Brown University Urban Studies Program 2007 Newsletter
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brown university urban studies Program 2007 newsletter Note from the Editor DUG Update Senior co-leaders of the DUG, analytical observations-- the contribu- The Urban Studies Departmental Amy Barad and Robert Corey-Bou- tors show that there are many ways to Undergraduate Group is winding down let, have noted that the Urban Studies experience city issues. a busy and successful year, capped by Program is gaining interest, and it not Jessica and Jesse both focus on an interdisciplinary conference held surprising. The interdisciplinary nature contemporary issues here in Provi- March 9 at the Watson Institute for In- of the concentration trains students to dence. Together the articles illuminate ternational Studies titled “Cities of the make unique connections. the layered nature of a city and the inter Developing World.” The conference This newsletter contains articles connectedness of its challenges. - which was sponsored by the Harriet that focus mainly on the built envi- Continuing the topic of city de- David Goldberg ‘56 Endowment, Spa- ronment of the city. Sharing their per- velopment, Itiah and John offer criti- tial Structures in the Social Sciences ceptions--from personal experience to cism of schemes in other American and the Department of Economics CONTENTS: cities. Itiah’s examination of a histori- - featured renowned scholars and au- cal example, the urban renewal in New thors from across the country. York City, reminds us that fundamental The programming was broken News from Brown concerns, like housing, require com- down into three panels: health and DUG Update..................................1 prehensive planning and often meet health care, crime and housing. The Honors Thesis Summaries.............2 unanticipated obstacles. health panelists addressed topics in- Funding..........................................3 John corroborates this viewpoint cluding the delivery of care for tuber- with a current example, rooted in the culosis in urban Peru, the potential for Student Articles devastation of Hurricane Katrina. This an avian flu pandemic and the role of Re-thinking the Urban Waterfont premise illuminates how cities are sus- public and private health care institu- Jessica Kondrick ‘07...................4 ceptible to natural disasters, while John tions in urban China. The crime panel Homeless Services and RIPTA presents the unique situation in Pass featured research on Mexico City and Jesse Cohen ‘07...........................5 Christian, Mississippi. international incarceration trends. On Prescribed Vernacular: Wal-Mart James Njoo is the urban studies the housing panel, researchers spoke and New Urbanists Hold Hands studio professor in the Paris half of about housing circumstances in locales John Wooster ‘07.........................6 the The Shape of Two Cities: New York ranging from urban China to Latin Flaws in Legislation and Execution and Paris, the only Brown-approved America. of Urban Renewal in NYC abroad program for urban studies con- Setha Low, a professor of environ- Itiah Thomas ‘07.........................7 centrators. He traces the history of mental psychology, anthropology and A Student and a Teacher Chinatown in Paris and suggests that women’s studies and the author of three Jack Walsh ‘09...........................11 we can learn from its organic growth. books, delivered a keynote speech on Jack Walsh leaves us with his im- gated communities titled “Fear, Privati- Guest Contributor pressions of the Arusha, Tanzania and zation and the State: Gated Communi- Learning From Chinatown the cultural differences he observed ties in the United States, Latin America James Njoo.............................8-10 while volunteering there. and China.” Her engaging presentation Enjoy! Caitlin Boyle and the ensuing question-and-answer continued on page 2... Urban Studies Newsletter NEWS FROM BROWN HONORS THESIS PROJECTS Public Transportation in Rhode Island - Paolo Ikezoe ‘07 My thesis is on public transpor- continued from page 1... session gave urban studies concentra- tation in Rhode Island: past, pres- tors the opportunity to speak with a ent and future. In the first chapter notable scholar they first encountered I outline the history of mass transit when taking US 21: “The City”. in Rhode Island and try to highlight The conference was a remarkable some of the technological innova- success, and it capped off a great year tions that have been attempted in for the DUG. Thank you to all urban the past. Then, in my second chap- studies students and faculty who of- ter I present a best-practices report fered their support, and a special thank that examines transit systems across you to everyone else who participated the country and worldwide. It