URurban review

volume 9 / issue 16 1 Dear Readers, Table of Contents Alumni Spotlight

The Urban Review team is proud to present this Alumni Spotlight: Mitchell Silver 3 issue of the Urban Review. This issue is produced in Dan Compitello Mitchell Silver conjunction with a special alumni event honoring By Dan Compitello Hunter Urban Affairs and Planning Alum and APA Daniel Burnham and The City of Manila, 1905 6 President Mitch Silver, the first event in a series that Jim Diego will lead to UAP’s 50th Anniversary in 2015. This Fire is Right on Time - The New Bronx Sizzle! 9 Within these pages is the most extensive edition of Lorraine Rolston the Urban Review ever published. It includes articles written by both undergraduates and graduates Havana’s Urban Agriculture 12 in Urban Affairs and Planning. The Urban Review Jesse Alter serves as a forum for ideas, a showcase for student projects and an opportunity for students to publish From Brooklyn to Peru 16 their written work. The range of subjects covered in Melanie Bower this issue reflects what students are learning in the classroom as well as how they are applying these The Past and The Present of 19 critical skills in the field. Coney Island’s Shore Theater Oksana Mironova The Urban Review is entirely student produced— from soliciting submissions, to securing funding for Bike Lane Resistance in New York City 22 printing, to designing the finished product that you Laura McNeil hold in your hands. This edition would not have been possible without the help of many dedicated Shades of Green: 24 Mitchell Silver is a 1993 graduate of the Urban Planning program Hunter Urban Affairs and Planning has more than tripled in students! Bike Lanes and Gentrification in New York at Hunter College, and his tremendous energy and enthusiasm for planning is size since you graduated. My classmates want to know what easy to see. He completed his degree in two years, while also working for the Sam Stein advice you have for us? How is the landscape of planning Manhattan Borough President. Part of his honeymoon was spent revising the changing? What should we be thinking about as we begin -Melanie Bower final report of his planning studio on Harlem. A year later, Mitchell came back our careers, or continue to refine them? 2010 World Exposition 27 to Hunter to co-teach a planning studio on East Harlem with Genie Birch, then the director of the department of Urban Affairs and Planning. Both projects Maria Chernay won the AICP National Award, which complement the many high profile plan- The advice I have for students today is look ahead: you have chosen Editors: ning jobs Silver has held in New York City and Washington, DC. He currently a fascinating career path at a time when the profession of planning Melanie Bower - Content Editor Mapping Technologies and The Informal World 30 holds two titles for the City of Raleigh, North Carolina as their Chief Planning is undergoing major changes. There are exciting and hard times and Economic Development Officer and Director of City Planning. In these Dan Compitello - Production Manager Charles Davis ahead, and young planners are a big part of how the profession is roles he oversees the Raleigh 2030 Plan, which was adopted in 2009 and seeks adapting. The most important thing for any planner is to hold on to Alexanda Hanson - Outreach Editor to guide the city through an anticipated growth of 250,000 residents. your sense of purpose – both of who you are and what you think Andrea Katz - Design and Layout Editor Art Hill 32 On April 12, 2011 Mitchell was formally sworn in as the President of planning is. Planning today needs to be a multidisciplinary role. You the American Planning Association at the APA National Conference in Boston. want to be the go-to person in the go-to profession that can tie Editorial Team: Fall 2010 Staten Island Studio This is an historic precedent – Mitchell is the first African American President Melanie Bower, Andrew Gulnick, Dana Frankel of the APA and is the third President to come from the halls of Hunter College. in the different approaches needed to face the enormous politi- cal, environmental and economic challenges that we have ahead. Alexandra Hanson, Erin McAuliff, Terri Mills, Oksana Mitchell and his story speak to students of urban planning, well seasoned pro- If you don’t understand your sense of purpose, you will question Mironova fessionals and anyone in between. Cooking Up Community Food Security 35 On September 16, 2011, Mitchell will be honored at the Roosevelt yourself throughout your career. Peer Review Committee: Alexandra Hanson House by Hunter Urban Affairs and Planning as an outstanding alumnus. This Communicating is also key – simply knowing information Elike Addae, Melanie Bower, Dan Compitello, Erin Kehoe, occasion begins a series of annual events leading to the 50th Anniversary of or understanding how to do something is not enough – planners Hunter Urban Affairs and Planning, in 2015. Mitchell’s trip back to Hunter this Jamie Leggett, Erin Mcauliff The Domino Effect 38 have to separate themselves from other professions by how they fall signifies great anticipation and reflection for Urban Affairs and Planning. communicate. We will not move an idea forward without properly Erin McAuliff While the immovable walls of the classrooms have not changed much, UAP Special Thanks: explaining the idea. It is not just public speaking that is important This issue could not have been has undergone great transformations since Mitchell’s time here. It has tripled in size, both with students and faculty, and is now Hunters fastest growing Mas- but how you engage your audience. Planning is a profession of jar- produced without the support of Urban Affairs and ters program. UAP now offers a wider range of accredited curriculum, and it gon, and it can be very difficult for us to communicate to the public Planning. The Urban Review team is especially thankful added a new full time faculty member this year – an amazing feat considering because we speak a foreign language. Planners need to be able to for the guidance of Mary Rocco, Director, Programming a near state-wide hiring freeze. It is expanding its international based studies, speak in plain English, and to listen closely to what people say to and Communications and Joseph Viteritti, Department while at the same time refining its academic and community service reach into find where our language needs interpretation. the five boroughs through the Center for Community Planning and Develop- Chair. The Auxiliary Enterprise Corporation of Hunter Planning has always been a forward thinking profession. ment. A proud line of experienced planners, both graduates before and after The new APA Development Plan addresses emerging trends that College provided the funding to produce this issue. Mitchell, are working in a range of positions around the world. the profession will face: changes in demographics, the rise of single

2 3 person households, the uncertainty of oil production and access to Making sure that planning as a profession values diversity is a last- You moved from being a planner in the nation’s first Capitol conscious of the availability and limits of land. water. These are big issues are they going to be some of the defin- ing goal of the APA. It is one that has formed over the course of sev- – New York City – to its current, Washington, DC. What was The 20,000 acres does not include redevelopment of land – infill ing issues of the 21st Century. eral years. We have an agenda – when we look at the demograph- that transition like as a planner? What supported your deci- – but the plan addresses these items to produce opportunities for We want planners, particularly those in school, to under- ics, as the country becomes more diverse, we need to increase the sion to move to Raleigh after DC? more compact development. Accessory dwellings can be made on stand the enormous challenges we are facing and to be prepared ranks of members who represent that diversity. Today there are larger lots; new density controls were established to create more for those challenges. The new APA Development Plan is really a call over twelve local chapters with their own diversity initiatives. They Overall, it has been a great transition. It took about a year to tran- walkable areas; the number of cottages per lot was increased so to think differently, to be innovative, and to be multidisciplinary. each connect to the Ambassador’s Program, which reaches out sition from Washington DC into the Raleigh area. Raleigh area is rather than one large single family home, homeowners can build One piece of advice I have for planners starting their career is to planning schools and introduces the profession to younger and known for innovation, and it has been great for developing part- new units; and there are more contextual land use controls too, work with a range of professionals to solve problems--keep in mind more diverse demographics. Planning magazine now has more nerships between elected officials, the business community and which help preserve the character of neighborhoods. that planners can’t do it all. It’s the architects, landscape designers, articles focused on minority issues. I am proud to have been part the public that are needed to make big changes. This region is truly The City has already changed as a result of the Plan – just urban designers, even psychologists – a range of professionals who of the initial discussion. Where it once was just a discussion these becoming a world class metropolitan area. Once you’re here, you by making it – it has gone from a small town to a conscious Met- are needed to work collaboratively to solve problems. issues are now imbedded in our core services as an organization, don’t want to leave. ro area. We are now going through transitions and having some Planning has a political dimension which is not always and within the daily practice of our planners. Inward migration is a big issue here – there are many growing pains. Today 60% of residents expect to have a real transit taught in schools. It is important to understand how projects get transplants from other parts of the country. Duke, North Carolina system, but just a few years ago we didn’t. Our tallest building is funded, approved and developed, State University and Chapel Hill, and all the industries that are sup- just over 30 stories high. People now expect walkable neighbor- and that’s all part of the political ported by the ‘Research Triangle’ make this an exciting entrepre- hoods, and think of Raleigh as a world class city. But there are also process. Understanding how poli- neurial community - we lead the world in patents created in many people who lived here their whole lives – they are questioning tics work in planning will help you industries. There are smart people moving here, there are smart what is happening to Raleigh. Some people don’t want to see the be successful. Students need a people living here, and there are smart people staying here. Time culture change. firm grasp of finance, tax policy and Magazine surprised me when they called. They wanted to feature There was a great deal of interaction from Generation property tax policy; those will be Raleigh as a City that stands out. I told them I get a lot of calls about Y and Generation X in the plan making. We understand that we major drivers over the next twenty the Raleigh 2030 plan, but few calls like this. It is not average to are building a city for a new demographic – many of whom are years of how local governments will have a city mentioned like that and Raleigh is not an average City. younger people. It is because of the college atmosphere, and the function. entrepreneurial atmosphere that the Millennial Generations are The City of Raleigh is implementing its 2030 Comprehensive embracing this area. We’re addressing the issue of sprawl in Raleigh Moving into your role as APA Plan. How did Raleigh change while the plan was being cre- by looking at the regional connectivity of the Research Triangle and President, are you nervous? ated? What are the challenges facing the plan? its position in the growth of the City. We want to have a polycentric What is the most difficult part of City with multiple centers where people can live and work in closer your agenda? What will be the Before the plan started, I knew it was important to have a conversa- proximity. As a result we planned 12 multimodal corridors for light most fun? tion with the public. In New York City, almost everyone wants to rail and BRT, and those growth centers will emerge as centers of be part of the conversation, but that was not the case in Raleigh. walkability. This addresses the sprawl we’ve dealt with for the last Well, no I’m not nervous--I’m quite We needed to lay the foundation for dialog. We needed to bring century, but also a generational issue-- the public no longer wants excited about the opportunity. One people together and talk about the region and to introduce ideas to live in those sprawled areas. More walkable neighborhoods are challenge I see is communicating to like walkability and sustainability. attractive to both seniors and young people. planners that they’re not just regu- Through the conversations we realized we have finite We’re trying to give these twelve planned corridors lators, but that they have a specific limitations to growth and development. The community was re- enough transit and infrastructure, as well as density controls and role in their communities. I’ve ob- ceptive and they realized how the 2030 Comprehensive Plan could incentives to build up and not out. There is a need for a denser City, served a trend of planners retreating address their present needs and the growth we expect ahead. It and less sprawl. 60-70% of the development needed to support Ra- from their purpose of being com- was unanimously adopted in 2009. leigh’s anticipated growth will be targeted within eight high den- municators of ideas and facilitators In terms of challenges – people are starting to realize that sity growth centers – these are incorporated into the new building of dialog. the Comprehensive Plan is not just going to sit on a shelf. It is a liv- code and also the regional transit links. The most fun part is spend- ing document and it is motivating people. With the exception of a ing time with APA members. I really complex section on flood plains which requires more work, we are That gets us to another interesting data point – David enjoy that. I enjoy traveling, attend- moving forward with every piece of the plan. There have not been Brooks cites the Pew Research Center, writing that “cities re- ing events and seeing planners in many challenges in the fourteen months since adoption. So far it’s main attractive to the young and that 45 percent of Ameri- action around the country. Spend- been good news – widely accepted and initiating well. can’s between the ages of 18-34 would like to live in New ing time with students is especially York City”. New York can’t hold 38 Million people, except as nice – getting to know them and Some data points – the Raleigh 2030 Plan anticipates a tourists over the course of a year. Will these people look to their dreams and connecting them growth of 250,000 residents over the next 20 years. Detroit other cities? to the field of planning is an incred- lost that many in just the past ten. Despite PlaNYC predic- ible opportunity. tions that New York would add a quarter million, Raleigh Young people are choosing the city they want to live in before they and New York City gained about equal measure. Is this fuel choose a job. That is very different than earlier generations. It is Regarding the importance of di- for the moniker ‘Sprawleigh’? What makes a city like Raleigh hard to predict what will happen to people who move to New York versity and planners, which you grow in such a way? City – it is not like living anywhere else. For example my son moved have helped lead the APA to re- to Raleigh at 25, and at 28 is buying his first house. That wouldn’t alize, what needs to happen to Raleigh grew by 128,000 people since 2000, and we expect that happen in New York – it takes longer before you can buy. But you make sure planners represent many from 2010 to 2020. We have grown about 3% every year can’t exchange the lifestyle in New York, no one can compete with the diversity of the communities since Raleigh was founded. That is a remarkable rate of growth. that. I think younger generations are looking to other cities. Own- they plan with? When we looked at available land while writing the 2030 Plan we ing a house, lifestyle choices – more and more young people are realized we only have 20,000 acres left to develop (NYC has 11,000 choosing to leave cities where those options aren’t available. They acres of vacant land). To manage that growth, we need to be fully are certainly moving south or west because of lifestyle changes. 4 5 titioner of architecture and urban planning in the United States. His budding reputa- Daniel Burnham tion caught the attention of W. Cameron Forbes, the newly appointed Commissioner and of Commerce in the colonial government of the Philippines. In 1904, Forbes, along with Secretary of War William Howard Taft, The City of Manila, 1905: selected Burnham as the chief architect to develop a new master plan for Manila. As a result of continual resistance from the Filipi- no nationalists, the American government The City Beautiful in a Tropical Paradise was determined to assert its authority over its newest colony. The United States hoped By Jim Diego that Daniel Burnham could conceive of a plan that would set an appropriate imperial, yet progressive tone. As a moderately liberal Repub- lican, Burnham identified with American progressivism. While believing ultimately in “the Philippines for the Filipinos,” he also believed that Filipinos needed a period Manila, 1900s of tutelage in which the more “advanced” and accessible spaces. The most immediate adequate. Burnham’s plan preserved Intra- aniel H. Burnham was considered Americans could help affect a “progressive focus of the Manila plan was the creation muros as an artifact of the Spanish period, to be the preeminent architect and planner civilization” by instruction and example. He of a grandiose public space for government with its walls and bastions pierced in places in America at the turn of the twentieth cen- stated that “the United States, having over- buildings near the center of the city. to form gateways, promote ventilation, and tury. He established himself as a leader in thrown the Spanish government… was un- Directly facing Manila Bay and allow for efficient circulation of traffic. The Dthe City Beautiful Movement and was com- der obligation to see that the government bordering Intramuros was Luneta Park. moat was filled with sand and converted missioned to design master plans for many established in its place would represent all Luneta Park was to be widened, creating into a public park. major cities across the country, including and do injustice to none.” As an advocate of a landscaped center for buildings hous- Using his earlier experience with the McMillan Plan of Washington, D.C. in “progressive” planning in the United States ing the capitol and other departments of the McMillan Plan as a model, Burnham 1901. In 1904 and 1905, Burnham com- - based on the political agenda of progres- the national government. It would also also devised a composite scheme of both pleted a renewal plan for Manila, the capital sivism, which advocated governmental re- be extended about one thousand feet into radial and diagonal arteries to be superim- city of the Philippines, the newest overseas form and regulation of large business in- Manila Bay, allowing for beautiful public posed onto the existing irregular pattern acquisition of the United States. Although Burnham’s Plan for Manila terests - he believed that the same kinds of playgrounds and picnic grounds, flanked of the city. Encouraged by the colonial the plan was only realized in parts, many from nearby China. Intramuros, situated at the Americans at the cost of $20 million. urban programs should be implemented in on either side by impressive governmental government’s pacification campaign and of its planning concepts proved crucial in the bay’s edge, covered sixty-four hectares This started another process of colonization territories overseas. buildings. The extension aimed to form a its process of population re-concentration, shaping the composition of Manila and its of land, with walls eight feet thick and over and a “pacification campaign” meant to sta- Burnham’s Manila plan was re- natural starting point for a 250 foot wide Burnham’s proposed avenues cut through metropolitan area today. twenty feet high, surrounded by a deep bilize and quell insurgent activity, which the markable in its simplicity and its cogni- continuous bay-front boulevard for infinite a very concentrated built environment. Manila began as a small tribal set- moat. Over the next three centuries, Ma- Filipinos resented for many years to come. zance of Philippine conditions and tradi- views of the ocean and sky. The radial street scheme divided the town tlement on the banks of the Pasig River near nila prospered under Spanish rule. In 1896, Believing in a mission of tutelage, tions while still conveying the tone of City This waterfront boulevard, named into five sections, in which the rectangular the mouth of Manila Bay. It took its name after many years of growing anti-Spanish the American colonial government be- Beautiful planning. Concise and straight- Dewey Boulevard to honor American naval gridiron prevailed, but also created a fan- from a white-flowered mangrove plant, the sentiment among the Filipinos, rebellion lieved that it was of great necessity to bring forward, his plan accounted for Manila’s admiral George Dewey, was intended to shaped system radiating from the center. nila, which grew in abundance along the broke out with the goal of independence. modern social and political institutions to projected growth from 250,000 residents to contain driveways, parkways, and perhaps This promoted the idea that every section marshy shores of the bay and was used to It was led by a growing secret society of the Philippines in order to introduce the 750,000 residents. It included technical rec- even a bridle path for horse carriages. Con- of the city “would look with deference to- produce soap for regional trade. “Maynilad,” revolutionist Filipino professionals, called Filipino people to democratic governance. ommendations for streets, parks, railroads, struction of the intended twelve-mile long ward the symbol of the Nation’s power,” and or “place where the nila grows” became a the Katipunan. This secessionist movement The Americans believed that the Filipino and public buildings. These recommenda- boulevard was authorized in 1909, and was that traffic would be directed efficiently up prosperous Islamic community ruled by the spurred United States involvement in Phil- people, if granted their independence, tions echoed many of Burnham’s previous pursued in connection with the improve- to a point where diagonals would be intro- Rajah Sulaiman, a powerful Malay Sultan. In ippine affairs. The U.S. became allies of the would resort to the Spanish legacy of oli- city plans. Burnham set an ambitious ob- ment of the port of Manila. The waterfront duced as continuous connections between 1571, Spanish conquistador Manuel Lopez revolutionists, initiating the Pacific theater garchic rule and resume a dictatorship. jective of transforming the city into “the boulevard element was one that Burnham sections. de Legazpi was searching for a suitable lo- of the Spanish-American War. Furthermore, they also believed that their adequate expression of the destiny of the would promote in several other plans, most Three large parks, considered cation for the capital of the Spanish East In- After two years of fighting, Filipino new colony’s physical facilities and cultural Filipino people as well as an enduring wit- notably for Lake Shore Drive in his plan for “breathing space for the masses,” were ac- dies and led his force of 280 Spaniards and nationalists conquered nearly all of the land amenities required improvement, such as ness to the efficient services of America in Chicago. cessible from the city center and each 600 native Filipino allies to occupy the area. previously occupied by the Spanish. The transportation systems, architecture, and the Philippine Islands.” While the walled city of Intramu- other via parkway boulevards. In addition, Shortly thereafter, the Spanish Filipinos, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, declared urban planning. Strategic in its location, the Burnham’s plan turned the origi- ros retained some of the elegance that as many as nine smaller parks would be constructed the walled city of Intramuros, independence in June of 1898; however, Americans saw the Philippines as a valuable nal Spanish model of planning in Manila made Manila one of the most celebrated evenly distributed throughout the urban serving as the political, military, and reli- this was short-lived, as neither Spain nor resource for both protecting its interests in inside out by redefining the relationship of colonial cities of its day, the moat around it fabric of the city. These parks were de- gious center of Manila. Because of its cov- the United States recognized Philippine in- the Far East, and continuing its growth as a public buildings to the urban fabric. Rather was stagnant and a perennial health hazard. signed to improve upon the moral tone of eted strategic location as Spain’s chief trad- dependence. The Treaty of Paris, signed in world power. than being cloistered in Intramuros as they In addition, the infrastructure in the areas the neighborhoods they served. Each loca- ing post in the Far East, Manila was prone December of the same year, handed pos- At around the same time, Daniel had been under the Spanish, government outside of the walls was spectacularly in- tion was chosen with special regard to the to native uprising and attacks by pirates session of the islands from the Spanish to Burnham was becoming revered as a prac- buildings were placed in deliberately public

