URBAN
Volume III, Number II
Fall 2000
Table of Contents
URBAN Staff Rebecca Marie Hersh, Editor
Planner of the Month -- Fernando DeGuia Smart Growth: The Political Buzzword of the Year Candiates Speak on Sprawl The Presidential Race Planning Around the World Beyond Brownfields Conference Brownfields Bill Stalled in Senate Ph.D. News Student Poll Alumni News Department News Trading Places Conference
Page 3 Page 4 Pages 4 - 5 Pages 6 - 7 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 9 Pages 10 - 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15
Seth Spielman, Editor Hiliary Botein, Ph. D. Candidate Ebru A. Gencer, Ph. D. Candidate David Kantor, 1st Year MSUP Michele Payne, 2nd Year MSUP James “Cuz” Potter, 1st Year MSUP Devan Reiff, 2nd Year MSUP
Contact Us URBAN Newsletter 413 Avery Hall, GSAPP Urban Planning Program 1172 Amsterdam Avenue Columbia University
Letter from the Editors This issue of URBAN, the first of the 2000-2001 academic year, is coming out at an exciting time. The planning department is undergoing significant changes, as is the country’s political landscape. As a result, we’ve decided to use this issue to discuss both the changes in the department and the exciting changes in the political winds that have brought planning to the forefront in this year’s elections. Any practicing planner knows full well how intrinsically politics and planning are related. The political whims of the moment are major driving forces affecting everything from land use to brownfields redevelopment to transportation planning to environmental protection. As Fernando DeGuia points out in this month’s “Planner of the Month” interview, it can be a huge shock to an urban planning graduate who ventures out into the world without a full understanding of how paralyzed planners can be by the political process.
New York, NY 10027 e-mail: upnewsletter@columbia.edu web: http:// www.arch.columbia.edu/UP/ To learn more about the graduate program in Urban Planning at Columbia, visit our website or call 212.854.3513
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Fortunately for those of us looking for work, land use issues are hot topics in this year’s election, both nationally and locally. The presidential candidates have been asked repeatedly to address issues of sprawl, environmental degradation, and urban redevelopment, and numerous local elections are being fueled by citizens fed up with traffic congestion, open space loss, and pollution. The Editors Rebecca Marie Hersh Seth Spielman
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Volume III, Number II
Fall 2000
Planner of the Month: Fernando DeGuia Interview by Hilary Botein
For this issue’s Planner of the Month, URBAN interviewed Fernando DeGuia,a 2000 graduate of GSAP’s Urban Planning program and last year’s editor of URBAN. Fernando currently works for the New York City Office of Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington as a Mayoral Assistant. He has served in this position since September of 1999; he worked 25 hours per week (while attending Columbia full-time!) until June of 2000, when he became a full-time employee. URBAN: Can you describe your job and some of the projects that you are working on? FD: I serve as liaison between the city agencies that report to our office and the Deputy Mayor and Mayor’s office. I also work on special projects that the Deputy Mayor assigns me. My regular duties have me working with: the MTA (the Deputy Mayor is on the board); the Mayor’s Action Center; the Mayor’s Voluntary Action Center; the NYC Census; the Human Rights Commission; the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (the Deputy Mayor is the chairman of the board); and NYC Empowerment Zone (the Deputy Mayor is chairman of the board). I also handle correspondence with constituents. URBAN: How did Columbia’s Urban Planning program prepare you for your job? FD: Planning History and Planning Theo-
ry come to mind. Planning Law and Planning Process also were helpful. Planning New York City is a given. Three of the agencies I work with – the MTA, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Empowerment Zone – have a lot of development projects. Our office as a whole has a lot of economic development projects – we also work with the Economic Development Corporation regarding the Hunts Point produce market and fish market, and with the Parks Department (one of our agencies). The Community Assistance Unit, which works with local community boards, is also one of our agencies. The public involvement process, ULURP, economic development, the law, and Robert Moses come up a lot in our line of work. URBAN: What did the Urban Planning program not prepare you for? FD: I wish that GSAP provided more courses on real estate finance. I didn’t take advantage of the courses offered by the real estate program and really feel that they would have been helpful. Of course, the City has a whole department – Office of Management and Budget – that that evaluates the finances of most projects or helps answer questions we have, but it is still useful to be able to do some of the calculations yourself. GSAP also didn’t prepare me for the political side of planning. By political, I mean power and influence of individuals or interest groups. Being able to influence persons in positions of power really has a lot to do with which projects go up and which don’t move anywhere. Who you know really does matter. The real estate program offers a class that deals with the political side of real estate; I think a class dealing specifically with the political side of planning would be useful. In New York City, the Department of City Planning has little more than the ULURP process and the zoning code as its “powers.” It is not a dynamic agency. In the big picture, there are far more powerful agencies – city and state – which influence the shape of the