spe- in the conference either as a panelist or cifically addresses how they are at- moderator. tempting to improve service. Final- ly, I offer some suggestions for the Sincerely, RIPTA (Rhode Island Public Transit Authority) system and how it might Amy Barad ‘07 improve its service and better serve Robbie Corey-Boulet ‘07 the population. DUG Co-Directors Photograph credit Above: http://www.trolleymuseum.org/collection/newengland/9.html Below: http://www.ccri.edu/currents/05-dec/index.shtml New Edge Cities - Carrie Nielson ‘07 In 1991, Washington Post He could only guess what would I will investigate these case stud- journalist Joel Garreau published happen to the edge city in the de- ies as new forms of the edge city, his epic work entitled Edge City: cade to follow.Using Garreau’s defi- as places that are built with some Life on the New Frontier. The book nition of the edge city as a theoreti- level of private-public interaction informed America about the lat- cal framework, my thesis examines and with a comprehensive vision of est type of urban development oc- three large-scale communities in what a progressively-planned com- curring on the urban fringe. These California, Nevada, and Colorado, munity should look like. burgeoning areas, often places that all of which meet or approximate were rural crossroads only a few de- Garreau’s five-fold definition of the cades ago, consist of massive office edge city. The twist is that each of buildings and retail centers oriented these communities—Coyote Valley about the automobile. Square foot- in San Jose, CA, Summerlin in Las age was measured in the millions, Vegas, NV, and Stapleton in Denver, and there were few homes in their CO—is being master-planned either immediate vicinities. Indeed, these in the private sector or through a areas formed a type of new suburb, private-public partnership. To vary- where white-collar workers would ing extents, these communities have commute from their suburban resi- also integrated some tenets of the dences to work, completely bypass- smart growth movement into their ing the traditional urban core. Gar- master plans: mixed-use develop- reau qualified his analysis of the ment, higher-density and affordable edge city by noting that this form of housing, and transit-oriented devel- development was only in its infancy. opment, for example. In my thesis, Urban Studies Newsletter FUNDING Hurray For UTRA Funding! Mia Scharphie ‘07 Hurray for UTRA funding! I the elements of the course that I was an underground mine fire which spent this past summer in Providence the most passionate about: namely, has been burning for thirty years. pursuing my urban studies interests the stories of grassroots green space As the trails of smoke rose up from out of the pressure of the semester movements from communities of the deserted land, I realized that timeline. I received an undergraduate color and low-income communities, this field is just one example of teaching and research award as well modern attempts at creating the connection between land and (UTRA) that allowed me to work sustainable urban green space. resources, and the way that humans with Professor Patrick Malone on Preparation for the structure interpret, use and change them. updating a course that I later helped of the class was only a part of my The other unintended benefit him teach-Green Cites, a course on summer learning. I accompanied of this UTRA came from its the history of designed landscapes Professor Malone to the historic continuation in the fall when I in America. industrial town of Lowell, MA, worked as a teaching assistant in Green Cities had not been taught where he has been involved in the Green Cites class. Nothing I in eight years and the syllabus was historic preservation, and to a town in did during the summer could have outdated. Readings and coverage Pennsylvania that we photographed prepared me for the wonderful mix were strong early in the semester, for the class. As we traveled through of students who took the class and the but were deficient of new literature, old coal country, and towns that synergistic effect of their differing especially that dealing with the have changed profoundly as their backgrounds and interests crossing, relation of the environmental justice economic context has changed, I meeting mixing. Although I had movement to urban green space. I was enlightened by the perspective read (and even chosen) many of the had much freedom and agency with of an industrial archaeologist. We sources and activities the summer regard to changes in the course, and stopped in a town called Centralia previously, class discussions opened I was able to focus on developing which had been condemned due to up whole new ways of thinking for me. RAB Grant - Caitlin Boyle ‘07 Overall, this UTRA was a Thank you to the commit- of