6 7 landscapes’ potential and each would pro- ward irrigation projects, a con- This Fire is Right On Time - vide facilities and venues for a plethora of cern for the economic capabil- outdoor events. ity and potential of the new After Burnham submitted his plan nation. Additionally, Quezon The New Bronx Sizzle! in June of 1905, work began under the aus- began the development of a pices of William E. Parsons, the American large area of rural land north government’s consulting architect who of Manila with the hopes of was recommended for the job by Burnham. developing a new capital city Parsons served in Manila from November well inland and protected 1905 until 1914, supervising the implemen- from possible sea attacks from tation of Burnham’s plan as well as direct- invader. ing the design of all public buildings and A decade later, Ma- parks throughout the islands. Parsons bore nila was at the forefront of the burden of interpreting Burnham’s plan, World War II, culminating in a which, of course, as a broadly focused set battle that would completely of concepts, was necessarily tentative and devastate the city. Greater subject to change and modification. Be- Manila was dissolved, and the Figure 4 cause of limited resources and reprioritized capital moved to the Quezon’s funding , many aspects of Burnham’s plan new city, aptly named after Gateway Center Anchors Local Redevelopment did not come to fruition. However, the him (Quezon City). The Philip- waterfront parkway, a handful of govern- pines finally declared its inde- mental buildings and, the Luneta extension pendence with foreign recog- By Lorraine E. Rolston were completed. nition. its western edge facing across the Harlem the Developer and a coalition of commu- Aspects of the Manila plan, de- After the war, despite River to the Manhattan Valley (Figure 1). By nity organizations agreed to “… ensure that spite it not being fully conceived, were able many buildings being heavily the mid-1950’s this once thriving industrial the Gateway Center at the Bronx Terminal Roxas Boulevard to guide future public works for Manila. For damaged beyond repair, Ma- center formed the western edge of one of Market (Gateway) proceeds and does so burdens of daily life add to the city’s encom- instance, the 1931 zoning ordinance fol- nila was able to rebuild quick- the poorest sections of New York City; one in a manner that is beneficial to the neigh- passing, and ultimately alluring energy. As lowed the basic framework of the Burnham ly. Manila became regionally oriented, en- that would languish in blighted obscurity boring and surrounding community” and with many other international metropolitan rom the late 19th century until plan, with an added layer of single uses and compassing the conglomeration of sixteen for almost 60 years. thereby overcomes obstacles of placement, areas, Manila has continued to experience 1945, West Haven, a small industrial dis- gerrymandered cities Redevelopment at West Haven environmental limitation and social stigma. urban problems. Burnham’s work, like most trict in the Bronx hummed as one of the known as Metro Ma- held little interest for City planners until Today, Gateway, located in the other planning, did not solve any problems City’s manufacturing and industrial trans- nila, each with dy- 2006 when a major redevelopment initia- community of my childhood and early for all time or all problems at any time. But port centers. After WWII, West Haven be- namic city centers of tive led by Related Companies, and driven youth, represents the new Bronx Tale of the his plans were a new beginning which in- F came known for its diminished housing their own. With no by enlightened self-interest on the part of successful integration of economic renais- fluenced the development of the city, and and abandoned warehouses bordered by real planning focus both the City and the developer, forged a sance with contemporary sustainable ur- continue to do so, in some capacity today. the Bronx Men’s House of Detention (BM- or guidance - not to public/private partnership to redevelop ban redevelopment. The City Beautiful movement re- HOD) and Yankee Stadium at its north, in- mention complete the western edge of West Haven along its alized one of its greatest architectural suc- dustrial and commuter railroad yards to its governmental neg- shoreline. By executing a comprehensive Community History: The Past Links to cesses, not on American, but on foreign east, and the Major Deegan Expressway at ligence to severely Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), the Present colonial soil with the Manila Plan. On the escalating poverty, Figure 1 West Haven’s factories, stores, rail other hand, the result of the City Beautiful leading to the de- lines and public buildings expressed 19th model also displays its generational failure velopment of wide- century economic and social models of to anticipate unpredictable factors. Socio- spread informal industry, transportation, civil authority and economic, cultural, and sustainable growth settlements - Manila recreation. all played second fiddle to the tenets swelled into a bus- Early neighborhood social expres- of the City Beautiful movement – neo- tling and vibrant sions in West Haven included beer halls, classical civic beauty. As conceiver and metropolis of over open green spaces such as Cedar (now implementer, Burnham and Parsons still 10 million residents Franz Sigel) Park, and entertainment venues brought about successful and enduring over the next four such as the vaudeville theater known as the Manila Today improvements in Manila, because they took decades. What was Bronx Opera House. Until World War II, the a genuine interest in the development of specific uses. The ordinance, along with to be envisioned as a city with “graceful economic and social capital that was pro- the capital city. They were not simply acting subsequent zoning changes, development tree-lined boulevards, properly manicured duced by these institutions made West Ha- as imperialists superimposing a standard controls, and building regulations, had a parks, and comfortable suburban housing” ven a community center for Bronx County plan onto an unwilling municipality. small but essential impact on the future became a city of “unplanned chaos” – bulky as its rural paths yielded to paved roads and Instead, they embraced what existed, shape of the city. concrete structures blocking the sun and infrastructure to create lines on the land analyzed what needed to be repaired or In 1935, the Philippines was grant- trapping pollution and noise on the streets that defined the older urban core. renewed, and worked cooperatively with ed the status of a commonwealth. The first below; crowded warrens of houses, shan- As social venues evolved, manu- the indigenous topography, climate, and Filipino to head the commonwealth’s gov- ties, slums and alleys; and heavily congest- facturing infrastructure emerged. The west- transitioning government, to leave a lasting ernment, Manuel Quezon, diverted funds ed roadways, thick with traffic not unlike ern edge of West Haven remained partially impact on Manila. initially directed for the Burnham plan to- many other major world cities. Still, these submerged (Figure 2), until the completed

8 9 commercial infrastructure graded transportation modes, increased consensus that was codified in a CBA af- urban retail construction model. lacked much architectural efficiency of movement for people and firming municipal funding, Developer Two major ancillary projects at Conclusion: Drawing Strength from the adornment, beyond the goods through the region, and generated commitment and Community support for Gateway safely integrated pedestrian ac- Fire BMHOD, erected in 1938. additional revenue for the Bronx from new this project. The comprehensive job place- cess with highway traffic ensuring future Gateway opened in 2009, proudly emerg- The presence of this jail parking spaces for a rebuilt Yankee Stadium, ment and apprenticeship opportunities economic development at this site: the ing from the edge of West Haven along the reflected the contempo- by siting new transportation and pedes- contained in the 2006 CBA offered human complete replacement and seismic retro- Harlem River shore. This project – the sec- raneous political strategy trian infrastructure on Gateway’s northern capital development via jobs, career paths fit, during 2006-2007, of the adjacent 145th ond largest project of any kind in the North- that placed socially un- boundary next to the “House that Ruth and entrepreneur access to retail space for Street Bridge and the reconstruction of east United States to receive certification desirable but necessary Built”. This process also created Gateway’s local impoverished households and gains sections of the Major civil infrastructure along stunning land use profile along the Harlem for City revenue and tax rolls; sufficient justi- Deegan Expressway low lying remote areas of River shoreline (Figure 3). fication for a sizeable municipal investment. to facilitate pedes- the city. Its Art Moderne In addition to this redevelop- The relocation of older com- trian traffic flow from exterior contained strik- ment, a pattern of regional transportation mercial entities and residential displace- the bridge to the Ex- ing animal statuary and and associated infrastructure built during ment, even in an area as blighted as West terior Street access elaborately decorated the early to mid-20th century surrounds Haven, raised concerns for social equity. road to Gateway. outer doors, yet its pres- Gateway with the promise of renewed Community representatives voiced con- Gateway’s fi- ence compounded West economic growth; a pattern that includes cerns regarding possible evictions of the nal layout accommo- Haven’s blighted atmo- highways and access roads, city subways, few remaining commercial tenants (There dates the expected sphere. Following WWII, interstate commuter and commercial rails. were never any residential structures on the 6,500 daytime visi- as industries left the City, The restored link between the CSX freight project site.), and the pressure of Gateway’s tors, employees and West Haven deteriorated line and the Oak Point Rail Yard, located in increased non-residential land use to create residents, includes into a shabby food mar- the East Bronx near Hunt’s Point, joined this a critical mass effect on surrounding neigh- a public waterfront ket, ignored by the City, western shore of the Bronx to New York borhoods, resulting in increased residen- space totaling 12 crumbling amidst the City’s largest classification yard and restored tial property values as these communities acres, which exceeds blight of one of New York’s West Haven’s status as a major urban freight become more desirable. To address these acceptable passive dysfunctional neighbor- intermodal transport corridor. concerns, the City provided commercial open space ratio re- hoods in need of a large tenants with financial compensation and quirements for work- scale capital stimulus to Community Acceptance: Nothing is relocation assistance, and the City’s eco- ers and residents, and ignite its revitalization. Given To You nomic impact analysis determined that mitigates the adverse The physical redevelopment by Gateway’s isolation from adjacent commu- impacts of the large Figure 2 The Gateway Project the Related Companies after their purchase nities and its existing statutory protection new parking lots via th construction of the 149 Street Bridge and its Components: of the site did not, however, proceed suc- from market-driven housing cost increases use of an extensive th in 1910 (later renamed the 145 Street Building on Strength cessfully to deadline without expressions of will prevent adjacent residential displace- open space design. Bridge) when the Cromwell Creek landfill In 2004, the New York City Coun- community concern. ment. Thus far, commercial displacement The hotel scheduled project produced the articulation of Exte- cil unanimously agreed to support the re- One of the more controversial ac- from nearby areas such as along Third Av- for completion by rior Street, known today as Gateway Center development of the former Bronx Terminal tions taken by the City to support the rede- enue has been minimal to non-existent. 2014 will require no Blvd., River Avenue and Cromwell Avenue, Market, as a part of the City’s larger goal velopment was a rezoning of the project additional zoning ac- which was eliminated during the Gateway to re-establish social and economic ca- site to create a ‘General Large Scale District’. Adjacent Projects, Open Space and tion since waivers Project (Figure 3). Not only did the Crom- pacity in older core neighborhoods. Dur- This rezoning enabled the creation of in- Post-Construction Environmental Im- and civil easements well Creek infill increase West Haven’s land ing the redevelopment, a combination of creased parking capacity to accommodate pact already acquired also volume, it triggered the industrial develop- land rezoning and transfer, street closings the anticipated increase in traffic in the Gateway employs contemporary apply to the hotel ment that stimulated economic growth in and road reconstruction was followed by immediate area of the Project. The poten- design models for land use, space planning project site. surrounding communities of Mott Haven building demolition, renovation and new tially negative impact of this decision on and environmental development within The applica- to its south, the Morrisania “Hub” to its east construction reviewed and approved via nearby residents and ecology was directly an urban setting. This retail presence, a tion of modern con- th at East 149 Street and Third Avenue, and the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure addressed and mitigated by the creation welcome change from the seedy bodegas struction procedures the Macombs Dam and Mill directly to its (ULURP). The Gateway Project for redevel- of easements, parks and expansive open whose activities often contribute to com- and the use of sus- Figure 3 north. This industrial presence included opment also required demolition of three spaces. munity sociopathology, contrasts the ear- tainable infrastruc- factories, commercial laundries, gas plants, commercial buildings and the BMHOD; In 2005, critics condemned the lier elitist merchant city model described ture resources such as green building mate- for Leadership in Energy and Environmental breweries, artisan venues and metalwork- creation of shore-front parks and commu- City’s funding level for the Gateway Project by geographer Mona Domosh; it combines rial use, eco-system management and pub- Design (LEED silver certification) for both its ing foundries that produced goods rang- nity open space; upgrade of transportation as excessive and unnecessary, noting that shops and parking areas in a contempo- lic/private partnerships characterized land core and shell– generated much needed ing from beer and ammonia to mandolins infrastructure; new pedestrian bridges and other successful Bronx retail projects went rary retail construction model that centers use, construction and project development local economic capacity, and its structure and the famous “Library Lions” that guard esplanades; and a new train station for the unfunded in a borough whose limited re- big box stores amid refurbished structures at Gateway. This produced a minimally in- is a viable urban retail template – creating the main entrance to the New York Public Metro-North rail line. By 2009, Gateway tail resources guarantee that “if you build it, at neighborhood edges to draw shoppers, vasive, sustainable development that will economic stimulus using urban entrepre- Library. Some industries lasted well into the housed 957,700 gross square feet of retail they will come”. Additionally, community and build economic capacity in adjacent not degrade the ecology for the local urban neurism and constructive political strategy th 20 century; a presence that echoed the in- space, adjacent to 2,835 spaces for parking. representatives voiced concerns over their communities. The integration of the earlier wildlife (rodents, pigeons and other indige- that symbolizes this City’s commitment to dustrial presence in Queens, making West In addition, construction of a 250 room ho- perceived exclusion from the develop- Art Moderne architecture of a renovated nous birds), or the natural lands adjacent to responsibly rebuild a much maligned older Haven “Long Island City’s spiritual descen- tel in the area is expected to be completed ment process. Both issues were addressed Building D (Figure 4) and decorative de- this project. Ultimately, the disturbance to urban community on the foundation of its dant” as described by Robert Caro in his bi- by 2014. through collaboration between the Devel- tails from the BMHOD with the spare lines adjacent tidal wetlands that occurred dur- rich industrial history. ography of Robert Moses. The construction at Gateway pro- oper and Bronx Overall EDC located on E. and design of contemporary architecture ing project construction, produced land- But the community’s social and duced new commercial infrastructure, up- 161st Street. In 2006, both sides reached a at Gateway exemplifies this contemporary scaped open space to benefit local wildlife ecology. 10 11 production at home while simultaneously sufficiently democratic. Under socialism, Havana’s encouraging the exportation of tobacco, ownership is in the hands of the “associated sugar, citrus fruits, and coffee. Cuba was in a producers” either directly in cooperatives or By Jesse Alter uba has undergone an agricul- severe food crisis. indirectly through the state. Where man- tural transformation whereby a new urban- During the 1990s (Cuba’s Special agement by the state proved too indirect, Urban organic model has emerged. This article will Period In Time of Peace), the Cuban govern- inflexible, and not sufficiently democratic, discuss organic food production in Havana ment enforced severe economic austerity new forms of ownership were adopted. For and the role urban agriculture has played in measures that forced farmers to substan- example, when private land sat idle for more improving the economic and social condi- tially reduce their usage of imported tech- than six months, the government made Agriculture: Ctions for many Cubans. I will focus on how nologies that required excessive amounts plans to turn the vacant land over to those government reform and policy has ad- of capital and oil. At the height of Cuba’s wishing to cultivate it. Since their were no An Alternative Perspective dressed Cuban’s food system challenges, food crisis, the U.S. passed the Torricelli bill landlords to resist change, the state had the particularly its food crisis, by creating urban (1992) which barred all shipments of food power to divide land and labor according agricultural programs through decentral- and medical supplies from overseas sub- to the social need of the country including ization and financial incentives for farmer sidiaries of U.S companies. Several years the production of food. cooperative production, farmers markets later, the US Embargo was tightened by the In September 1993, the Cuban and on-site stores. Such programs have Helms-Burton Act (1996) restricting all for- government enacted the Basic Unit of Co- proven to be largely successful, improving eign companies that do business with the operative Production (UBPC), a new agrari- the health of many communities within the U.S. to trade with Cuba. Since Cuba could an reform law that broke up state-run farms city of Havana. no longer access foreign assistance and into small cooperatives. The transfer of land In 1959, the Cubans, led by the ef- international food aid the country needed management from state-run farms to work- forts of marginalized rural farmers, success- to maximize its most valuable resource: the er cooperatives was integral to maximizing fully overthrew the U.S. backed Batista dic- human workforce. The Cuban people were the social capital of the Cuban people. Also tatorship. The Cuban revolution committed in need of a solution that addressed their important was the opening of farmers mar- to self-sovereignty and supporting a just severe food shortage without relying on kets (1994), especially in populated cities social system that would provide the ba- the automobile to transport goods and im- such as Havana, because it allowed for the sic right to education, healthcare, land and ports from foreign countries. direct sale between producer and consum- food. The Agrarian Reform Law (May, 1959) During the 1990s, food produc- er. The government’s efforts to decentralize was one of the first pieces of legislation that tion became the most important priority food production and allow for farmer mar- put limits on landholdings and redistrib- for the country and President Fidel Castro kets helped popularize the organic food uted land to peasant families, sharecrop- announced plans to cultivate every acre movement in Cuba. pers, and landless farmers. As a result, more of vacant land. In May of 1993, a group of As a result of governmental re- than 100,000 landless peasants became Cuban professors and researchers founded forms and policies, urban farmers trans- landowners overnight, many committed the Formative Group of the Cuban Organic formed Havana into an important model to maintaining crop diversification and in- Farming Association (ACAO) to promote or- for organic agriculture. Cuba’s Ministry of tegrated farming practices. Four years later, ganic alternatives. The organic farming ad- Agriculture implemented a key urban ag- 80 percent of all landholdings and expro- vocates strongly believed that organic pro- ricultural program based on the following priated foreign territory was nationalized duction would lead to the use of low-inputs principles 1) access to land for worker co- and converted into Cuban state-run farms. resulting in less costs, remediate the land operatives, 2) research and development, Despite Cuba’s revolutionary com- and save the environment. In addition, the 3) organized points of sale for growers and mitment to self-sufficiency, it was not able Organic Farming Association encouraged 4) new marketing schemes. The program to produce enough food to feed its people: the government to promote research and was a great success. From 1997-2005, the 57 percent of all food calories consumed to provide technical training to all Cubans annual production of vegetables in Havana were imported, including a full 80 percent willing to produce food. A new ideologi- soared from 20.7 to 272 thousands of met- of proteins and fats. More than 85 percent cal approach to agriculture was founded ric tons. of Cuba’s trade was with the Soviet Union dependent upon the intellectual capital This amounts to an almost 15 and European socialist countries. The So- of the Cuban citizenry, especially from the fold increase in vegetable production over viet Union’s willingness to purchase exces- small-scale farmers who maintained their an eight year period that supplies Havana sive amounts of sugar in the international long family and community traditions of residents on average with more than 340 marketplace enabled the Cuban govern- low-input production. grams per capita per day. Agro-ecology and ment to purchase food elsewhere. But In response to ACAO, the Cu- organic agriculture play a critical role in in- following the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, ban government invested a tremendous creasing food production and maximizing Cuba’s imports were reduced by 75 per- amount of resources in agro-technology the use of the land. cent including most foodstuffs and nearly and education; amended land use laws and all agro-inputs. The average decrease in ca- tenure; and changed financial structures Agro-ecology and Organic agriculture in loric intake for Cubans dropped 30 percent. to streamline the efficient production and Havana Without access to agro-inputs and oil, Cu- distribution of food. The Cuban govern- Organic agriculture in Cuba is ba’s agricultural system was faced with the ment recognized the poor management of based upon the farmer’s understanding insurmountable tasks of increasing food state-run farms in which state control had of agro-ecology, a complex agro-ecosys- become too indirect, inflexible, and not tem made up of ecological interactions,