city. A class on economic development and the players involved and the dynamics between them would be very enlightening. It would certainly be an education to see where the power strings lead. All this is stuff that they don’t teach you in school. URBAN: What do you like the most about your job? FD: I like the fact that I have the opportunity to see so many issues and projects that affect our city (and before many of these items become public knowledge). As part of the mayor’s office, I am able to see the larger picture of what goes on in the city and how it runs. Work is never boring. URBAN: What is the hardest part of your job? FD: The hardest part must be dealing with constituents who call on us for help and I have to tell them that I cannot help them, that our office, the mayor’s office, cannot help them. Many people call City Hall and our office expecting the mayor to be able to assist them with a situation they find themselves in, a private situation. We can’t help them. We deal with city issues, issues that we actually have control over legally. We don’t interfere in private matters and many people expect that because we are the mayor’s office, we can do something about their situation. No matter how badly we may feel for them, sometimes we cannot provide the answer. We can help as much as we are able, but the mayor or deputy mayor can’t just snap his or her fingers and resolve their issue. In private matters, there is very little we can do. Another difficult thing inherent in working in a political office is navigating the political landscape. There are friends and there are not friends. I wouldn’t exactly call them enemies, since we have to be able to work with everyone, but just like everywhere else, personalities don’t always get along. 3
Politics & Planning Smart Growth: The Political Buzzword of the Year By Rebecca Marie Hersh With the nation’s citizens placing more attention on growth issues, state, local, and federal candidates are vying to position themselves as advocates for open space and smart growth. The Sierra Club released poll numbers last year indicating that 47 percent of voters would be more likely to support a presidential candidate prepared to aggressively attack the problem of urban sprawl. In September, Smart Growth America, a new nationwide coalition of over 60 public interest groups, released the results of a national poll showing that 78 percent of Americans support policies to curb sprawl. Over 80 percent of respondents think government should give priority to maintaining services and infrastructure in established communities before subsidizing sprawl. The emergence of sprawl as a national issue reflects the profound shift in the country’s demographics in recent years as more and more voters, led in part by the explosive growth of suburban-based high technology firms, move further out from traditional urban centers. As a result, in this election year, many House and Senate candidates are addressing voters’ concerns about overbuilding, dwindling open spaces, worsening traffic congestion, and deteriorating air and water quality. Some of the most competitive House races are occurring in suburban districts where issues such as traffic, open space, community character, overdevelopment, and deteriorating air and water quality have taken the front seat to election staples like taxes and gun control. Some candidates are holding town meetings to discuss the problems associated with out-of-control growth. Others have gone so far as to propose federal solutions such as promoting mass transit and changing the tax code to encourage more urban redevelopment. Another possible solution is the creation of new incentives for communities to clean up abandoned industrial sites and preserve farmland. The Washington Post reported in September that sprawl and smart growth are hot 4
issues in closely contested House races in Washington, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Utah, Illinois, Nevada, and Colorado and in Senate campaigns in Michigan and Minnesota. “I think it’s kind of the sleeper issue of the campaign,” speculates Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) in The Washington Post article. “As I look around the country at the top two or three dozen races for the House, these are the issues that are on the minds of voters, and most importantly, the so-called swing voters.” Furthermore, the September 2000 issue of APA’s Planning magazine profiles House races throughout the nation where land use issues are at the forefront of debate. Bringing further attention to the matter is the Sierra Club, which has launched an $8 million TV advertising campaign on behalf of “smart growth” congressional candidates in Colorado, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington. The group is also preparing 2 million voter guides for the 12 House and Senate races, and also for the presidential campaign, outlining the candidates’ stances on sprawlrelated issues. If the message hits home, it could help determine whether the Democrats or Republicans control the next Congress, since it packs the greatest appeal in many of the suburban “swing” districts where neither party has a lock on the seat. According to Planning, most of the hotly contested races are occurring in suburban areas facing demographic changes and rapid growth, and as a result, these races are seeing smart growth emerge as a major issue. Whatever the outcome on November 7 th, communities’ interests in smart growth will surely continue to provide more work for planners for years to come.
