Architecture & Urban Planning

How can we how can we learn from communities to understand risk and support resilience planning? Kristen Goodrich brings a social ecological approach to characterizing natural hazards when developing flood modeling by studying the human experience with and response to flooding.

If anyone knows where to find refuge from air pollution near Los Angeles freeways, it’s Suzanne Paulson. The UCLA atmospheric chemistry professor has spent years studying how invisible plumes of dirty air from car- and truck-choked roadways spread into surrounding neighborhoods — increasing residents’ risk of cancer, asthma, heart disease and other illnesses.

An effort to improve access to parks in Harris County Precinct 1 will begin by asking residents what kind of green spaces they want and need. "This project is going to yield many benefits for our residents, particularly our most vulnerable and under-served populations," said Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis said during the Monday kickoff of the Park-Smart Precinct One project, an effort to eliminate some of the park deserts in that portion of Harris County. ...

The School of Architecture continues to build its Race and Gender in the Built Environment Initiative with new faculty appointments. Edna Ledesma will join the school as a fellow for the 2017-18 academic year, and Miriam Solis will begin her appointment as an assistant professor in Fall 2018 after completing a Switzer Environmental Fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley.

In the heart of car-dominated Los Angeles, a group of students set out on a journey to discover what it takes to create bike-friendly cities. The result is an inspiring call to action for people everywhere.

“There will be more butts on bikes — and that’s a good thing.” That’s probably the most memorable line from the speaker’s podium during last week’s Ford GoBike launch in downtown Oakland, marking the first-ever arrival of bike sharing in the East Bay. But some supporters of the system say they’re thinking not just about how many butts, but whose butts, will be on the 1,500 or so shared bicycles expected to be rolling in Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville by Labor Day.

Mary Brown, a preservation planner who excelled at distilling the qualities of everything from Golden Gate Park to Sam Jordan’s Bar, died of lung cancer in San Francisco on Dec. 10. She was 46. In her seven years with San Francisco’s Planning Department, Ms. Brown was the author of unusually readable surveys of such topics as commercial storefronts and modern architecture. She also built the cases to designate landmarks of cultural as well as architectural importance, such as Sam Jordan’s, a gathering place for generations of African Americans on Third Street in the Bayview.

Abstract

Dr. Nathan McClintock is an Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University. He is a geographer whose primary focus is on urban agriculture policy and practice, and how they articulate with political economy, race, class, and gender.