN-13: 9780078127717 (ISBN-10: 0078127718)
Popper, Andrew (2008).. Bordering on Madness: An American Land Use Tale, 2nd edition. ISBN-10. 1-59460-537-8. Carolina Academic Press.
Urban Plan Manual: Distributed in class
Other readings to be distributed as needed or available on Elms
Grading
Class Journal
Midterm Review : 5% (October 20)
Final Review : 10% (December 10)
Participation
Class Discussion / Activity : 5%
Attendance required (2 or more unexplained, i.e. without adequate warning or justification) will result in half grade deduction (e.g. D to D-).
Presentations
Pecha Kucha
Sustainability at UMD : 10% (October 27)
The Sustainable City : 15% (December 1, 8)
Urban Plan Team presentation : 10% (October 13)
Attendance is mandatory;
Urban Plan Paper ; 15% (October 20)
Urban Plan in-class exam 5% (September 29)
Final Exam 25% (TBA)
Academic Accommodations: If you have a documented disability, you should contact Disability Support Services 0126 Shoemaker Hall. Each semester students with documented disabilities should apply to DSS for accommodation request forms which you can provide to your professors as proof of your eligibility for accommodations. The rules for eligibility and the types of accommodations a student may request can be reviewed on the DSS web site at http://www.counseling.umd.edu/DSS/receiving_serv.html.
Religious Observances: The University System of Maryland policy provides that students should not be penalized because of observances of their religious beliefs, students shall be given an opportunity, whenever feasible, to make up within a reasonable time any academic assignment that is missed due to individual participation in religious observances. It is the responsibility of the student to inform the instructor of any intended absences for religious observances in advance. Notice should be provided as soon as possible but no later than the end of the schedule adjustment period. Faculty should further remind students that prior notification is especially important in connection with final exams, since failure to reschedule a final exam before the conclusion of the final examination period may result in loss of credits during the semester. The problem is especially likely to arise when final exams are scheduled on Saturdays.
Academic integrity: The University of Maryland has a nationally recognized
Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu/whatis.html
The University of Maryland is one of a small number of universities with a student-administered Honors Code and an Honors Pledge, available on the web at http://www.jpo.umd.edu/aca/honorpledge.html. The code prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper for credit in two courses without authorization, buying papers, submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures. The University Senate encourages instructors to ask students to write the following signed statement on each examination or assignment: "I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this examination (or assignment).”
Sustainability and the Chesapeake Project (http://www.sustainability.umd.edu/index.php?p=sustain_office)
In the Summer, 2009 I attended a faculty workshop entitled, “The Chesapeake Project”, sponsored by the Office of Sustainability, the University of Maryland. The workshop was a reflection of the University commitment to a sustainable environment. Its purpose was to introduce the principles and practices of sustainability and to encourage faculty to integrate these ideas into their class syllabi. The two – day workshop was comprised of faculty from different disciplines including dance and theater, business and economics, sociology and biology, as well as architecture and planning. Through presentations and small group discussions, we examined the different ways that we could incorporate the theory and practice of sustainability into the classroom experience. One result of this experience has been a revision to the syllabus for HNR228b, Planning for Cities. 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 planners and addresses such subjects as revitalization, education, crime, housing, and transportation.
However, as a result of the Chesapeake Project, the student will soon realize that sustainability is a theme that cuts across many of the studied topics. As we introduce the topic of cities, Sarah Imhulse, the Assistant City Manager to College Park, will talk about the City’s Green Initiative, to be followed by Mark Stewert, Campus Sustainability Coordinator to discuss the campus efforts to achieve a sustainable campus. Similarly, Stephanie DiPietro, a doctoral student in criminal justice will introduce the session on crime with a discussion on its relationship to sustainability. To reinforce these ideas, students will prepare two presentations focusing on sustainability from a Campus perspective as well as a City perspective. Finally, articles have been selected which highlight and extend the metaphor of the city as living organism.
Lecture 1
September 1 Introductions
Class Activity : Barnga
Confirm access to Elms
Lecture 2
September 8 City Renewal
Guest speaker: Sarah Imhulse, Assistant to City Manager, College Park.
“Greening College Park” (2 to 3 pm)
Readings:
Codoban, Natalia and Christopher A. Kennedy. Metabolism of Neighborhoods. American Society of Civil Engineering. DOI: 10.1061/_ASCE_0733-9488_2008_134:1_21_. Elms
Urban Society, 14th Edition.
1. Can Buffalo Ever Come Back?, Edward L. Glaeser, City Journal, Autumn 2007
2. Skipping the City for the Suburbs, Tom Waldron, Urbanite, January 2006
3. Return to Center, Christopher D. Ringwald, Governing, April 2002
6. Movers & Shakers: How Immigrants Are Reviving Neighborhoods Given up for Dead, Joel Kotkin, Reason, December 2000
Lecture 3.