12 13 bio-diversity and cause the CCS can readily sell their crop at requests for land from the Ministry of Ag- together on community gardens through- municipalities situated on the periphery of crop output. demand/supply farmers markets. riculture last year. There is a cultural shift out Havana and also throughout Cuba. In Havana. These municipalities are where the In ad- In Cuba, the state maintains the occurring in Cuba toward increasing the response to the food crisis, Cubans have vast majority of Havana’s produce is grown dition, the com- property rights to the land and the worker efficiency of labor production and becom- produced an abundance of produce in because there is greater access to vacant posting of crops cooperatives own the rights to produc- ing more self-sufficient. In an interview with and around their home and marketplaces fertile land. Peri-urban farmers who sell and use of vermi- tion. Most worker cooperatives, especially Miguel Salcines, the Founder of Alamar’s ur- for produce can be found throughout each from their on-farm store are not required to culture, the pro- the CPAs, are obligated to sell their crop ban agricultural project, he spoke towards community. pay rent nor the 5% tax to the government. cess by which back to the government at predetermined the changing mentality of the typical Cu- Since there are fewer costs (minus the cost worms break prices set much lower than market-rate. ban worker by succinctly stating, “In Cuba, Points of Sale and Affordability of Produce of transportation to the city) the price of down organic All crops harvested in excess can be sold if you don’t work--you don’t eat.” In Havana, there are over 1200 produce at the on-farm stores is more af- matter into rich- at the on-farm store or nearby demand/ Today, there are 370,000 urban points of sale for residents to buy produce fordable for local consumers. Specifically, nutrient com- supply farmers market. The opportunity for farmers in Cuba with thousands of special- including farmers markets, mobile stands, by selling on-site it saves the peri-urban post, are impor- worker cooperatives to sell excess crops at ists, technicians, researchers, teachers, and on-site stores, and state-run marketplaces. farmers from the intensive work of a market tant to increase a higher price creates positive work incen- Ministry officials who are actively improv- The prices of produce differ for each type harvest, risk of unsold produce, and time the supply of tives for farmers to produce. In addition, it ing and transforming Cuba’s landscape into of vendor. For example, the more affluent away from the field. enriched soil deters them from using costly inputs and to an agro-ecological production model for Vedado Farmers Market is a supply and de- and to maximize maximize readily available alternative tech- sustainability. Since the beginning of the mand marketplace where vendors deter- Conclusion the capacity to nology (wind and solar) while employing Special Period, the training and education mine their own price for produce. Most of Despite the surge of urban ag- and synergisms between biotic and abi- produce on the land. Organic farming prac- organic farming techniques. of Cubans in agro-ecology has been a pri- the produce and meat sold at this farmers riculture in Havana, Cuba’s food system otic components--mechanisms by which tices have enabled urban farmers to grow Currently, urban farmers in both ority of the Ministry of Agriculture. Due to market is relatively expensive due to the continues to be dependent on imports; soil fertility enhancement, biological pest food at little or no financial cost because the CCS and CPA have incomes that are well the Revolution’s commitment to education high cost for transportation from neighbor- approximately 80% of their food staples control, and higher productivity can be they are not dependent upon synthetic in- above the national average. The current Cuba has a high literacy rate and a large ing municipalities, storage costs, a manda- such as rice, beans, grain, wheat, and meat achieved. In other words, agro-ecology puts, fossil fuels, or oil. Much of the energy perception of the peasant farmer is directly number of Cubans with advanced degrees: tory 5% tax on produce sold, and rent pay- products from various countries including requires farmers to discover the most effi- needed comes from alternative sources related to the surge in urban-organic farm- scientists, engineers, and teachers. This has ments for the use of a stall. China, Canada, Vietnam, U.S., Brazil, Venezu- cient combination of plant and animal life such as solar, wind-farms, and hydro-power. ing and the sophisticated level of education enabled the growth and dissemination of There is also a large network of ela, and Argentina. But still, Havana’s urban to match the environmental landscape of The combination of using alternative ener- and business savvy required. The Cuban tra- information on agro-ecology resulting in small government-run and military-run agriculture program has risen to the top of each farm. To be successful, farmers must gies and low-input agricultural techniques dition of men growing produce is the norm, many positive impacts. Furthermore, efforts marketplaces where the government sets the nation’s political agenda—a salient ex- be intimately familiar with each patch of has resulted in an efficient use of resources however, this is changing with the rapid ex- have been made to teach organic farming the price of produce. When I visited several ample of how a city is capable of increasing soil so they know where organic mate- that allow nutrients to recycle back into the pansion of urban agriculture. Recently, the techniques to elementary school and sec- of the small government-run marketplaces the capacity to produce ones’ own food. rial and pest controls should be added. By land. It is these types of efficient technolo- social and economic environment of urban ondary school students but also the elderly. located every few blocks in Central Havana, Agro-ecology and organic food production using the agro-ecological model, farmers gies that contribute to a long-term sustain- farming has experienced a sizeable increase Parents, students, and teachers are working a densely populated and mixed income has become institutionalized and strength- produce food without causing externalities able approach to urban agriculture in Cuba; in the number of women and young work- neighborhood, a mar- ened through the coordination efforts such as harm to themselves or degradation one that is holistic, efficient, and adapts to ers into the labor force including the addi- ket vendor indicated between the Ministry of Agriculture and to the environment. the local environment. tion of technicians, researchers, engineers, that the prices were in- community-farmers. What once started as a During my travels to Havana, I read and teachers. The continued incorporation deed relatively expen- proposal from the ACAO in the early 1990s a sign reflective of this philosophy as I en- Worker Cooperatives and Employment of younger people and women into the sive for community to promote organic alternatives has trans- tered a home garden called Patio Felicidad: During the Special Period, new agricultural sector and research institutes residents for the same formed Cuba’s entire agricultural system. “He who works the land has an important types of cooperatives were strengthened will be vital to sustaining the longevity of reasons the Vedado Havana’s peri-urban farms and permacul- responsibility (ranging from preparation to that brought together pre-existing private organic agriculture in Cuba. Farmer’s Market prices ture gardens continue to increase in size harvest) to respect the lives of everything.” farms. To participate in the national urban Collectively the CCSs, CPAs, and were high. In contrast and in number. The quality and variety of In a meeting with Cary Cruz, an agricultural program, urban farmers reor- some individually owned private farms to the relatively high produce is impressive and reflects Cuba’s expert at FANJ (Fundacion Antonio Núñez ganized themselves into cooperatives to have helped preserve a large portion of price paid for produce rich traditions of sustenance and small- Jiménez de la Naturaleza y el Hombre), she address the labor intensive challenges of Cuba’s farming traditions, experiences, and in Central Havana, the scale farming. Havana’s urban agricultural spoke about the need to integrate perma- organic agriculture and to optimize their culture. For Cuba this is of great importance government subsi- program has improved social conditions by culture within a community through ar- land’s capacity to produce. A Credit and for the permanent shift toward sustainable dizes a number of mil- attracting a new labor force consisting of chitecture, physical planning, design, and Services Cooperative (CCS) is in charge of and agro-ecological production. Organic itary-run marketplaces the young and old, many more females, and aesthetics. The utilization of space is impor- facilitating the merge of privately owned agriculture depends upon small-farming which includes pro- different types of professionals. While the tant not only to maximize the capacity to farms—with or without a jointly held traditions and intensive levels of training duce sold at very af- Ministry of Agriculture continues to grapple produce but “to create a culture of permac- area—into a cooperative. An Agricultural and scientific research. In Havana, the ur- fordable prices. In this with the challenge of decentralization and ulture” that will inspire residents and teach Productive Cooperative (CPA) consists of a ban agricultural workforce has grown from case, the government maintaining financial incentives for farmer future generations about consuming less small group of farmers that collectively own 9,000 in 1999 to 44,000 in 2006. Many well- highly subsidizes all cooperatives to maximize production, the energy, reducing waste, composting, and a single plot of land. In an interview with educated and highly qualified profession- necessary inputs from urban agricultural program has provided organic food production techniques. Fernando Funes, President of the Grupo de als are working side-by-side with farmers seed to plate including a much needed economic boost that en- The use of bio-pesticides and Agricultura Organica (GAO, formerly known to encourage the production, distribution, the costs of produc- courages environmental sustainability, in- natural plant-life to combat insect pests as ACAO), he explained why the CCS is and consumption of healthy produce. Thus, tion, labor, transporta- novation, and the creation of well paying and resistant plant varieties is critical to much more efficient and productive than urban agriculture has increased employ- tion, and service costs. jobs. Havana’s urban agricultural program is maximizing the production on a farm. Ur- the CPA for two reasons 1) the longstand- ment in Havana at the rate of 20 jobs per There are also proof that a city can dramatically increase ban farmers use a combination of bio-pes- ing history of CCS since the Revolution took hectare. According to Fernando Funes, a number of peri-ur- their food production using sustainable ticides, crop rotations, compost, fertilizer, power in 1959 and 2) the economic incen- more and more Cubans are interested in ban on-farm produce techniques in the wake of a food crisis. and cover cropping to help increase the tives to produce food are much greater be- food production including the 800,000 stores located in eight