Candidates Speak on Sprawl Recently, Republican nominee Governor George W. Bush and Democratic nominee Vice-President Albert Gore Jr. responded to a question posed by the Planning Commissioners Journal (www.plannersweb.com) about how they would approach growth issues. The candidates’ responses, printed here, has been reprinted with the permission of the Planning Commissioners Journal. Question: “Many citizens appear increasingly concerned about sprawl, the declining health of downtown areas, and the loss of open space and natural areas. While many state and local governments are seeking to address these concerns, we would like to know what role, if any, you believe the federal government should play?” Response from Governor George W. Bush: One way to address sprawl is to make cities more attractive to families and businesses. Inner-city schools must be made more effective, we must continue to combat crime, Brownfields must be cleaned up and redeveloped, and taxes and regulations must provide an atmosphere where entrepreneurs can flourish. To address urban sprawl and cleanup and redevelop the nation’s 450,000 brownfields, I will direct the EPA to establish high standards for brownfield cleanups that will provide more flexibility than the current Superfund standards; provide redevelopers with protection from federal liability at brownfields cleaned up under state programs that meet high federal standards; focus the efforts of the federal government on developing cleanup techniques and new cleanup technologies; reform the Brownfield Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund by cutting red tape and block granting funds to the states; and extend permanently the brownfield cleanup tax incentive that is scheduled to ex-
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Volume III, Number II
town areas, and the loss of open space and natural areas. As a longtime advocate of environmental protection and smart growth, I share their concern. That is why I have launched my initiative to help restore livable communities – places where young and old can walk, bike, and play together; places where we not only protect historic old neighborhoods, but where farms, green spaces, and forests add life and beauty to the newest of suburbs; places where a high quality of life attracts cutting-edge businesses and talented employees; places where we can spend less time in traffic and more time with our families.
pire on December 31, 2001. To encourage more Local and Private Conservation, I will fully fund the $900 million Land and Water Conservation Fund and provide 50 percent for state and local conservation efforts; establish the Private Stewardship Grant Program to provide $10 million of the federal portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund to individuals and groups engaged in local, private conservation; support excluding 50 percent of any gain realized from private, voluntary sales of land or interests in land for conservation purposes; and eliminate the death tax to make it easier for private land owners to pass their land, intact, from one generation to the next. Infrastructure is also an important component addressing sprawl and the federal government must recognize that solving traffic congestion requires a comprehensive approach that provides maximum flexibility. That’s why I believe states receiving federal gasoline tax dollars should have the necessary flexibility from federal strings to meet their diverse needs. Response from Vice President Al Gore: Many citizens are increasingly concerned about sprawl, the declining health of down-
In some communities, unplanned sprawl and poor development decisions have compromised the American tradition of development that enhances civic life and family well-being. As President, I will work to help communities meet this challenge — not through a top-down federal role, but by giving communities more choices and more of the tools and resources they need to preserve green spaces, ease traffic congestion, promote regional cooperation, improve schools, and enhance economic competitiveness — so communities can grow according to their own local values. More green and open spaces. I am committed to preserving open spaces, building and renovating parks, improving water quality, and cleaning up old, abandoned factory lots. To do this, I have proposed tax initiatives for state and local governments that will leverage $9.5 billion in total investment and support creating a permanent fund of over $1 billion a year in Federal assistance devoted to greenspace and land conservation.