September 15 The Sustainable Campus
Guest Speaker: The Sustainable Campus: Mark Stewart
2:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Readings:
Campus Sustainability at the University of Maryland, 2008.
http://www.sustainability.umd.edu/index.php
Newman, P. 2004. Sustainability and Cities: Extending the Metabolism Model. Landscape and Planning, 44:219-226. (Elms)
Urban Society, 14th Edition
18. Jane Jacobs? Radical Legacy, Peter Dreier, Shelterforce, Summer 2006
19. Neighbor Power: Building Community the Seattle Way, Carmen Sirianni, National Civic Review, Fall 2005
Lecture 4
September 22 Infrastructure
Shaharudin Idrus, Hadi, Abdul Samad, et al. Spatial Urban Metabolism for Livable City. Blueprints for Sustainable Infrastructure Conference. December 9-12, 2008. Auckland, NZ. (Elms)
13. Throwaway Stadium, Charles Mahtesian, Governing, January 2000
14. Skybox Skeptics, Josh Goodman, Governing, March 2006
15. "A Lot of Hooey": Heywood Sanders on Convention Center Economics, Neil deMause, Field of Schemes, September 7, 2004
20. New Life in Newark, Alan Ehrenhalt, Governing, July 2007
Lecture 5
September 29 Rebuilding the City
Introduction to Urban Plan
In class quiz on Urban Plan
Readings
Urban Plan Manual (distributed in class)
Urban Society, 14th edition
9. The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class, (Perseus Books Group, L.L.C., 2002)
10. Too Much Froth, Joel Kotkin and Fred Siegel, Blueprint, January 8, 2004
11. The Gentry, Misjudged as Neighbors, John Tierney, The New York Times, March 26, 2002
Lecture 6
October 6 Urban Plan Facilitators (Visitors)
Preparing for facilitators
2:15 to 3:30 pm
Lecture 7
October 13 Urban Plan Council
Presentation to City Council
Lecture 8.
October 20 Education
21. The Performance of Charter Schools in Wisconsin, John Witte et al., La Follette Policy Report, University of Wisconsin, Spring-Summer 2007
22. Charter Schools, Gail Robinson, Gotham Gazette, November 14, 2005
23. First Principals, Sylvia Maria Gross, City Limits, Jan/Feb 2005
25. Here Comes the Neighborhood, Damien Jackson, In These Times, December 20, 2002
26. The UCLA Civil Rights Project State of Segregation: Fact Sheet, 2007, The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, 2007
27. Joint Statement of Nine University-Based Civil Rights Centers on Today’s Supreme Court Rulings on Voluntary School Desegregation: McFarland v. Jefferson County Public Schools & Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No.
Lecture 9
October 27 PK Presentation: Sustainable Campus
Lecture 10
November 3 Zoning
Readings
Bordering on Madness
16. Eminent Domain Revisited, Mark Berkey-Gerard, Gotham Gazette, December 12, 2005
17. Legislative and Judicial Reactions to Kelo: Eminent Domain’s Continuing Role in Redevelopment, Christopher W. Smart, Probate & Property, March/April 2008
Lecture 11.
November 10 Crime
Stephanie DiPietro, Criminology and Criminal Justice
Readings
28. Broken Windows, James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, The Atlantic, March 1982
29. How an Idea Drew People Back to Urban Life, James Q. Wilson, The New York Sun, April 16, 2002
Lecture 12
November 17 Transportation
Readings
Urban Society, 14th Edition
39. New German Community Models Car-Free Living, Isabelle de Pommereau, The Christian Science Monitor, December 20, 2006
40. Traffic: Why It?s Getting Worse, What Government Can Do, Anthony Downs, Brookings Institution Policy Brief 128, January 2004
41. Is Congestion Pricing Ready for Prime Time?, Michael A. Replogle, Planning, May 2008
Lecture 13
November 24 Diversity
Class Activity:Ghetto Game
Readings
Agyeman, Julian and Tom Evans. (2003). Toward Just Sustainability in urban communities: building equity rights with Sustainable solutions. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 590, Rethinking Sustainable Development. Pp35-53. (Elms)
Urban Society, 14th edition
Readings
24. With More Choice Has Come Resegregation, Leslie Fulbright and Heather Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, May 29, 2006
35. HOPE VI and the New Urbanism: Eliminating Low-Income Housing to Make Mixed-Income Communities," Janet L. Smith, Planner?s Network 151, Spring 2002
4. Predatory Lending: Redlining in Reverse, Gregory D. Squires, Shelterforce, Jan/Feb 2005
1. The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, June 28, 2007
5. Bridge Blockade after Katrina Remains Divisive Issue, Chris Kirkham and Paul Purpura, New Orleans Times-Picayune, September 1, 2007
Lecture 14
December 1 City as Ecological System
Readings
Rebele, Franz. Urban Ecology and Special Features of Urban Ecosystems. Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters. Vol 4. No. 6 (November 1994). Pp 173-187. (Elms)
Vandegrift, Donald and Tommer Yoked (2004). Obesity rates, income, and surburban sprawl: an analysis of US states. Health & Place 10 (2004): 224-229. (obesity2.pdf)
Baltimore Sustainability Plan. April 2009. (Elms)
Ewing, Reid and Fang Hong (2008). The Impact of Urban Form on U.S. Residential Energy Use. Housing Policy Debate. Volume 18 (1): 1-30. (Elms)
Schwirian, Kent P. (1983). Models of Neighborhood Change. Annual Review of Sociology. Vol 9: 53-102. (Elms)
Student Presentations (5)
The Sustainable City
Lecture 15
December 8 Student Presentations
The Sustainable City
FINAL EXAM To be announced
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