14 15 From to Peru Brooklyn

Fair Trade Coffee, Urban Consumers and Rural Livelihoods By Melanie Bower hen the bus let us off on the side to use their label. The Fair Trade Labeling is lucrative, its cultivation brings violence of the road, it was starting to get dark and Organization (FLO) sets Fair Trade standards and crime into the communities where it is I was beginning to get nervous. To be and ensures they are enforced. Typically, grown. In some Latin American counties, clear—I am not scared of the dark. But as this means workers earn a decent wage, farmers have given up on growing coffee Wa native New Yorker, I am also not entire- child labor is prohibited, working condi- altogether, abandoning their fields and ly used to it. I find it comforting to think tions are safe, etc. For food commodities migrating to cities. In short, struggle and that even the darkest of New York’s dark like coffee and cocoa, FLO guarantees suffering are part of the reality of growing alleys have some form of eclectic illumina- that producers were paid a minimum “Fair coffee. tion from a nearby bodega or an overhead Trade” price for their product. This offers Organizations such as the UN, street lamp. But the road I happened to producers protection from volatile com- the World Bank and Oxfam have praised be standing on was deep in rural Peru and modities markets--in the case of coffee, this Fair Trade, arguing that paying farmers a there was no sign of anything remotely floor price of $1.35-$1.65 per pound can be fair price for their coffee is a strategy for electrified. The sun had already sunk as my twice as high as the value determined by poverty alleviation and path to empower- boyfriend and I dug our flashlights out of commodities markets. Fair Trade labeling is ment. Consumers are increasingly aware of our backpacks and tried to orient ourselves. used primarily for food products—the sup- Fair Trade and in recent years both Dunkin I studied the directions that Sabine had ply chains of products such as electronics Donuts and Starbucks have committed to given me over the phone: “Tell the driver to or clothing are too complex for Fair Trade purchasing certified Fair Trade coffee. Al- let you off at Sachuahres, then walk up the standards. Fair Trade coffee comprises the though it represents less than 3% total path on the hill, for about 15 minutes until majority of Fair Trade sales, worldwide. coffee sales, Fair Trade imports into the US you reach the farm.” I had assumed that the Over the past decade, consumers have been growing at about 33% a year, vague directions would make sense upon have become increasingly aware of injus- and it is the fastest growing segment of the arrival. And while there was indeed a path, tices surrounding coffee, causing Fair Trade coffee market. it appeared to me that it led straight into to evolve from a fringe movement to a full- Yet for all this fanfare, there is re- the jungle. In the gathering darkness, we fledged cause. Almost 90% of the world’s markably little research on the actual ben- switched on our flashlights and headed up coffee is grown in impoverished countries efits that farmers receive from Fair Trade. the hill. in the global south for export to developed There are plenty of “impact stories”—those countries. The coffee industry is highly con- touching narratives that you might read on What is Fair Trade? centrated with just four major companies a bar of Fair Trade chocolate. Impact stories The path to this farm in Peru started in a controlling between 50% and 70% of the usually profile a grower and describe how Trader Joe’s in Brooklyn. I had been buy- market. Although these companies profit their life has improved since they began ing Trader Joe’s Fair Trade coffee for several extensively, the majority of the world’s cof- participating in Fair Trade. Journalist Michal months, willingly paying an extra dollar or fee farmers live in poverty, struggling to Pollan has dubbed these stories “supermar- two for coffee labeled “fair trade.” But I be- break even. In Peru, the 130,000 families ket pastoral”, brief vignettes that provide gan to wonder where that extra money was that grow coffee typically require about a snapshot of how food is produced but going. On some naïve level, I assumed that 80 cents per pound to recoup their losses. often veils the true complexity of where it providing me with some academic context of coffee were low, members of a Fair Trade farmers, growing on less than 10 hectares it was winding up in the pocket of some They usually receive half that, sometimes actually come from. for my adventure. There are only a handful cooperative in Nicaragua earned more of land, cooperatives can help farmers pool impoverished coffee grower. However, as I even less. Unable to hire laborers during It was my desire to lift this veil of studies that have systematically assessed than farmers who did not participate in Fair their resources and manage economies of began to explore the meaning of Fair Trade, harvest season, many growers are forced that led to me to live and work on a farm in Fair Trade. One such study found that while Trade networks. scale. But remember that extra two bucks I I found it was far from that simple. take their children out of school so that Peru. I found the farm through WWOOF— Fair Trade growers in Rincon, Mexico ulti- Additionally, the role of coffee was shelling out for Fair Trade beans? That In basic terms Fair Trade is a label- they can assist with work in the fields. the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic mately received more cash for each pound cooperatives complicates the issue of Fair extra cash ultimately goes to the Fair Trade ing system designed to provide consumers In Peru, many growers have aban- Farms, an organization that links organic of coffee they sold, they also had higher Trade. Cooperatives are common in Latin cooperative, not directly to the growers. In with information about the conditions of doned growing coffee in favor of cultivating farms with volunteers. The time I spent on inputs of capital than conventional grow- America, in both Fair Trade and traditional many cases, cooperatives buy and sell both production of a particular item. When you coca, the plant used to make cocaine. Coca the farm was a work exchange. In return ers. In the end, the study concluded that networks of buying and selling. Coopera- Fair Trade and conventional coffee and buy coffee, chocolate or any other product thrives in the same conditions as coffee for room and board, I was expected to help Fair Trade growers had an annual average tives act as middlemen, buying coffee from pool the proceeds into a single payment to with a Fair Trade label on it, it means that and it can be 13 times as lucrative. Peru is with any and all farm tasks. household net loss of $379, compared to smallholdings farmers and selling it to ex- farmers. In cooperatives where Fair Trade the company which made the product has the world’s the second largest producer of I had done a decent amount of conventional grower’s loss of $450. An- porters or roasters. Since the majority of price benefits are retained at the associa- paid a Fair Trade organization for the right coca (35,000 hectares), but while this crop research before disembarking for the farm, other study found that when market prices the world’s coffee growers are smallholding tion level, growers may be entirely unaware

16 17 of Fair Trade price premiums, and in large associations, the Fair Trade premium “may be so small as to be meaningless if it were actually divided among all producers”. The Past and The Future

A literal take on field work Sachuahares, the farm where we stayed, is of Coney Island’s owned by a married couple—Roberto, a native Peruvian and Sabine, a Belgian with a degree in agronomics. It is deep in the Shore Theater jungle of Peru—the nearest town is so small it rarely appears on maps. Their main crops were cocoa, coffee and mangos. Like most rural farms in Peru, there was no run- ning water. Electricity was a handful of By Oksana Mironova bare bulbs powered by solar panels and the stove wasn’t much more than a firepit. Moreover, it was simple but sufficient. Sabine and Roberto practice farmers off the land at an alarming rate. buy sustainably sourced chocolate we are biodynamic farming. Unlike traditional “Everyone who can, leaves” said Roberto. re-embedding non-monetary, social values farming, which emphasizes yields, biody- “They go to the cities, they get jobs work- into the marketplace. But the problem namics sees farming as processes of inter- ing on the natural gas pipeline. No one with this perception is that it doesn’t do related ecological activities that can enrich wants to farm the land.” But the fact is that justice to the actual labor involved in earn- the land, rather than just take from it. This the planet needs more farmers like Roberto ing a living from the land. Being a farmer— meant that all activities on the farm were and Sabine. The UN recently recognized in America, in Peru or anywhere else—is done with careful consideration. Weeds that agroecological methods, like those physically and economically challenging. were pulled by hand, since herbicides used as Sachahuares, are key to poverty And I’m not about to claim that spending couldn’t be used. Similarly, “pest manage- alleviation and climate change mitigation. a few weeks on a farm was nearly enough ment” meant hacking at ant nests with ma- Without farms like Sachahuares, we won’t to make me appreciate the reality of farm- chetes, since pesticides were also not used. be able to produce enough food for our ing in the developing world. But if we are Planting and harvesting was aligned with planet’s growing population without doing to study and understand Fair Trade, as re- phases of the moon. Coffee bushes were significant damage to the environment. searchers we first need to understand our grown under the shade canopy of larger There is no Fair Trade coopera- subjects. For me, spending time on a farm trees which protected the plant’s delicate tive near Sachahuares, which means that was a sort of informal ethnographic study, berries and also provided habitats for tou- Roberto and Sabine aren’t able to sell their a way of gaining a glimpse of an insider’s cans and other local fauna. coffee or coca as Fair Trade products, even perspective. Clearly, the gap in theoretical Roberto and Sabine were faithful though they would meet the standards. In- knowledge on Fair Trade demands further stewards of the land, and being an organic, stead they sell their products to the nearby research. And while it may be tempting to pesticide free farm was a point of pride. But cooperative, which usually compensates “prove” that Fair Trade works by showing I was surprised to learn that many farmers them fairly. When I asked them if they that Fair Trade farmers earn more money, in rural Peru adhere to organic standards— thought Fair Trade was a good strategy for I am wary of this narrow, quantitative ap- not for ethical reasons, but because chemi- helping farmers earn more, they weren’t proach. As I learned during my brief stay Photo: Loew’s Coney Island Theater, Brooklyn Public Library 1924 cal pesticides and fertilizers are too expen- certain. Farming is hard work and pays lit- on the farm, rural livelihoods are complex sive to afford. tle. Roberto seemed certain that as long as and our understandings of them should be he Shore Theater – located on the board, and the city. However, the scaffold- passed in the story of the Shore Theater. During my time on the farm, I also there were decent paying jobs elsewhere, qualitative as well as quantitative. corner of Stillwell and Surf Avenues – is a ing is misleading: it is not the result of one This historical narrative parallels the expe- learned that the challenges of rural life are farmers would continue to slowly leave the Planners have recently started tak- microcosm for the greater Coney Island. the many redevelopment plans It went up rience of Coney Island as a whole. After not limited to the difficulties of making a land. ing food issues seriously, but much of the The deterioration of its interior due to 35 in 2007 in preparation for steam cleaning years of neglect, Coney Island has become living from the land. For example, there is As for me, my journey ended up discourse has focused on creating “local- years of vacancy is not immediately ap- the exterior of the building. But as a result the focus of attention due to the release no such thing as public transportation in back where I started. I continue to buy Fair ized” food systems where rural producers Tparent from the outside, due to the solid of non-payment by the owner, the exterior of a Strategic Plan in 2005 and a Compre- rural Peru. Combis, private minivans, ply Trade coffee from Trader Joe’s, not because are connected to urban consumers. While construction methods used at the begin- did not get cleaned and the scaffolding hensive Rezoning Plan in 2007. By tracing the main routes between towns, making I have embraced the ideology, but because this certainly an important goal, as planners ning of the century. Scaffolding wraps never got taken down. the historical development of one building mobility a challenge, especially for school- there are few alternatives. Until I learn oth- we must be mindful of the global reach of around the outside of the building, making The theater spurs nostalgia for a in Coney Island, I hope to provide a richer children. Schools can be 5 or 10 miles erwise, it seems fairer than anything else. our food supplies. To focus on the local it seem as if renovation is under way. The constructed, idyllic New York of the past; understanding of Coney Island’s heritage from home and if a combi doesn’t show up, Many New Yorkers (myself in- overlooks the many ways in which we are Shore Theater recently received a landmark a simpler era before the failures of techno- and its relationship to New York City. Fur- or is already full of passengers, kids often cluded) like to think that shopping at farm- connected to producers in the developing designation, securing it a spot in the new, cratic planning, suburbanization, budget ther, I will contextualize the current rede- skip school altogether, rather than walk. ers markets, or purchasing coffee that is world. Fair Trade may have flaws, but helps revitalized Coney Island of the future. It defaults and gentrification. Of course, nos- velopment scheme in a longer history of When asked what they see as the packaged with a Fair Trade “impact story” understand the limitation of local food and has been mentioned in numerous redevel- talgia is a fabricated reality – New York has public and private plans for the neighbor- problems for farmers in the area, Sabine somehow brings us closer to the produc- it is an important step toward creating a opment plans for Coney Island written by never been perfect. Like much of New York hood. explained that the construction of a mas- ers of these products. We want to believe more just food system. multiple developers, non-profits, the local City’s history, rise, decline, abandonment At the turn of the 20th Century, sive natural gas pipeline nearby was luring that when we support local agriculture or development corporation, the community and potential resurrection are all encom- Coney Island did not have the best reputa-

18 19 tion. Coney Island was part of the town of nation. With the extension of the subway to During these decades, Coney Island as a Bar. It is unclear when exactly the building the redevelopment plans both geographi- vacancy of the Shore Theater – many critics Gravesend, where politics were controlled Coney Island, this became a feasible goal. whole continued to attract millions of visi- emptied out all of its tenants. As Head Start cally and conceptually, because the main- feel that stricter rules regulating develop- by John Y. McKane, a crooked politician The theater was built on the site of the pri- tors each summer, with its free beach and and Medicaid both maintain offices in the tenance of Coney Island’s “character and ment are necessary. with a connection to Tammany Hall. The vate Culver depot, which had become re- cheap amusements. neighborhood to this day, one can only culture” is one of the driving goals behind Joe Sitt has floated his own de- Democratic machine supported the estab- dundant after the consolidation and expan- In the post war-era, New York City speculate that actions on the part of the the two plans. It was initially nominated for signs for the future of Coney Island. Tall lishment of gambling dens, brothels, and sion of the subway system. In Delirious New began to show signs of financial distress landlord forced them to relocate. Kansas landmark status in 1996, and finally received hotels, big-box stores and national cor- seedy bars, as long as they paid off the right York, Rem Koolhaas describes Coney Island due to suburbanization and economic dis- Fried Chicken went out of business some- the designation from the Landmark Pres- porate chains characterize his vision. Sitt’s person. At the same time, the informal at- at the junction of the 19th and 20th Century, investment. The highways that made the time in the late 1980s, leaving a dusty relic ervation Commission in 2010. The future development history is anything but ex- mosphere allowed for the establishment a testing ground for architectural and plan- new suburbs possible also made further- of yet another era of New York on the cor- of Coney Island seems a little bit brighter emplary. He has “done very well buying but of legitimate immigrant-run businesses, ning ideas which later defined the devel- afield recreational destinations like Jones ner of Surf and Stillwell. Coney Island as a now that the Shore Theater cannot legally not building things in Brooklyn. In 2005, he which would not have been able to sur- opment of early 20th century Manhattan. Beach accessible. The 1920s dreams for a whole was ravaged by the crack epidemic, be torn down. Since there is such a sparse bought a parcel west of the [Coney Island] vive in more established neighborhoods. Architectural details present in the spires transformed Coney Island faded. Loew’s disinvestment and arson. selection of historic buildings in Coney Is- amusement district for $13 million and sold The Tammany hold on power was broken and towers of the three amusement parks lost control of the theater in 1964, and it Unfortunately for the theater and land, there has been some speculation that it 14 months later for $90 million. He also when Gravesend was annexed by Brooklyn re-emerged in the art deco design of early became the Brandt Shore Theater under a for Coney Island, Mr. Bullard’s properties be- the city might broker a deal with Bullard to bought the Albee Square Mall in Down- in 1894. New York skyscrapers. The transformation new owner. 1964 was also the year when came a site for his power battles with the take over the building. For now, there are town Brooklyn for $25 million in 2001, vow- Three competing real estate de- of discarded industrial uses to modern mix- Steeplechase Park finally closed after years City of New York and then mayor, Rudy Gi- no publically known revitalization plans for ing to renovate. He sold it in 2007 for $125 velopers set out to improve the image of use buildings continues to be a common of neglect. Steeplechase was acquired by uliani. Through the years, Bullard proposed the building. million, without the makeover. Recently, af- Coney Island — re-imagined as a family- theme in New York City planning today. Fred Trump, who had plans for a housing a number of grand plans for his lots in Co- While the landmark designation ter a few years of tense negotiations, the city friendly resort — and to make a whole lot Moreover, the construction of development similar to Trump Village, a 40- ney, which housed the Shore Theater, the has ensured the Shore Theater’s space in paid Thor Equities $95.6 million for seven of money in the process. Between 1897 buildings like the Shore Theater represent- acre middle-income complex built on the Playland arcade, and the now gone Thun- the future Coney Island, a number of other acres of land along the boardwalk, to be re- and 1904, they bought out vacant broth- ed the unwavering post-war optimism of site of Luna Park (which had burned down derbolt rollercoaster. The plans included a buildings from the same time period — all developed by the city as part of the Rezon- els, burned-out lots of land, and forced out the Roaring Twenties – a decade of rapid in 1944). When the city did not grant Trump new theme park or casinos and hotels. The nominated and denied landmark status — ing Plan. However, Sitt still owns 5.6 acres the immigrant business owners. The three economic growth and conspicuous con- the zoning change required for the con- relationship between City Hall and Bullard were torn down this past winter. Among of land in Coney Island, including the now amusement parks that they built – Steeple- sumption – which characterized not just struction of residential high-rises, he held was one of lawsuits and countersuits. In them were the Bank of Coney Island, Hen- empty lots where the Bank of Coney Island chase, Luna Park and Dreamland – continue Coney Island but the city as a whole. The a strategic and spiteful “demolition party”. 2000, the City even demolished the Thun- derson Music Hall and the Shore Hotel, all and the Shore Hotel once stood. Given Sitt’s to define Coney Island. If it was not for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported in January Guests were invited to throw bricks at the derbolt on Bullard’s lot, although a federal owned by Joe Sitt, of Thor Equities. The history of unscrupulous development prac- collective memory of the grand old days of of 1925, “$2,000,000 Theater and Office park’s famed glass exterior, which was jury later ruled that the city had no justifica- city’s plan for Coney Island has been criti- tices, the two lots are likely to remain vacant Coney – reinforced by books like Coney Is- Building Reflects Transformation of Coney nominated for a Landmark Designation. He tion for tearing down the rollercoaster. For cized by various non-profits, including Save until they are profitable enough to sell. On land Lost and Found, movies like Annie Hall Island”. In May of the same year the publica- sold the Steeplechase lot back to the city the Shore Theater, the struggles over power Coney Island and the Municipal Arts Soci- the other hand the alternative (see render- and even the name and design of the new tion wrote that the theater “will be the first in 1968. and space have amounted to water dam- ety, for selectively preserving one historic ing) might be more damaging for Coney Luna Park – the current redevelopment of its kind at the resort and the forerunner of With the three main amusement age and deterioration due to lack of main- structure, while allowing the destruction of Island’s future. Even though the Shore plan for Coney Island would not be such a similar structures in the movement to make areas gone, Coney Island struggled on. The Theater survived contentious and emotional issue. Coney Island an all-year amusement resort.” beach, boardwalk, bathhouses, and scat- after an incred- Grandiose in design and scale, the Two features of the building set it apart tered amusements continued to attract ibly long period turn-of-the-century parks drew on the lat- from the entertainment establishments of an influx of patrons, albeit seasonally. The of neglect, if it is est mechanical innovations, the Columbian Coney Island’s past. First, it was construct- Brandt Shore Theater unsuccessfully at- surrounded by Exposition in Chicago and on the City Beau- ed out of limestone and brick rather than tempted to reach out to the surrounding chain restaurants tiful movement. The three parks offered a plaster and wood. This made the building Jewish population with productions like and stores that welcome escape from the congested city, fireproof and permanent. Second, the neo- “Bagels and Yox”. The New York Times re- can be found in drawing 100,000 people per day in the sum- Renaissance Revival façade, along with its ported in April of 1966 that Leroy Griffith, strip malls across mer season. Yet in spite of their popularity, additional non-amusement uses, further was to begin staging two dollar burlesque America, its his- the parks were destined to be ephemeral. signified the stability and seriousness of the shows at the theater. This was a pivotal point torical value will Building materials of wood and plaster theater, especially when juxtaposed with for the Shore Theater, when it stopped try- be irrelevant. As combined with a marginal understanding glitzy lights and plaster spires of Luna Park. ing to live up to its neo-Renaissance Revival an amusement of the danger of electricity made the parks The Coney Island Theater Building also had façade and took any opportunity to make park, Coney Is- dangerous and fire-prone. In fact, given the office space on its top floors, intended to money. In the early 1970s, the space had a land will not frequency of fires, it is surprising to find any attract organizations related to the enter- very short-lived career as an adult theater. reach the status older buildings in the Coney Island amuse- tainment industry. The last active use of the theater space was of Six Flags or ment area. Dreamland, the most ambitious When the building opened in in 1972, when it was converted to a bingo Disneyland, nor of the three parks only lasted seven years, 1925, it was leased and maintained by the hall. During this time, the offices upstairs Propsed redevelopment of Joe Sitt’s properties should it aim to. when it’s spectacular plaster and wood Loew’s Corporation, and was renamed the housed a dress manufacturer, a Medicaid tenance. For Coney Island’s residents, the three others. In fact, according to Tricia Vita The history, nostalgia, and a touch of grit- construction fell victim to fire in 1911. Loew’s Coney Island Theater. The rechris- office and a Head Start nursery. struggle between the city and a succession of Amusing the Zillion, “the historic build- tiness are its drawing points. As long as The Shore Theater – then known tened theater featured both film screen- According to Vanishing New York, of developers with lofty plans has amount- ings were doomed by the City’s rezoning bad development practices – including as the Coney Island Theater – was built in ings and live vaudeville entertainment. the owner of the Kansas Fried Chicken ed to a succession of empty lots stretching of the parcels for high-rise hotels in 2009.” the neglect of landmarked buildings, land 1925 as a result of a concentrated effort Retail spaces on the ground floor featured chain, Horace Bullard, purchased the the- all along Surf Avenue. For many critics of the city’s plan, the lee- speculation and destruction of historic sites of the Coney Island business community a Nedick’s restaurant and two cigar shops, ater, as well as a number of other proper- The city’s Strategic Plan of 2005 way given to developers about what to – continues in Coney Island, its future will to “develop Coney Island on a larger and while construction companies and a local ties around Coney Island, in 1978. Natu- and Rezoning Plan of 2007 are complimen- build and how high they can build it has remain in jeopardy. Whatever the future broader scale”. The businessmen making draft board leased the offices upstairs. De- rally, a Kansas Fried Chicken took over the tary efforts by the city to address the blight been a major sticking point. Given the his- may hold for the Shore Theater building, it money on Coney Island’s seasonal crowd spite the Depression, the Theater proved prime corner retail location on the ground that has gripped the neighborhood since tory of developer-facilitated blight in the is likely to continue being a microcosm of began to imagine it as a year round desti- to be a success through the 30s and 40s. floor of the theater, replacing the Gay Way the 1970s. The Shore Theater is central to neighborhood – including the 35 yearlong the neighborhood as a whole.