Fall 2000
Schools as centers of communities. At a time when too many schools are arbitrarily built farther and farther away from the center of communities, I will work to encourage school districts to involve the whole community in planning and designing new schools — in locations that make sense to the whole community. Urban redevelopment. Through innovative strategies such as the Empowerment Zone initiative to attract private investment to distressed communities, and the agreement I announced last year under which the nation’s homebuilders will build one million new homes in urban America over the next ten years, I will work to promote investment and redevelopment in historic and neglected neighborhoods, so that they are not simply abandoned as people move further and further out. Regional cooperation for smarter growth. Issues like traffic, air pollution, and jobs don’t recognize defined borders, and neither should our solutions. I will continue to work to bring communities together, and to provide new planning and mapping tools to help them grow cooperatively, according to local values and shared goals. At every step of the way, I will highlight local successes — and make clear that the federal government’s role should never be that of “beauty commissar.” Instead, I will strive to amplify citizens’ voices, and help communities build and grow according to their own choices.
Easing traffic congestion. By investing in mass transit and light rail, and by helping communities develop alternatives to clogged highways, I believe we can reduce traffic and air pollution, and build the stronger sense of community that close-knit neighborhoods foster. 5
Politics & Planning The Presidential Race By Rebecca Marie Hersh Encouraged by Vice President Gore, the Clinton administration raised sprawl’s profile last year when it proposed a $10 billion “livability agenda” that included proposals for increased subsidies for mass transit and tax credits to encourage farmland protection. While these issues certainly used to be primarily local issues, this year’s presidential candidates are discussing them in the context of what Washington can do to help. The candidates are proposing an array of federal solutions such as altering the tax code to encourage urban redevelopment, promoting mass transit, and creating incentives for communities to protect farmlands, clean up abandoned industrial sites, and safeguard waterways.
costs of environmental cleanup. In a Gore administration, states that have natural treasures to protect would not have to completely shoulder the burden of doing so; the whole country would chip in. Air and Water Under Bush as governor, Texas reports lower levels of smog and water pollution. The state required older electric utilities to curb emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide and crafted a plan where industrial plants would voluntarily reduce air pollution. Still, by almost every measure, air and water pollution in Texas are serious problems, exacerbated by Bush’s ambivalence toward making the environment a priority. Last year, Houston became America’s most smog-filled city. It ranks first in the country in toxic releases by heavy polluters, and in the number of facilities that violate clean-water standards. Bush opposes stricter clean air standards, and he has lobbied to weaken enforcement of the Clean Air Act. The Dallas Morning News reported that out of 461 polluting
Clearly, our leaders in Washington are beginning to realize that planning, land use, and environmental policy have much broader implications beyond the local level for national growth, public health, economic well-being, and environmental protection. Though George W. Bush and Al Gore disagree on how to pursue their goals, they both have moved toward the middle as “green” politics arrives in the mainHouston stream.
porting clean air, clean water and reductions in toxic substances, Gore has proposed added protections for distressed neighborhoods and has long backed the “Right to Know” law that informs residents of toxic releases in their neighborhoods. Gore supports mandatory protections under the Clean Air Act and has prodded automakers to build more fuel-efficient cars. Bush opposes mandatory emissions cuts and effectively cut auto and industrial inspections in Texas. And though Bush criticizes the Environmental Protection Agency as proof that federal environmental policy “fails to reward innovation or results,” it was pressure by the EPA, in the form of threatened cuts in federal highway funds, that prompted Texas to move against heavy-polluting power plants. Natural Resources Both candidates have proposed considerable spending for national parks. Bush has promised to spend $4.9 billion over five years to pay for park maintenance. While Texas ranks 49th in the country in per cap-
ranks first in the country in toxic releases by heavy polluters, and in the number of facilities that violate cleanwater standards.
Bush and Gore both promise to improve air and water quality, protect natural resources, revive inner cities, and limit the damage caused by population growth and sprawl. The difference is how. Bush would give incentives to property owners and businesses rather than rely on government mandates. He would also shift regulatory control to cities and states. Gore, too, supports voluntary collaboration with the private sector, but he is much more willing to enforce uniform environmental standards and to preserve strong federal oversight. Bush’s platform reflects his appreciation for states’ rights; he has criticized the EPA for using a “big stick.” Gore is comfortable using federal power to guide the states, which can induce Congress to offset the 6
plants in Texas that didn’t face mandatory state or federal emission cuts, only 30 responded to his vaunted voluntary program to clean up the state’s air. In fairness, Bush inherited many of Texas’ problems. The state is home to much of the nation’s oil, gas and chemical industry, the Texas governor is constitutionally weak compared to other chief executives, and much of the electorate shares Bush’s disdain for government regulation. Throughout his entire career, Gore has worked to toughen clean air and water standards, and his commitment to enforcing industry compliance is firmly established. Aside from consistently sup-
ita spending for state parks, Bush has generally supported attempts by the states to garner more federal money., and he has proposed grants and tax credits for private landowners who practice conservation or who sell their land for environmental purposes, a move that represents Bush’s favored market-based approach for public lands management. Gore supports far more limits than Bush on drilling and mining, and has opposed Bush’s proposal to allow oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Gore would also extend the moratorium on oil drilling off the coasts of Florida and California and ban new drilling under existing leases.
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Fall 2000
Planning Around the World A compilation of recent planning news and views from all over the globe. As president, Bush says that he would reverse President Clinton’s wild-forest initiative and open up the last roadless areas in the national forests to logging. He also opposes the new national monuments approved in the Clinton-Gore years, and since their management plans are still unwritten, his administration could undermine the new designations. Growth Bush and Gore agree on several ways to manage growth. Both promise to expand the brownfield tax credit, which lures businesses to develop in urban areas. Gore proposed the “Better America Bonds” to help communities preserve green space and farmland, while Bush has said that controlling sprawl should be left to local governments. Texas is first in loss of farmland to development.
Cabin Fever Development is running wild on lakeside land in the upper Midwest, with more and more people scrambling to build getaways and 3,000-square-foot “cabins.” The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has predicted that within two decades, all of the state’s 12,400 lakes not owned by the public will be developed. Some Midwesterners wouldn’t be surprised if it happened even sooner. This building boom is bad news for species that inhabit shoreline areas, from green frogs to common loons. For more info, visit http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/ness090800.stm Suing Sprawl In a novel move to slow sprawl, the Forest Conservation Council and Friends of the Earth are suing the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for allegedly violating federal environmental laws by not considering the impacts of its lending practices. According to the groups, the SBA is fueling sprawl by providing millions of dollars for construction and expansion of businesses located in sprawling, low density suburbs without considering the consequences of those loans. The groups say projects made possible through these loans are contributing to a host of environmental ills, such as air and water pollution, farmland loss, forest loss, congestion, noise, and increased infrastructure costs for local governments. The lawsuit alleges that the SBA is violating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its own regulations by failing to disclose and mitigate the effects of its lending programs on sprawl. The lawsuit seeks an immediate suspension of SBA loan decisions that contribute to sprawl.
Gore helped to salvage the 1997 Kyoto global-warming pact, which seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Environmentalists fault the Clinton-Gore administration for not making Kyoto a priority, but Bush opposes the pact altogether, calling it unfair and overly expensive for American business. Despite their disagreement over Kyoto, Gore and Bush both support more research into global warming, private efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions, and the development of new technologies to counter climate change.
Environmental News Service (www.enn.com), October 2000
While both candidates surely agree that smart growth, sprawl, urban redevelopment, housing, and environmental degradation are important issues, this year’s presidential election is about two profoundly different visions of the federal government’s role in these issues. Bush’s view is that it has little role at all. Gore, on the other hand, sees government as a powerful instrument of change to be used to protect natural resources, spare the landscape, and make cities safer and more livable. Which approach prevails will be decided by the American people on November 7 th.