20 21 Bike Lane Resistance a public hearing in December 2010 on bicycle lanes under the auspices of assessing Local Law 90, which re- quires community notification and in New York City input when DOT implements major transportation projects. During the oversight hearing, Brooklyn council Is it Really About Public Involvement? member Lew Fidler complained that the DOT needed to do a better job of consulting with communities be- By Laura Mac- fore implementing bike lanes. Fidler Neil then asked for the NYC DOT Com- missioner’s support for his bill that would require a public hearing with an affected Community Board 90 days before putting in any bike lane. The Commissioner declared herself in “violent agreement” with Fidler— I in no small part because NYC DOT n New York City, already does this Community Board community boards provide outreach on a regular basis. the basic means of com- NYC DOT’s standard process munity input in the public of public outreach has been to notify planning process. Estab- citizens of a proposed bicycle lane lished by New York City’s through letters and presentations charter, each community to community boards. The commu- board represents a specific nity board (or boards) then votes to some citizens and politicians still feel sur- crease their effectiveness within the munic- district and acts as a liaison approve or disapprove the plan. Although prised by bike lane implementations could ipal planning process. City charter amend- between city agencies and technically advisory, community boards be more indicative of systemic faults in the ments could have also mandated some or citizens in decisions that often have political sway, making it in NYC community board structure rather than the all CB members be directly elected by dis- pertain to their geographi- DOT’s interest to accommodate their con- actions of a specific agency. trict residents to ensure fair representation cal boundaries. Although cerns in project designs and implementa- The process of appointing com- of community interests. Despite recom- technically advisory, com- tions. NYC DOT representatives also consult munity board members, rather than hold- mendations for community board reform munity boards often have with borough officials and the district man- ing elections, may lend itself toward creat- from Borough President Scott Stringer and political sway, as city coun- ager of the community board during the ing community boards in which members community advocacy groups, the mayor- cil members often act on project conception phase “to get a pulse of are more aligned with the interests of appointed commission members chose guidance from community the community”, according to the agency’s elected officials than those of the district not to examine the structure of community boards. Photo: John Marshall Mantel, NY Times Bicycle Program Director, Hayes Lord. The residents they represent. When Commu- boards in their review process. And when able to their districts; residents do not elect network using a 1997 Master Bicycle Plan Many of the city’s agencies seek NYC DOT has consistently informed and so- nity Board 10 of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, voted Speaker Christine Quinn testified before the who represents them on the community as its guide. During those same three years, input from community boards when imple- licited input from community boards on its against new bike lanes last June, Helen New York City Charter Revision Commission board. Instead, the elected borough presi- the number of daily cyclist commuters in- menting projects, but relying on commu- street improvement projects under Com- Klein of The Brooklyn Paper quoted CB 10 on behalf of the entire City Council in June dent unilaterally appoints half of each creased by 109 percent. Emboldened by nity boards as a means for public involve- missioner Janette Sadik-Khan. The fact that member Allen Bortnick explaining his posi- of 2010, her testimony did not once men- board and selects the other half from a list Mayor Bloomberg’s 2007 PlaNYC strategic ment can be problematic. First, community tion in words that echo those of Brooklyn tion community boards—much less the of nominees by that district’s city council plan, the NYC DOT has pledged to install 50 boards are systematically under-funded, Borough President Marty Markowitz: “The need for institutional public-participation member. While board members have to bicycle lane miles each year so as to reach which undermines their ability to effective- city is bent on taking away driving lanes improvements. The implicit decision to live in New York City and either reside, work, the goal of 1,800 bicycle lane miles by 2030. ly evaluate plans and represent community for cars. We are not going to be able to live overlook community board reform was a or have a significant interest in their district, These rapid streetscape changes interests within the municipal planning with this comfortably.” lost opportunity to bring lasting, meaning- there is no official mechanism to ensure fair have alarmed some citizens and spurred process. In a July 2010 article in the Gotham It’s ironic that the same city coun- ful public-involvement improvements to representation of community districts by accusations that the NYC DOT hasn’t ad- Gazette, Hunter College Professor Tom An- cil members who grandstanded about the not only decisions about bicycle lanes, but board members. equately involved the public in its decisions gotti points out that the average board has need for better public outreach on bike about every proposed municipal project These systemic problems with to install bicycle lanes. Norman Steisel, a vo- annual budget under $200,000 and the lane implementation stood silent during impacting a community district. Mandat- community boards have not received cal bike lane opponent who was once dep- combined funding for community boards their biggest opportunity to introduce insti- ing additional public hearings on already much attention in the media, but they are uty mayor, called NYC DOT’s public review makes up less than .02 percent of the city tutional improvements to community par- overburdened community boards is less especially important given the recent furor process “tainted with opacity” in an October budget. Community Boards can barely af- ticipation just months earlier. The problems a means of furthering public participation over bike lane implementation in New York 2010 letter sent to City Hall. Steisel has since ford a skeleton staff, much less specialized plaguing Community Boards could have than a political tactic to slow down contro- City. The city’s streetscape has changed sued the city to have the Prospect Park West training or the services of a professional been addressed when Mayor Bloomberg versial streetscape changes. As planners, we substantially over the past four years: In bike lane removed, charging that the city planner who could help assess the poten- created a commission to review the city should advocate for true public participa- this short period of time, New York City’s misled residents about its benefits. James tial impact of proposed projects. Second, charter and recommend improvements. tion reform. In the meantime, city agencies, Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Vacca, chairperson of the New York City under the current City Charter, community Amendments to the city charter could have politicians, and community boards should has nearly doubled the city’s on-street bike Council’s Transportation Committee, held board members are not directly account- granted CBs more funding and staff to in- be held accountable to the interests of the public—not politicians. 22 23 streets is one such motivation for choosing ied people with liberal attitudes towards Bike Lanes to live in a gentrifying neighborhood. the environment, fewer savings to spend PUBLIC PERCEPTION: Class and the Shades Today, cities like New York are on cars and gasoline, and without long- Backlash and competing with other “global cities” around term attachments to New York City’s street In public forums and press ac- the world to attract international capital form--helped spur the rise of cycling in the counts, opposition to the proliferation and investment. One of the explicit goals city. But building bicycle infrastructure in of bike lanes and streetscape changes Gentrification of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC2030 is to gentrifying neighborhoods has created has grown. Some members of the public of compete with global cities like Chicago, long-term impediments towards extend- have equated the creation of bike lanes in Los Angeles, London and Shanghai on the ing the network and building broader com- with their fears of losing control over their basis of livability. Common capital attrac- munity support. Long-term residents are neighborhoods. The backlash against bicy- tion strategies include rezoning to enable alienated by capital investments that ap- clists can be seen as a sort of perfect storm New York high-end development, developing enter- pear to arrive only after their neighborhood of class relations. As the city is gentrifying Green tainment districts, encouraging high-end has been gentrified. This can be especially and many long-time New Yorkers fear for By Sam Stein consumption markets (artisanal food and true in neighborhoods where residents the stability of their neighborhoods, many alcohol, and specialty retail), and creat- have long biked, but have not seen street perceive cyclists to belong to one of two low income tenants or small businesses, tion theories of gentrification look at why PLANNING in a GENTRIFICATION CON- ing recreational open spaces. Another key improvements targeting their needs until “threatening” classes: people who are richer versus the income they could be generat- upper income people become attracted to TEXT strategy for creating capital-friendly urban now. Gentrification can also displace low- than them (white yuppies in spandex); and ing if they rented to richer tenants, sold the particular neighborhoods over wealthier Gentrification and class/race dis- environments is reducing traffic conges- income workers and recent immigrants, people who are poorer than them (com- building to real estate speculators, or con- urban and suburban alternatives. Generally, placement are prominent features of New tion, and promoting forward-looking envi- who often rely on cycling as a free mode of mercial cyclists, immigrants, people of verted their spaces to more lucrative uses. these theories speak of the unique appeals York City’s changing physical and demo- ronmental consciousness by encouraging transit and sometimes ride as a part of their color and punks). The self-identified middle These changes are sometimes encouraged of inner city urban spaces, including attrac- graphic landscape, shaping its economy, alternative modes of transportation. In this jobs. Key potential beneficiaries of DOT’s class is furious with the city for seeming to by local government through zoning and tive architecture and lively streetscapes, housing market and built environment. sense, DOT’s work, while much broader in streetscape improvements are therefore help everyone around them, while sup- land use changes, relaxation of laws pro- shorter commutes, cosmopolitan politics, All city-wide policies being implemented scope and intention, fits into a larger, city- missing from the neighborhoods where posedly ignoring outer borough car- and tecting tenants, and capital investments and the availability of arts, entertainment today- whether or not they are aimed at af- wide competitive strategy to attract and much of the building is taking place. As a transit-oriented needs. Participants in the targeted at people wealthier than the cur- and specialized retail. For some, the avail- fecting this reality- are occurring within the retain global capital. result, there is a contradiction between backlash are acting out of a fear of losing rent neighborhood residents. Consump- ability of bicycle infrastructure and safe context of gentrification. The rise of New York’s young pro- where DOT is choosing to build bike infra- control over their “authentic urban spaces” The Department of Transporta- Photos: Scott Richmond fessionals and artists--generally able-bod- structure, and where the need is highest. to gentrification, while also reflecting their tion’s (DOT) bicycle infrastructure pro- Map: Jennifer Harris Hernandez anger and resentment towards gram is one such city-wide policy. Recent people of color and social out- streetscape improvements have coincided siders, whom they imagine the with a precipitous rise in rents and the re- city prioritizes before the white turn of upper middle-class residents to for- middle class. Many middle-class merly working class neighborhoods. Efforts car owners in New York see the to make New York City’s streets safer and automobile as a symbol of their more multi-modal have been attacked by rise out of the working-class, critics as causing and perpetuating gentri- and may resent DOT’s efforts to fication. This criticism reflects a misunder- slow traffic and reduce free on- standing of the dynamics that cause and street parking. Outer borough perpetuate gentrification, but it points to a residents’ displeasure at DOT’s broader problem with the city’s implemen- focus on lower Manhattan also tation of its bicycle network: bicycle plan- reflects long-simmering resent- ning in New York City currently reflects and ments over the public transit amplifies city-wide transportation injus- system’s central business district tices. A retooling of the program around orientation. Recent cuts to bus the needs of working class cyclists, how- service have been particularly ever, could produce dramatically different hard on those outer borough results. residents who live further from subway lines. These bus rid- BACKGROUND: What We Talk About ers are witnessing simultane- When We Talk About Gentrification ous cuts to the bus network on Gentrification is often theorized which they rely, and an expan- using “production” and “consumption” sion of a cycling network that explanations for neighborhood change. feels alien to their needs. Production theories look at the creation This framing of cy- of “rent gaps”, “value gaps” or “functional clers and city agencies ignores gaps” in urban housing markets. These “gap many inconvenient truths: bike theories” postulate that gentrification oc- ridership is representative of all curs when landlords observe a significant strata of New York society; street difference between the income they earn infrastructure improvements of- from their properties when occupied by ten improve safety and public

24 25 frastructure im- hoods like Flushing, Queens and Pelham 2010 World Exposition provements as Bay, Bronx. a tool to attract Cycling infrastructure built for young, highly working class and immigrant riders might paid professionals take various forms. These could include, into the city. but are not limited to: connecting working- These examples class residential neighborhoods to local job show that bicycle centers, rather than the downtown central infrastructure business district; making travel to the sub- can serve elite way safer and faster, especially in areas suf- interests, and fering from bus cutbacks; creating connec- correspond with tions between nearby neighborhoods that neighborhoods’ are not adequately served by mass transit overall gentri- (such as connecting northwest Queens to fication. By no the south Bronx); providing bike-share in means, however, neighborhoods where owning a bicycle should this cor- is impractical or unaffordable; and creat- relation be in- ing lanes that mirror the routes taken by Photo: Groundswell Mural Project terpreted as sole commercial cyclists in the outer boroughs. spaces for all New Yorkers, not just those causation, or as inevitable. Streets like Bed- These modest steps would demonstrate a who cycle; bicycling has been an important ford Avenue in Brooklyn have received a real commitment on the part of DOT to ad- part of New York City residents’ commuting great deal of attention from DOT’s Bicycle dressing the city’s transportation injustices. patterns since the 19th century; the cost of Program, and yet these infrastructure im- instituting bike lanes pales in comparison provements have not brought on the im- CONCLUSION: Infrastructure for the to the cost of running a transit system or mediate gentrification of south Brooklyn Underserved maintaining car-oriented infrastructure; neighborhoods. The class implications of In recent years, gentrification and and finally, the city is most definitely not bicycle infrastructure are therefore highly class displacement have changed New York prioritizing the needs of low income peo- contingent on their siting and design. for the richer and the whiter. Like all city- ple of color over the white middle class. It is wide policies, DOT’s bicycle project is oc- unclear how large a segment of New York’s CONSIDERING ALTERNATIVES: Urban curring in this polarizing political context. population actually believes that bike lanes Photo: , Philippe Lopez—AFP/Getty Images Design for Whom? This inescapable fact colors both DOT’s are a threat to their class status, but those DOT is tasked with designing in- program and the public’s mixed reaction who do seem particularly mobilized in the The Evolution of Urban Planning Practice frastructure that benefits all New Yorkers. At to it. By focusing construction on the most current political moment. the same time, the agency recognizes that intense flashpoints of gentrification- lower and the Perception of Quality of Life its bicycle and street redesign programs Manhattan and northwest Brooklyn- the BIKE LANES and REAL ESTATE: play a large part in the city’s strategy to at- bicycle network reflects and reproduces By Maria Chernaya DOT does not create bicycle infra- tract global capital. At a recent forum on cy- the city’s transportation injustices, in terms structure in order to raise property values. cling and real estate strategies, DOT Com- of class, race, and geographic isolation. supplanted the very ideals that the mod- port to a metro station on the city’s periph- Building owners and developers, however, missioner Janette Sadik-Khan reminded her This fact does not prove that bike lanes ern Chinese state were built upon. With ery, achieving speeds of up to 501 km/h. have learned that the city’s streetscape audience that, “capital can locate anywhere, cause gentrification; instead, it points to the forced opening up of the economy Rising from the rice paddies of Pudong, east improvements can create more attractive so it’s extremely important that we create the imperative for needs-based infrastruc- by Deng Xiaoping, the new Chinese state of the Huangpu River, is an entire new busi- spaces, and the presence of bicycle infra- safe, attractive spaces where people want ture construction. High need areas, where resembles less the traditional Confucian- ness district, complete with awe-inspiring structure near a development can be a sell- to be.” working class people bicycle every day n just ten or fifteen years China inspired culture and more a typical global- skyscrapers. The pinnacle of the Pudong ing point for affluent young newcomers. The siting and design of street under increasingly dangerous conditions, has undergone the very amount of growth izing state, marked by massive department skyline is the Oriental Pearl Tower. The New luxury towers in such neighborhoods changes often implies the type of user the have not received the same level of atten- I stores, malls, and commercial skyscrapers. structure is a monstrosity indeed--“a gaudy, that came gradually to much of the devel- as the Lower East Side, Williamsburg and city expects to benefit from a project. To- tion of the city. DOT and other city agen- oped world in the second half of the Twen- The polarizing ideologies of Mao flashing, spaceship-like pillar”--but it has Downtown Brooklyn tout bicycle-friendly day, New York City’s bicycle network is most cies need to reframe their priorities in order tieth Century. In order to understand how Zedong and Deng Xiaoping did not merely nonetheless become a symbol of Shanghai buildings and the presence of nearby built-out around the locus of gentrification: to serve those most vulnerable to gentrifi- this development occurred, it is necessary result in alterations to China’s physical land- and China’s urban aspirations. cycling infrastructure in advertisements downtown Manhattan and northwestern cation, rather than those who profit from it. to understand the historical conditions scape, but also changed the collective per- Previously a small fishing village, geared towards “hipsters.” Meanwhile, Times Brooklyn. There are a number of good rea- that have lead to China’s current role as a ception of quality of life. The 2010 World the early growth of Shanghai was largely Square experienced the largest retail rent sons for this choice: these areas are two of This piece was built from works written in Professor world power. Within the span of a century, Exposition, held in Shanghai, highlights attributed to the development of foreign hikes in the city--over 71 percent—coincid- th the biggest employment centers in the city; Tom Angotti’s 2010-2011 Studio on bicycle plan- China has shifted from a country ruled by China’s continuing urban evolution, as well settlements in the mid 19 century. Built ing with DOT’s installation of a pedestrian ning. The ideas contained here were developed in they are home to cycling-friendly commu- a nationalist government, to a centrally as emphasizes the high value that quality of on land ceded to the French, British, and plaza in Times Square. The Hudson River close consultation with Jennifer Harris Hernandez nity boards; and they are the site of many planned economy under Mao’s regime, to life holds in China. Americans to facilitate trade, these settle- Park Trust has observed that the presence and Sunghoon Yoo, and in conjuction with the transit interconnections. Focusing on these an authoritarian market socialist state un- ments were never fully colonies or Chinese of the extended bike riverside lane has in- other members of the studio (Max Applebaum, An- areas, however, reinforces the impression der Deng Xiaoping. Whereas Mao’s political East Meets West controlled. Rather, Shanghai’s foreign set- creased neighboring property values by drew Camp, Conor Clarke, Joseph Delia, Sungbae that gentrification follows bike planning, Park, Brian Paul, Scott Richmond, Eva Tessza Udyar- ideology was defined by contributions to To step into Shanghai is to be tlements offered something for everyone. approximately 20 percent. Richard Florida, and vice versa. This choice also results in a helvi, and Matt Wallach). All conclusions and any the state, and the collective good of Chi- sent into a whirlwind of activity. Outside of Adventurous young men from Europe and an advocate for the so-called “creative class”, failure to provide needed infrastructure in errors, however, should be attributed solely to the nese society, the individualist capitalism Pudong International Airport, the “maglev” America, attracted by the prospect of mak- has publicly commended DOT’s bicycle in- high-cycling, low-infrastructure neighbor- author. promoted by the likes of Deng Xiaoping (magnetic levitation) train zips from the air- ing money, went to Shanghai. From the

26 27 surrounding provinces, Chinese citizens ies, coal mines, steel mills, and automobile ings were arranged in China’s concerted effort to improve overall flocked to these foreign zones, which of- factories. To power the newly constructed identical rows of three standard of living, create an urban middle fered services unavailable in the country- factories, millions of peasants migrated to-five story brick and class, and attract foreign investment. No- side. from the countryside to work in cities. concrete structures, where are these policies more evident that By the start of the twentieth cen- Nevertheless, the Chinese Com- which gave rise to at the Shanghai World Exposition 2010, tury, Shanghai was remolded in the image munist Party (CCP) did not equate indus- a sprawling and ho- whose theme is: Better City, Better Life. of a Western City. A city celebrated as the trialization with urbanization and tried to mogenous landscape, Expo 2010 symbolized China’s further open- ‘Paris of the East,’ it was renowned for its gas achieve, “industrialization without a high deemed the “spatial ex- ing into the global economy, while marking lighting, electric trams, advanced banks, level of urbanization.” The goal was to pression of egalitarian- the stark contrast between the China fifty and top universities. At the same time, hav- achieve industrialization on a nationwide ism” and the solution to years ago, and the China of today. ing developed under foreign influence, scale, without incurring the costs of ur- eradicating urban class I visited the Shanghai World Ex- Shanghai was notorious for corruption, and banization- housing, sewage, and streets. structure. position in June of 2010, in order to better was chastised for its neon lights, dance halls, Moreover, there was a suspicious attitude The physical understand how the theme “Better City, jazz bands, and ‘anything-goes’ attitude. perceived towards large cities. Chinese ur- form of the danwei al- Better Life” relates to the changes China Shanghai was not the only city ban policy was characterized by the belief lowed for strict control has undergone. A visit to the Shanghai ex- influenced by western-style planning. that metropolises were “concentrations of of social life and inside hibition clearly marks China emphasis on Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Chinese corrupt bourgeoisie” and the cause of “un- these compounds, the higher standards of living for its growing ur- students who had studied western plan- healthy” urban life. demarcation between ban middle class. The rise in private home ning in the United States and Europe were Large coastal cities, such as Shang- “private time” and ownership is reflected in the second half returning home. Influenced by western hai and Tianjin, which had been developed “public time” effective- of Chinese Pavilion at the exhibition, which ideas, they sought to make China a pro- by foreign trading interests, were particu- ly evaporated. These a direct contrast to the Maoist city. Shop- Selling the City showcases a series of private rooms, each gressive nation, and cities from Shanghai larly disdained by Mao and party officials. units could only be entered through a lim- ping, the new form of leisure, has provided The transformation of China’s built room equipped with robots capable of to Guangzhou watched their ancient walls Throughout the 1950s, coastal cities were ited number of entry points, and most had both the revenue and demand needed to environment has been unmistakably influ- performing all household tasks, somewhat torn down, narrow alleys change into bou- drained of resources and retreated into the locks and were guarded by security person- expand the economy and reshape the built enced by the West. This stems in part from reminiscent of the American cartoon televi- levards and rickshaw stands become taxi shadows, not to emerge again until the ear- nel. As a result, residents lived under the environment. the legacy of the Cultural Revolution. As sion series, The Jetsons. The themes of sus- stations. However, these urban reforms ly 1990s. The focus shifted to inland cities, close scrutiny of neighbors and employers However, even after the imple- one man remarked, “In the Cultural Revolu- tainability, green living, and harmonious liv- quickly languished with the Japanese inva- in particular Beijing, which was designated and were limited in their social autonomy. mentation of an open economy, Shanghai tion we were told everything old was bad. ing, were repeated throughout the exhibit, sion of China in 1937. China’s capital soon after Mao’s inaugura- The “smashing the Four Olds” at and Tianjin both lagged behind the new And people who were born afterwards got emphasizing the high value China places The next four decades witnessed a tion. the onset of the Cultural Revolution in 1967, Special Economic Zones, which included a very western education, so young design- on quality of life. Deliberate use of these period of war, confusion, and revolutionary created an unwritten rule that all leisure the Pearl River Delta (between Guangzhou ers have grown up with a lot of foreign in- trendy terms reflects the growing influence communism. In the midst of a war against Quality of Life in The Maoist City had to first meet the approval of the state. and Hong Kong) and the Lower Yangtze. In fluences.” Starbucks, McDonalds, Wal-Mart, of a western ideal of middle class living. Japan, the country was also embroiled in its As a result of a shared ideology The few forms of carefully selected media the mid-1980’s, economists recognized the and IKEA are now ubiquitous throughout own civil war between the nationalist gov- with the Soviet Union, Soviet planners vis- that were allowed were essentially propa- importance of revitalizing Shanghai and China, as they have become associated Conclusion ernment, under Chiang Kai-shek, and the ited China to recommend best planning ganda and had no pretense of providing re- Tianjin if China were to be competitive in with worldly taste and “Bourgeoisie-ness.” Similar to a patchwork quilt, to- Communists led by Mao Zedong. Ultimate- practices. Under Mao, Beijing- the sym- laxation, and the term “leisure” was consid- the global economy. In 1990, Pudong, out- Correspondingly, international architects day’s urban China reflects the continuous ly, the nationalist government was defeat- bol of the new socialist state-became the ered a derogatory word. Pursuing a hobby side Shanghai, was designated a Special have flooded China, redesigning buildings layering of new urban forms over time, each ed by Mao, and on October 1, 1949, Mao epitome of Soviet-style planning and was was strongly criticized, considered egotisti- Economic Zone, symbolizing the opening in a distinctly western style. In Beijing, some piece constructed under differing, and of- founded the People’s Republic of China. restructured into a city focused on heavy cal and a petty bourgeois amusement. On of Shanghai into the outside world. The of the more memorable housing develop- ten conflicting, ideologies. Ongoing transi- industry, a direct removal from its past as the contrary, leisure was only meaningful if former mayor of Shanghai once noted that ment names include Latte Town, Yuppie In- tions in the social, economic, and political The Anti-Urban City a traditional cultural and administrative it offered workers enough time for physical had Pudong not become a Special Eco- ternational Garden, and Top Aristocrat. systems are constantly changing the shape One might argue that Mao had an center. Modeling after the Red Square in restoration and if it advocated “collectivism.” nomic Zone, the urban revitalization proj- In all aspects of urban life and and life of urban spaces. The ideal city of anti-urban perspective of cities but an al- Moscow, Tiananmen Square was enlarged It was not uncommon for employers to ask ects would have taken up to a hundred space, China is using the emergence of the Mao era constituted a self-sustaining ternative view is that he had a very specific to the equivalent of ‘thirty-eight American workers to work extra hours for little or no years to complete. this new capitalist market to not just sell city, wherein the consumer became the and narrow vision of urban life and space, football fields.’ The same year, as part of the pay. On Sundays and holidays, students The development of Pudong into goods and services but to sell an interna- producer. With the changing of the guard, one based on an egalitarian, self-sufficient Great Leap Forward, ten great “socialist” and workers were organized to attend col- a Special Economic Zone is just one ex- tional lifestyle, now deemed the new sine Deng Xiaping strove to make cities com- society in which the consumer would be- buildings were erected, blending neoclas- lective events, such as dances and sporting ample of how shifts in ideology have radi- qua non for upwardly mobile urban elites. petitive in the global market, emphasizing come the producer. In Mao’s vision, Chinese sicism with Chinese decorative motifs, and events. Those who didn’t participate were cally transformed the built environment. Reminiscent of the danwei, many of these individual choice and private ownership. cities would be “self-reliant concentrated Stalinist architecture. scorned for “lacking collectivist spirit.” For many middle-aged people, the China house developments include on-site ame- Today, the reforms of Deng Xiaoping con- sites for industry, rather than centers pro- Mao’s ideal vision for a city was one of the 21st century has become unrecog- nities such as gyms, spas, child-care centers, tinue to resonate as China becomes more moting regional economic growth, trade in which each district was self-sufficient. The Post-Mao City nizable. Up until the early 1990s, the ma- computer rooms, and tennis courts. How- receptive to Western ideals. and technological progress.” In line with Although a city composed entirely of self- With Deng Xiaoping’s ascent to jority of the country’s traditional courtyard ever, the amenities provided within these Shanghai, a city which for years Marxist economic theory, Mao believed sufficient districts was never fully achieved, power and the opening-up of the economy houses, connected by meandering, narrow privately owned developments indicate lay in a time capsule, its economic growth that state controlled industrial production work-unit compounds, called danwei were in 1978, the socio-economic policies put in lanes, (hutongs) were still relatively intact. A China’s new emphasis on individual choice frozen under Mao, has remerged at the would help jump start economic develop- realized. Resembling a miniature walled place by Mao were reversed. The retreat of decade later, hutong neighborhoods were and private leisure time. forefront of China’s urban development. ment, with the ultimate goal being to eradi- city, each danwei offered its residents work- politics and the promotion of consumer- erased wholesale from the urban fabric, re- Guarding its nickname as ‘The Pearl of the cate all private ownership of means of pro- places and housing, as well as access to ism fostered the reawakening of the indi- placed by the soaring skyscrapers, large of- 2010 World Expo: The Symbolism of Orient’ the World Exposition 2010 reinforces duction. Accordingly, policy during this era social services. You could virtually, “be born, vidual and leisure time. As Chinese citizens fice towers and shopping centers that de- Place-Making Shanghai’s status as a world class city, while focused on heavy industry and, Chinese cit- grow up, get married, live and die in a dan- began to take advantage of their ability to fine the urban landscape of today’s China. Policies aimed at creating world- affirming the value of attaining a high stan- ies across the northeast, and some in inland wei without ever needing to leave it.” Within purchase consumer goods, there was a re- class cities in China can be seen as part of dard of living, necessary for a “better life, in provinces, became dotted with oil refiner- the gated walls of the danwei, the build- vival in commercial and business districts, a better city.”