Thinking Beyond the Pavement in MD
Raising Arizona If approved in November, Arizona’s Proposition 202, a measure that would give a state long associated with out-of-control growth one of the toughest anti-sprawl laws in the nation, would make Arizona the second state to delineate growth boundaries around population centers. The other is Oregon. Arizona added more than 1 million residents in the last 10 years. The real estate industry, however, has launched a multimillion-dollar effort to fight the proposal – which it claims will inflate housing prices, deflate the state economy, and increase density. In addition, the Arizona Legislature is lobbying against the environmentalists’ land-use agenda, weighing in on the side of private property rights. Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com), September 2000 Maryland’s DOT is solving traffic woes by focusing on pedestrian access to public transit. Silver Spring permanently closed a street to allow subway access; Bladensburg and Bethesda constructed bridges and walkways leading to transit stops. It’s part of an initiative called “thinking beyond the pavement,” which calls for landscaped areas to draw commuters away from their cars and towards scenic routes that lead to mass transit. Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com), September 2000 Gap Between Minimum Wage and Rental Housing Costs Grows On September 20th, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released “Out of Reach 2000: The Growing Gap Between Housing Costs and Income of Poor People in the United States.” The report analyzes the relationship between rental housing costs and incomes throughout the country. The research finds that nowhere in the country can a full-time minimum wage worker afford the cost of housing at the fair market rent. For more information, see the entire report online: http://www.nlihc.org 7
Politics & Planning Beyond Brownfields By David Kantor (with thanks to Devan Reiff’s copious notes) The Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development sponsored a brownfields conference on October 16th and 17 th. Titled “Beyond Brownfields: Visions of Equitable and Sustainable Development,” the conference brought together numerous parties interested in the redevelopment of brownfield sites. The conference included presentations from some of Germany’s most successful projects, roundtable discussions on the impediments and politics of brownfield redevelopment, and presentations from boosters of sustainable development, as well as local activist groups, middle-men, and developers. It became apparent from the conference that while America’s litigious society slows brownfield redevelopment and discourages investors, some areas of Europe have been able to find great successes, reinvigorating their waterfronts, providing new greenswards, and building cultural and entertainment venues. The German representatives explained the creation of International Building Exhibition Emscher Park (IBA), perhaps the paragon of brownfield redevelopment success, as well as other redevelopment projects that keyed highly successful riparian areas in Bochum, a former mining town. As the students from Trading Places program can attest, the IBA is a miracle of creativity, situated in one of the most distressed parts of the Ruhr megalopolis. It is a region characterized by the remnants of a formerly booming industrial culture, and hardly one prone to innovation. By turning the old industrial buildings into a high quality multi-use complex of restaurants, playgrounds, art exhibits, homes, and businesses, they reached their objective of jumpstarting modernization for the Ruhr region. There was also representation from Northern Ireland, the location of a project called Laganside, named after the riparian development along the Lagan River that runs through Belfast. The project’s purpose is 8
to meet the social and economic needs of the inner-city areas of Belfast, and it seems to be generating a good deal of enthusiasm. The project leaders seem to have a clear understanding of the need to make regeneration an ongoing activity of planned and sustained public intervention, not just a one-time cure-all. (For more information, see their web site: http:// www.laganside.com.)
Local issues were discussed at roundtable discussions held by citizen activist groups, private developers, authors, and government officials on such topics as the obstacles to cleaning up brownfields in New York City and the politics involved. Assemblyman Vito Lopez stressed that this was more than just an ecological issue, and that brownfields also relate to housing, de-
velopment, and economic and environmental justice. Jody Kass, of the New York City Housing Partnership predicted that the future on the brownfields issue will be people getting involved “on purpose,” rather than by accident, the way it has been done until now. Congressman Jerrold Nadler stressed that the area is in need of more rail freight to reduce the amount of dangerous and polluting truck traffic in the Bronx and parts of Brooklyn. He estimated that the city needs approximately 300 acres of rail transfer terminals, which could be housed on brownfields. One important piece of the puzzle that was missing from the conference was the issue of the globalization process and its resulting out-migration of manufacturing industries. The conference displayed glowing examples of Germany’s successes at building urban parks, redeveloping waterfronts, and invigorating the economy, but there was no discussion of issues like the environmental burdens that third world countries could shoulder as they take on the manufacturing plants that vacated older European and North American industrial centers. The presentation that came closest to addressing this topic was one held by environmental planner Timothy Beatley, author of Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities. While all the other lectures were quite good, his was particularly inspiring because it highlighted the possibilities of a proactive pollution prevention plan: photovoltaic cells, nullified power plant emissions via greenhouse co-oping, transit villages, and more. The conference was a great educational tool, and provided inspiration and the opportunity to meet the players in this complex process.
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Fall 2000
Brownfields Bill Stalled in Senate A bill to help clean brownfields has been blocked for months because of opposition from the Senate’s top Republican. An Associated Press article that ran in a number of national newspapers on October 17th uncovered a trade between two GOP senators that has undermined an important piece of brownfield legislation that would provide as much as $150 million a year for brownfield restoration programs. The legislation would also ensure that developers willing to build on the sites would have modest cleanup costs and would be insulated from future lawsuits under the federal Superfund toxic waste law. The bill has the support of the Clinton administration and is sponsored by 67 senators, including 28 Republicans. The bill’s sponsors complain that Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., won’t allow the bill to come up for a vote because of a promise he made in secret to another GOP lawmaker, Idaho Senator Michael Crapo, last November. Lott received Crapo’s assurance that he would not try to block a bill that would exempt scrap metal recyclers from Superfund requirements. According to the article, one of Lott’s college friends, now in the scrap metal business, lobbied Lott on the issue. Congress passed the scrap metal bill four days after Lott wrote a letter to Crapo outlining the agreement. In return for Crapo not interfering in the scrap metal bill, Lott promised in his letter to “use the privilege of my position as majority leader to ensure ... no brownfields proposal ... will be allowed to be considered or acted upon by the Senate during this Congress.” According to congressional sources who spoke to the Associated Press reporter on condition of anonymity, Crapo pressed Lott to stand by his word, even as the bill’s sponsors pushed for its passage. The article says that Lott has told colleagues he does not intend to allow a vote on the measure in the final week of this Congress unless Crapo’s concerns are addressed. Crapo’s spokeswoman told the AP that the senator continued to oppose any “piece-
meal” legislation to deal with narrow problems with the Superfund law. As you “peel away the issues” one by one it reduces the chance of a comprehensive overhaul of the 1980 law, she said. But many Democratic and Republican senators who support the legislation contend that Crapo has another agenda: protecting Idaho mining interests who are facing huge Superfund cleanup costs unless the basic law – not just brownfields provisions – is dramatically changed. Specifically, a comprehensive overhaul is the only way Crapo can get changes in the current law that allows for huge damages for destruc-
Ph.D. News
tion of natural resources – lakes, streams or wetlands, for example – because of past toxic waste disposal. One of the largest Superfund sites in the country is in northern Idaho as a result of widespread contamination of the Coeur d’Alene River Basin after more than a century of silver mining and smelting. Mining companies could face massive cleanup costs if the government pursues compensation for natural resource destruction. The Senate brownfields bill is S.2700. To find the bill on the web, visit: http://thomas.loc.gov/ The EPA’s Superfund program site: http:// www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/index.htm
By Ebru A. Gencer Ph.D. News, a new feature for URBAN, is an update of what’s going on with the Ph.D. students in our program. For this issue, we compiled a list of the department’s Ph.D. candidates and highlighted each person’s dissertation topic. In future issues, we plan to explore these topics in depth with interviews and features of Ph.D. research or conference papers. Milena Gomez: Immigration and Urban Development Stephen M. King: History of the Perception of Nature and Environment in Planning Hilary Botein: Housing, Community Development, and Neighborhood Change Joshua Levi Schank: Alternatives for Relieving Airside Airport Congestion Neil Pogorelsky: Public-Private Partnerships for Local Economic Development K il Huh: Community Economic Development