28 29 The Viva Favela program Mapping illustrates why web tech- nologies are crucial to the inclusion of informal areas into the formal fabric of the city. Technologies In Rio, GIS could be a key instrument for long term sustainability in informal settlements. It is being and the used to assess physical risks like hurricanes and earthquakes, for physi- cal/spatial integration Informal into surrounding formal settlements, and for the promotion of environ- By Charles David mental health. Because World informal settlements are likely to be built on what- y 2015, there will be at least 500 into the cartographic dis- ever land is left over after cities whose population will be over one course for the first time. One Capetown Slum Riochina initial development, the on how we can move live in Kibera. Even though there are some million. It is also estimated that by 2050, of the driving forces behind cable, many politicians are only interested land itself is often prone to natural disasters forward. concrete structures in the area, the vast the world population will reach 10 billion, this is the widespread availability of satel- in their slum constituency when collecting like floods, mud slides, and erosions. In Rio, Tracking population change in majority of dwellings are made of corru- with 95% of growth occurring in urban ar- lite images that Google Earth pulls from votes during election time. Because of this, where many favelas are located on hill sides slums is a perplexing task. Amy P. We- gated metal and mud. Because of the over- eas in developing countries, particularly in space. Inclusion on a map - albeit Google slums have become accustomed to being deemed unsafe for formal development, solowski and Nathan Eagle attempt to whelming lack of permanent structures, the slums. Most likely, one would not be able to Earth - is a testament that these communi- ignored by the state, and are largely self- frequent catastrophic floods sweep away compile data about population movement map of Kibera is constantly evolving, with find any of these informal settlements on a ties can no longer be ignored. Slums are serving communities. whole neighborhoods, killing hundreds. in the slum of Kibera, Kenya, in “Parameter- resident volunteers making edits as they map. Historically – if included – slums have informally established, unplanned, and In Cape Town, South Africa, GIS GIS application in these areas could be cru- izing the Dynamics of Slums.” In order to notice changes in the neighborhood. The been demarcated with the color green, like uncategorized. As a result, there is a very has been used as a fundamental tool to up- cial for natural disaster mitigation, or at least Bparks. The relationship between the formal limited understanding of the 200,000 slums grade and empower community participa- get a better idea about population change, map pinpoints hospitals, schools, food ki- could be a useful tool for informing the resi- the two researchers monitored cell phone osks, kerosene pumps, and restaurants. city and the informal slum is tumultuous. worldwide and the billion strong living in tion in informal settlements. Because GIS is dents of the dangers. activity from 2008 to 2009 in Kibera. The Mapping technology is being Issues such as land tenure and taxes keep them. According to UNHABITAT, 80 cities a flexible platform for design -allowing users According to Mike Davis, author number of cell phone subscribers in the de- used in Latin American informal settle- the debate impassioned on how informal out of 120 recognize that they do not pos- to incorporate spatial data as well as quali- of Planet of Slums, “The urban future does veloping world is booming; Africa has 280 ments as well. More than one million peo- areas are to be treated and incorporated to sess monitoring systems to track changes tative data - it allows local authorities to dis- not lie in Chicago or L.A., and it will not be million subscribers (more than North Amer- ple - a sixth of the city’s population - live the city. Innovative mapping techniques in the spatial dimension of the city. Even cuss the interaction between the city’s spa- shaped according to the schools of thought ica). Tracking cell phone movement is an in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, and have been like Geographic Information System (GIS) more trying is that countries maintain dif- tial elements and social opportunities. The named after them. Rather, the future lies innovative idea for demographic research largely ignored by the municipal govern- and access to portable technology is alter- ferent standards and information, quite goals of using GIS for informal settlements in cities like Cairo, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, in communities where the overwhelming ment for over 100 years. The favelas lack ing both the way informal settlements are often colored by political considerations, include: Long term sustainability; quality of and Bombay.” The informal development majority is off the grid. access to city services like public transpor- mapped, and how they are understood in complicating the process of recognition by life improvements in regard to physical risks of slums has far surpassed formal develop- By monitoring the movements tation, sanitation, and electricity. Portable relation to their surrounding environments. local authorities. Since most residents of like hurricanes and earthquakes; physical/ ment in the Third World. Yet, these areas of of cell phone users, the authors were able technology like cell phones, cameras and In recent times, slums and other slums don’t pay property taxes and pirate spatial integration into surrounding formal rapid population growth continue to be to keep track of the population moving in lap tops, are having a positive impact in the informal settlements are finding their way much of their services like electricity and settlements; and environmental health. invisible. Most governments do not report and out of Kibera. The results of their re- favelas. Instead of being monitored like the Map of Kibera Residents of slum communities on slum conditions and trends. Therefore, search show that the population of Kibera cell phone users in Kibera, these commu- in Cape Town are being taught it is up to the slum communities to em- is transient: 50% of the inhabitants move in nities are putting themselves on the map. the benefits of GIS influenced power themselves by making themselves and out of the slum each month. This data Brazilian reporters are using small video planning in order to assess envi- visible to the rest of the world. As our so- could inform future policy in two ways: In- cameras, lap tops, and open source soft- ronmental risk, and better main- ciety moves forward in the future, becom- formation about most heavily trafficked ar- ware to profile life in the favelas. Viva Fave- tain their ever-changing envi- ing better acquainted with the expanding eas can determine what improvements are la, a state department-affiliated Alliance of ronments. It is inevitable that informal world will be crucial to world har- most needed and most efficient; informa- Youth Movement, gathers the multimedia many informal settlements will mony and sustainability. Innovative map- tion about overall population mobility can reports and displays them on Google Maps, be incorporated into their for- ping techniques like Geographic Informa- provide insight as to why the communities bringing world attention to life in favelas. mal cities. Interaction between tion System (GIS), portable technology, and in Kibera are so transient. Community schools have been established these communities and their the expanding access to computers are just Kibera is the home to another in- in many neighborhoods acquainting favela local authorities is critical for in- a few of the tools that can create positive novative mapping project. This past year, residents with web based technologies. By tegration. Given the historical change in the lives of people living in infor- the first complete map of Kibera was cre- having a voice on the web, the residents tenuous relationship between mal areas. Better spatial understanding of ated by a group of young volunteers using of favelas are able to communicate with the formal and informal world, the rapidly transforming informal world can Open Street Map and data from GIS plat- the rest of the world despite the history of GIS programs like this one in be used to empower slum communities to forms. Hundreds of thousands of people exclusion by the municipal government. Cape Town is an exemplary step improve their environments.

30 31 siders arts and culture a part of their lives. As coming a thriving arts district and that the full-time equivalent jobs, $2.9 million in fabric of the community is vital. the popularity and “coolness” of a particular intention of the Art Hill plan was to formal- household income and close to $300,000 Specifically, the four goals of the Plan are: area grows, it tends to become attractive ize the momentum already taking place in taxes to the City and State. St. George is - To Provide a permanent home for Hill to an increasing number of people in and and to provide the infrastructure and re- also the center of informal gallery spaces the arts around the city. This trend can (and tends sources necessary for realization. St. George on Staten Island. This informal infrastructure - To connect downtown streets to rt to) lead to gentrification, putting origi- is the home of more than 200 full-time art- has gained more visibility recently through the Ferry Terminal in a manner nal residents/artists that essentially built a ists, comprising 6% of its occupied adults. Second Saturday, a monthly gallery walk, that is safe and walkable community in a position to get priced out. The concentration of working artists is which facilitates places for the artists to - To position St. George as a high A Historically, these neighborhoods have pri- comparable to that of well-known naturally gather regularly and a structure in which visibility gateway for cultural activ- marily transpired in manufacturing districts, occurring arts districts such as Williamsburg the community can participate. However, ity in Staten Island where artists could occupy buildings (often and DUMBO. it is built on artists’ generosity and invest- - To ensuring that culture supports against zoning code regulations) where We learned that St. George has ment, rather than on a stable organizational economic and community vitality they could live and have space to produce tremendous assets that have yet to be uti- infrastructure. their work. Once others catch on and cre- lized to their full potential. It has a charm- Some elements incorporated in the Plan in- ate a high demand for housing, the area is ing neighborhood character that is wholly The Plan tegral to achieving these goals include: generally re-zoned to residential, which al- unique in New York City. The combination The Plan that we created is an ambitious - New cultural infrastructure: Artists lows developers to capitalize on the market of the steep hills facing New York Bay and approach to strengthen the organic com- need places to produce and exhibit their of “cool” and begin renting and selling to the downtown skyline of Manhattan create munity core in the heart of downtown St. work, and the growing artists’ community well-established artists and high-salaried a number of spectacular views, especially at George, rooted in the concept of sustain- in St. George lacks enough space to satisfy professionals and others. The original, or- night with the City lights twinkling over the ability, which again, in this context means the demand. The Plan proposes a number ganic character of the neighborhood can water. The presence of the maritime indus- giving artists a permanent home in a set- of new facilities for artists in St. George, change quickly, recognizably leaving some try in the Kill Van Kull channel adds to the ting that can sustain the cultural communi- including the reuse of the landmarked level of authenticity behind. This has oc- unique views, especially when huge ships ty into the future. Fundamental to the Plan Police Precinct building on Richmond curred in SoHo, DUMBO and more recently laden with con- Terrace and the in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. tainers or cruise adjacent Family Our studio assignment was to cre- ships twenty sto- Court Building ate a plan for an Arts and Cultural District ries tall can be to house an arts in St. George, Staten Island under the direc- seen passing by center and the- tion of our instructor Pablo Vengoechea, for the waterfront. ater complex our client, the Council on the Arts for Staten St. George is the operated by Island (COAHSI). We knew that being tasked transit center of COAHSI; reno- to create such a plan would mean consider- Staten Island with vating the Fishs ing the importance of these issues, and that 65,000 people Eddy building formalizing the district would mean creat- riding the ferry on Bay Street to ing a long-term home for art and for the everyday and house music and A Plan for a Sustainable artist community. With this approach, we another 67,000 performance aimed to create a sustainable arts and cul- people arriving facilities includ- Cultural District in tural district. We envisioned a place where by bus to the ing rehearsal artists could afford to live and produce their Ferry Terminal spaces and pro- St. George, Staten Island work, where vibrant street life would be the on 26 bus lines. duction spaces; setting for cultural exchange - a place that It is just 20 min- construct- By Dana Frankel would be a unique destination for creativ- utes away from ing an Artists’ ity to serve the local community, New York Manhattan; just Atrium building City residents and visitors from all over. 20 minutes away to connect St. draws people here, and attracts them to We developed our plan based on from the com- Marks Place and particular boroughs, neighborhoods and prior efforts to create a Cultural District in mitted contem- Central Ave with distinguished places. What’s interesting St. George, building upon the transforma- porary arts audiences that make New York is the prioritization of public spaces and pe- a covered pedestrian walkway between (for some of us), is to look at the city’s his- tive energy that is already taking place in City their home; just 20 minutes away from destrian uses in order to create places and human-scale buildings that accommodate hen I reflect on my love for New tory to see how these neighborhoods have the North Shore community. By attending the 47 million tourists who visit New York support for ongoing dialogue and creative artist’s studios on the upper floors and art- York City, I think about all that’s unique evolved over time as trends, economics, events, administering surveys, hosting a vi- City each year—the Staten Island Ferry is innovation in the community. We propose ist supply, exhibition windows, and a small and stimulating – the things that keep me governance and societal circumstances sioning workshop/charette for stakeholders the third most popular tourist attraction in creating more resources for artists includ- grocery store on the ground floor; and re- Winspired and make me feel like I’m in the constantly change. The city itself is a center and the artist community as well as study- New York City. ing exhibition spaces and artist-centered, use of the Sanitation Garage on Victory Blvd place where it’s all happening. This city of- of art and culture; within it, artists and oth- ing other successful districts across the St. George is already home to shared production spaces, as well as a and Jersey Street to accommodate heavy fers access to arts, culture, entertainment, ers have found niches to live and work and country and abroad, we created a plan for significant cultural infrastructure includ- central coordinating organization that can production uses and building material sal- diversity of every kind, beautiful urban and to call home. In the last several decades, it’s a sustainable Cultural District in St. George ing established non-profit institutions like build capacity to carry out the objectives vage center, as well as classrooms, exhibi- natural landscapes, and character that ex- interesting to see where concentrations of that we call “Art Hill.” the Staten Island Museum, the St. George of the Plan. We recognize that for Art Hill to tion space and flexible space for other cre- udes from every block and neighborhood; I artists choose to live. Particular buildings Theatre, Sundog Theatre and the Universal become real, an anchoring cultural institu- ative needs. can’t help but be captivated in its splendor. and neighborhoods first become artist en- St. George: One Step Away Temple of the Arts. Together, these four in- tion with the capacity to help coordinate - Safe and Walkable Streets: The These are attributes that New claves then tend to become alluring to oth- We recognized quickly that St. stitutions have combined revenues of al- marketing and the ability to embed the plan for Art Hill proposes street improve- York City dwellers collectively relish. It er creative types and to anyone who con- George was just one step away from be- most $5 million dollars, and generate 129 new identity of the District into the physical ments that connect the natural centers

32 33 of the community to each other, to the poses public displays of both temporary would employ a staff person to raise funds waterfront and to the transit center at the and permanent art, incorporating arts in and implement the Plan. The board is a key Ferry Terminal. The Plan proposes creating a streetscape elements, events that encour- resource to ensure the success of the dis- safer crossing on Bay Street where it meets age participation, collaborations between trict that must represent the stakeholders in Richmond Terrace. It suggests the creation artists and schools, and use of commu- St. George. of a pedestrian plaza with wide steps, seat- nity gardens where artists can display their Our Plan, which is in the form of a ing spaces, and room to host a farmers work. Implementing these elements would 120-page illustrated report, was presented market. The Plan includes a proposal for an establish a permanent presence of art that in December at the Staten Island Museum outdoor amphitheater for performers, traf- could be adapted by the community to to a crowd of about 100 people - all inter- fic calming on Wall Street and Central Ave, bolster the unique identity of St. George. ested in making St. George a destination - Sustainable Economic for arts and culture. Since that time, the and Community Vitality: The momentum has continued. We presented Plan seeks to address the issue four proposals to the NYC Department of of artist enclaves developing Transportation, who is interested in the at the expense of the artists public plaza feature, and three meetings, themselves. It is important to under the leadership of COAHSI, have taken create protections and op- place to create a leadership organization for tions for affordable housing bringing elements of Art Hill to life. and live-work space for the The St. George Sustainable By Alexandra Hanson diversity of artists. A major ob- Cultural District Plan builds on the assets jective of the Plan, therefore, of St. George as a gateway for all of Staten is to increase the concentra- Island, and recommends a number of im- tion of artists in the Cultural provements that will provide a permanent Cooking Up District by partnering with real home for artists and increase the visibility estate agents to advertise the of Staten Island’s creative activity. There are existing affordable housing opportunities today to create permanent Community Food Security in St. George and market it cultural infrastructure that will serve as a to creative producers in New beacon to the creative communities of York City. In the mid-term New York City, and in the process, develop a it’s important to protect the vibrant neighborhood in downtown Staten The Roll of Urban Planners in the community as it grows, and Island. Art Hill is a proposal and an opportu- Community Food Assessment Process the Plan proposes creating a nity that will help an up and coming artist Cultural Land Trust as a mech- community come out on top of developers. n recent years, the urban planning — gather and analyze pertinent informa- sue with a handful of planning educators. anism to restrict the allowable Staten Island will prove that, just like other profession has come to recognize food as tion about their food system to serve as a Until that point, food was seen largely as uses to cultural uses only. In boroughs in New York City, it can attract art- an important component of the health guide for future improvements. This article a rural issue in the context of farming. Yet the longer-term, it’s important ists, create a renowned Arts District, and de- and wellbeing of communities. As such, examines the CFA tool in the context of ur- even so, the discipline’s view of farmland to maintain the affordability of velop a cultural aura at the city, the national, food systems require the same attention ban planning and assess the ways in which preservation focused much more on pro- the community, and the Plan and the international level. Facilitating the asI traditionally recognized planning disci- planners can be involved in this preliminary tecting open space, containing sprawl, and proposes working with like- formalization of a district with character plines such as housing, transportation, and step of developing community food secu- controlling the pace of development than minded non-profit developers and distinction is an important asset to the land use. However, as food systems have rity. the protection of viable agricultural indus- to create sustainable, afford- city, and an essential obligation in order to received insufficient attention until very re- tries and communities, Jerome Kaufman, able housing. A model that ensure that New York continues to be an cently, little is known about their structure. History of Food Systems (Neglect) in and Kameshwari Pothukuchi began to draw has worked elsewhere in New extraordinary and unique epicenter of life Information on how they operate and their the Planning Field attention to the importance of food in the and a pedestrian mall on Stuyvesant Street York City is a blended supportive housing/ and culture. impacts on communities is essential for Historically, the issue of food has urban realm and called for urban planners between Wall Street and Schuyler Street. affordable housing model; the Plan propos- planning professionals to make informed received little attention from the urban to include food in their approach to com- This piece presents the Plan that our Fall 2010 es addressing the special needs in Staten decisions that will enhance community planning field. The founders of the profes- munity wellbeing. These street improvements would trans- Studio created, under Professor Pablo Vengoechea form the streets of St. George into people- Island in combination with the creation of and the Council for the Arts and Humanities for food security. While the term “community sion sought to shape urban society by de- Since a 2000 publication by Pothu- friendly public spaces to serve as destina- low-income artists housing. Staten Island, to create an arts and cultural dis- food security” can have multiple meanings signing the city’s physical world. In the late kuchi and Kaufman that identifies food as a tions in themselves. trict for St. George. Our team worked tirelessly on depending upon the context, a widely ac- nineteenth century, Daniel Burnham’s City “stranger” to the planning field, the attention - Increase the Public Presence of Implementation the Plan, and I think I can speak for all of us when cepted definition of community food secu- Beautiful cut radiating boulevards through to food systems by the planning profession Art: St. George currently has a concentra- Establishing the St. George I say that the experience was both extremely chal- rity is: “a condition in which all community the center of Chicago, while Le Corbusier has grown significantly. In 2004, the Journal tion of artists in the downtown area, but it Sustainable Cultural District would require lenging and incredibly rewarding. This article is a residents obtain a safe, culturally accept- envisioned grand towers in the park with of Planning Education and Research pub- is often not apparent to visitors or current the dedication of a committed group of brief presentation of the plan, within the context able, nutritionally adequate diet through his Broadacre City. However, they and many lished its first-ever special edition address- of some of the broader issues that we considered. residents because of the lack of artistic ex- people to achieve consensus on a strategic a sustainable food system that maximizes other early urban planners failed to address ing food issues in the planning field. In May Though I’m the contributor for the purposes of this plan and incorporate an “Art Hill Cultural community self-reliance and social jus- the very basic human need of food and of 2007, the American Planning Association pression displayed throughout the District. publication, this was a wholly collaborative proj- The Plan proposes increasing the presence Development Corporation” as a way to pro- ect; members of the studio were: Helen Ho, Jenny tice”. Out of this recognition has grown the over the past century the urban planning adopted its Policy Guide on Community of art in order to strengthen the visual iden- vide basic resources and convene the plan- Walty, Eddie Hernandez, Yichen Tu, Kean Tan, “community food assessment” (CFA). This community has remained largely silent on and Regional Food Planning, which recog- tity of the District and create more vitality ning process for this distinct entity through Gregor Nemitz, Sara Temple, Sarah Moretti, Ana is a process through which food systems the issue. nizes food as a significant issue in urban life. throughout the District in order to high- an incubation period. After the incubation Rousseaud, Romain Duvoux, Camille Roche and stakeholders — academics, food system However, during the 1990s, food The guide outlines multiple methods by light its unique attributes. The Plan pro- period is over, the newly formed board myself. practitioners, and community members began to gain traction as an important is- which urban planners can contribute to the

34 35 lems of the global food system, but it can process; it focuses on community food as- another challenge that CFAs may encoun- visualization and mapping. Pothukuchi’s empower communities to develop more sets as well as problems, the research is rig- ter. Although municipal boundaries can be research demonstrates that urban planners socially just and sustainable alternatives. orous, and the methods used are consistent used as an easy way to delineate the area have the ability to make significant contri- The questions raised by this new with the overall goals of the assessment; of study, in reality these borders may not butions to the CFA process. examination of the food system require it makes effective use of cash and in-kind reflect the area’s food system or its social However, she points out that plan- interdisciplinary approaches that address resources available, and is completed in a and economic structure. This is increasingly ners can also learn a good deal from com- transportation, environmental sustainabil- reasonable time-frame; it fosters broader true as the U.S. has evolved into a metro- munity members and other disciplines ity, equity and social justice, land use law awareness and understanding of the com- politan nation. The metropolitan region has when implementing a CFA. These include: and regulation, and economic develop- munity and its food system; and it con- replaced the city or the country as the pri- greater attention to community health is- ment. Urban planning is well positioned to tributes to tangible actions to bring about mary organization of human settlements. sues linked to food; connecting local plan- assist community food security advocates positive change in the community’s food It is characterized by social and economic ning concerns with larger state and federal in redefining food systems at the local and system.”. The creation of a comprehensive interactions, such as trips to work, which policy; and employing community vision- regional level. This is due to the interdisci- body of knowledge and analysis that meets extend beyond defined municipal borders. ing techniques as a way to engage commu- plinary nature of the profession, the em- the goals of the assessment is critical to the This shift to a metropolitan structure of hu- nity members and build consensus around phasis that planning places on addressing success of a CFA. Equally important, how- man settlements impacts the way that food the issue of food security. CFAs offer an op- issues that affect a particular physical space, ever, are the methods by which this knowl- moves across municipal boundaries. portunity for planners, professionals from and the existence of community-based edge is gathered and evaluated. Engag- In addition, the food system has other disciplines, and communities to learn planning models. ing community members as food systems become increasingly consolidated and from each other while collectively tackling stakeholders in the CFA process is essential global over the past several decades. Deci- the challenge of community food security. The Role of Community Food Assess- to building both capacity and community sions made far beyond municipal bound- Ultimately — as recognized by Pothukuchi ments in Food Systems Planning investment in outcomes. aries have had a significant impact on the — all CFAs are exercises in planning, wheth- Urban planning professionals have a Though food is fairly new to the ur- food systems in communities across the er or not they include professionally trained variety of tools available to them to address ban planning field, urban planners can use U.S. These structural changes link com- planners. community food security, such as those their professional training to help commu- munities to a much larger system of food outlined in the APA Food Policy Guidelines nities execute CFAs that engage in the types production and distribution that often does Conclusion and by food systems scholars and activists. of analyses outlined by the CFSC. Based on not reflect municipal, state, or even national Due to their interdisciplinary na- One of these tools is the community food a comparison of CFAs that included profes- borders. Trends outside of the food system, ture, community food assessments call for assessment (CFA). The Community Food sional planners to those that did not, Pothu- such as employment and the cost of hous- engagement across fields, with a variety of Security Coalition (CFSC) defines a CFA as: kuchi argues that the involvement of plan- ing, also impact the food security of com- actors and stakeholders. CFAs present an “a collaborative and participatory process ners in CFAs can strengthen the assessment munities throughout the country. excellent opportunity for both professional that systematically examines a broad range process and outcomes. She identifies sev- One of the Community Food Se- and informal urban planners to employ of community food issues and assets, so eral reasons for this, which originate from curity Coalitions main requirements for a their skills and work with individuals outside as to inform change actions to make the the training of planners as simultaneously successful CFA is that it is related to a de- of the planning field to enhance communi- community more food secure”. The CFSC cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary, community fined geographic place. Without this struc- ty food security. CFAs are an important first is a national organization that engages in oriented, and spatial. Planners, she asserts, ture, a CFA can quickly become unwieldy step in planning for community food secu- advocacy and education on community can use these skills to help inform the CFA and lose site of its original goals. Individuals rity, not just because of the knowledge they food security issues, including providing re- process to address community food securi- involved in generating CFAs must engage create, but also because of their potential search support and technical assistance to ty and ensure that assessments undertaken in a balancing act that acknowledges the to build capacity within communities to en- communities engaging in CFAs. by communities develop as comprehen- larger social, political, and economic fac- act change in their food systems. However, A 2002 CFSC report entitled What’s sive an analysis as possible based on the tors beyond the local scale that impact the CFAs alone will not solve the food secu- Cooking in Your Food System recognizes the goals of the assessment. community food system in the defined area rity challenges facing communities across the country. The success of an assessment sustainability and security of the U.S. food years mirrors a growing interest in food diversity that exists in the CFA process, and without allowing the local focus of the as- Challenges and Methods for Enhancing does not lie solely in the comprehensive- system. These include: protecting farmland in the U.S. overall. Although these current that successful assessments take many dif- sessment to be consumed by them. With Future Community Food Assessments ness of the document it produces. Instead, from development; planning to reduce the food movements do not share a single vi- ferent forms. However, they also put forward their knowledge of the social, economic Communities that wish to con- the success of a CFA is tied to whether the environmental impacts of the food system; sion, the concept of community food se- a set of common themes that often exist in and physical environment, urban planners duct CFAs may face a variety of challenges process can serve as a catalyst for change using vacant land to support urban agricul- curity has emerged as a recurring theme high-quality assessments. According to the can help communities identify areas of to their implementation. The first is resourc- in the community’s food system. Planners ture; and engaging communities in food among many — though not all — of these CFSC, the following conditions contribute study that are appropriate for their CFAs. es. Ultimately, if municipalities are serious can both contribute to and learn from the systems planning issues. While previously a discourses. The “community” aspect of the to the creation of a quality assessment: “it A 2004 article on community food about changing the landscape of their food CFA process, empowering both communi- marginal issue in urban planning practice, concept of community food security is par- examines a range of food system issues, assessments by Pothukuchi identifies some system, they must put resources behind ties and the planning profession itself to the profession has begun to embrace the ticularly important, as it takes food-related and the connections between food and of the observed differences between CFAs these initiatives. Partnerships with local uni- develop food system plans. Yet they should notion that food must be integrated into problems out of the realm of the individual community goals; it involves a broad range that include planners and those that do versity planning departments are an option give equal attention to the CFA process. planning in order to address health, envi- and places them in a larger social and politi- of actors from the community, including in- not. Attributes of CFAs with participation for some communities to implement CFAs Through these efforts, urban planners can ronmental and quality of life issues facing cal context. When framed this way, commu- dividuals and organizations, and the public, from planners include: recognition of com- without funding. However, not every com- help communities transform the concepts communities all across the country. nity food security recognizes the problems private, and nonprofit sectors; it involves munity planning and government as solu- munity will have access to this sort of part- put forward in their CFAs into meaningful in the current U.S. food system as systemic, community residents in significant and tions to community food security and food nership. Planners can be involved in work- actions that will enhance community food The Development of Community Food and therefore seeks comprehensive instead meaningful ways, and builds community systems challenges; the identification of a ing with communities to develop models security today and in the years to come. Security of individual solutions. Pothukuchi points capacity for future actions; it uses participa- broader range of community concerns re- that will provide the necessary resources to The increased attention to food sys- out that community food security cannot tory and collaborative processes that gen- garding food; a broader range of research move CFAs forward. tems in the planning profession in recent be expected to solve all the current prob- erate results, build new partnerships, and methods; and a more complex incorpora- leave participants feeling satisfied with the Issues of geography and scale are tion of space, including the use of data

36 37 TheThe DominoDomino effecteffect A Student Film that Analyzes Neighborhood Politics and Affordable Housing ByBy ErinErin mcauliffmcauliff their film. In 2005, rezoning left the neighbor- tivists, the documentarians have realized that hood with a glut of newly built luxury hous- everyone conceives the problem on a differ- brian Paul, a fellow at Hunter’s Center b ing. Much of the recent development is out ent scale, sometimes accepting the forces cre- for Community Planning and Development, of place in a community more accustomed to ating the problem as separate from the symp- met Megan Sperry and Daniel Phelps dur- side-by-side townhouses and modest apart- toms. A community may witness gentrifica- ing a Media and Community Advocacy class ment buildings. Still, even more worrisome tion and development, but it does not always in the spring of 2010. Megan and Daniel are than the aesthetic disparity, is the fact that recognize the prevailing structures that create both MFA candidates in Hunter’s Integrated many units remain vacant due to the faltering the environment. Therefore, while current real Media Arts program, and together the three economy. Williamsburg itself can claim the estate and business interests might be re- are co-producers of the upcoming documen- highest number of stalled construction proj- sponsible for the woes of the neighborhood, tary, The Domino Effect. ects in New York City. residents are more likely to first acknowledge Their creative union was first made However, in the face of distress- the symptoms. Locals note the groan of the L possible by random pairing in Hunter’s multi- ing prospects of other recent developments, and G trains as they carry more and more new disciplinary class. By profession, Brian is an community leaders and activists generally residents and, slowly, communities recognize activist urban planner and public policy jour- ended up campaigning in favor of the rezon- friends and family have been pushed out or nalist. He never set out to make a full-length ing. These local dynamics are what originally local businesses can’t keep up with the rents. documentary, but when grouped with Phelps drew the Hunter students to the issue as a But, at this point it is hard to point fingers at and Sperry, he says everything fell into place. full-length documentary. “At first we found the institutions now offering the solutions. In Earlier that year, Brian had researched and the local politics confusing,” said Brian, and it this case, the developer’s promise of 30% af- written extensively about rezoning in Brook- caused them to further dissect the interests of fordable apartments- the 660 units, the 660 lyn. At his suggestion, the group decided to the local stakeholders. “There were residents hopes. take advantage of a proposed rezoning of the standing up at the Community Board meet- As Jane Jacobs said, “Although city Domino Sugar Factory to further explore the ing and demanding, ‘660 units are 660 hopes planning lacks tactics for building cities that issue in a short project. But according to Bri- for people like me!’ But we knew that this plan can work like cities, it does possess plenty of an, the project quickly snowballed. “It was all was basically just an extension of the 2005 re- tactics. They are aimed at carrying out strate- luck. These were supposed to be 20-minute zoning, and we knew that model didn’t work, gic lunacies. Unfortunately, they are effective.” quick and dirty one-offs. But we soon realized so what was going on here?” And that is why housing non-profits and poli- this was more than just a student film. The In the end, promised sections of ticians find themselves between a rock and a documentary, which focuses on the approved affordable housing won over community hard place, unable to turn down a seemingly rezoning and redevelopment of the Domino housing advocates and local politicians alike, generous compromise fully backed by the city Sugar Factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has all of whom are concerned about relocating and the Mayor’s agenda. It’s not an unattract- become a passion project for all three. displaced long-time residents in a rapidly ive offer, either, when you consider the public The Domino Sugar Factory was once gentrifying neighborhood. But Brian, Megan, plaza, the grassy knoll, 147,000 square feet of a symbol of industrial prosperity in a working- and Daniel want to know: what if these small community space, and a waterfront finally class neighborhood. The New Domino Proj- concessions to retain affordable housing are open to the public’s use. As was also the case ect, which will convert the factory into a 2,200 not enough? And furthermore, what if they with Atlantic Yards, we have seen community unit “village by the sea,” is slated to begin con- are part of a larger system that actually spurs leaders all over Brooklyn bargaining with de- struction at the end of 2011. While plans will gentrification? The Domino Effect posits that velopers to receive community benefits. preserve historical components of the façade as long as the city links affordable housing But are we responsible citizens (including the iconic Domino sign) the main with the market-based economy, partnering when developers’ interests come first, and building and two new bookended towers will developers will continue to gentrify neigh- “community benefits” are left on the table as be converted into housing at a price point borhoods beyond affordable, while their a negotiating chip? Brian, Megan, and Daniel mostly out of the reach of original residents major affordable investments remain in areas have concluded that we might be bargaining from the surrounding Brooklyn neighbor- already segregated from the rest of Brooklyn. away all we have left and it isn’t necessarily hoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint. The issue is up for debate, but the producers our only option. Affordable housing needs Change has filtered through the neighbor- of the The Domino Effect have so far made a in New York are very real and as profession- hoods, slowly reaching the water’s edge. The convincing argument that as a city we need als with a responsibility to our community we factory, which sits on the waterfront to the to reassess how we do business. may need to hold ourselves accountable and north of the Williamsburg Bridge, is not the What I found most impressive in talking to the realize the fight doesn’t stop at thirty percent. first local building targeted for development three producers, was how well they honed in as a consequence of rezoning (and vice ver- on some fundamental issues within the com- The Domino Effect will be released late sum- sa). It is this larger picture and the consequent munity itself, perhaps an effectual result of a mer/early fall 2011. You can find the film’s ramifications of development which Brian, class which paired planners and filmmakers. website at www.thedominoeffectmovie.com. Megan, and Daniel seem to be focusing on in In talking to local residents, politicians, and ac- 38 CONTACT URBAN REVIEW: [email protected] 695 Park Avenue West Building 1611 New York, NY 10065 PH: 212-772-5518 F: 212-772-5593 To learn more about the gradate program in Urban Affairs & Planning at Hunter College visit our website at: http://www.maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/urban HUNTER COLLEGE Department of Urban Affairs & Planning