Rachel Stein: Arbitrating Aesthetics: Deciding the Built Environment and the Dilemma of the Public Interest Sabrina L. Williams: Impact of Low-Income Residents’ Concept of “Meaning” on Urban Policy Development Yoonjong Choi: Co-location Phenomena of Dot-Commers Ebru A. Gencer: Ethnicity and Public Space Ligia Maria Largura: Social Dimensions of Urban Water Policies: Case Studies from Brazil Kakoli Ray: Displaced Populations: Re-Shaping International Planning Durval Dias Jr.: The Impact of Tourism on Urban Spaces John Chin: Nonprofit Organizations, Community Participation, and Health and Human Services Planning in the Postindustrial Period: Case Study, NY HIV Planning Council Leticia Mendoza: Fiscal Decentralization Mark C. Walker: The Benefits of Locating Destination Land Uses in Close Proximity to Regional Transit Stations Simone Buechler: Enacting the Global Economy in São Paulo, Brazil: The Impact of Labor Market Restructuring on Low-Income Women. 9
Student Poll For this issue of URBAN, we decided to get to know our peers, both old and new. We asked the first-year planners to tell us a little bit about who they are, where they come from, and what brought them to Columbia’s Urban Planning program. As for the second-year and Ph.D. students, we asked them to tell us how they spent their summer, so we could keep abreast of all of the interesting jobs everybody had!
2nd Year and Ph.D.s Tara Noel Sullivan I worked in the Preservation Department of the NYC Landmark Preservation Commission, which regulates new construction or renovation on any landmark or within a historic district. I worked on updating the Madison Avenue design guidelines. I sat in on meetings, went to press conferences, walking tours, and to the top of the Woolworth Building – great views! I learned how the preservation process works, from designation to regulation. Working for the City wasn’t that bad, although I learned that everything is political – which can be very frustrating. Mic Gruber In June and July I worked as research assistant for the integrated waste management project at SIPA. I conducted research on innovative waste management strategies from around the world and prepared a report on new environmental sound techniques and approaches. In August I led the Trading Places conference through Amsterdam, Dortmund, Berlin, NY, NJ and New England. Joshua Levi Schank I worked as a transportation planner for the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee (PCAC) to the MTA, an independent state agency funded by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). I monitored infrastructure projects in which the MTA is involved. The job was great, since I got to deal with transit issues all day. I have an optimistic outlook, as I do think things can be changed. However, I also realize the value of accomplishing incremental, smaller-scale improvements in the shortterm. Ryan Southard “Working” might not be the most accu10
rate term to describe my summer activities, but when followed by the qualifier “for the City of New York”.... you get the picture. I wear a tie, tickle the keyboard, click the mouse, and wonder to myself how much longer this will pass for a hard day’s work. (When Jerry Springer gets a live webcast, it’s all over!) I was cubed in the Housing and Land Use division of the Manhattan Borough President’s Office. Community Gardens are vulnerable again, and I worked with advocacy groups and other elected officials to flesh out the Borough President’s position on new legislation aimed at protecting the gardens. I was frequently dispatched to various sections of Harlem, where the City owns large swaths of land, for missions similar to those from last year’s Workshop. The Sanborn and I were very intimate. While my “work” here was fulfilling in its own way, I looked forward to Elliott’s goofy recycled humor, Devan’s constant references to Portland, Danielle’s adorable southern accent, and above all, a renovated studio. Jangkun Kim I worked for the Korean local government concerning the joint investment project between this authority and private enterprise. I evaluated the validity of proposals that private enerprises suggested. Seth Spielman I worked at the NJ Office of State Planning where I created a database of federal spending on smart growth related issues. I spent two weeks in the Allagash Wilderness Area in Northern Maine and two weeks in Prague, Budapest, and the High Tatras Mountains in Slovakia. Christine Susanne Williams I spent the summer in London working for Aukett Europe, an international planning and architecture firm. I worked on a number of projects, papers and presentations, including background studies on Sweden, Spain and Turkey for potential projects in the region. I also participated in a number of meetings and worked on some schematic studies for two interesting mixed-use projects in Scotland and London. I learned a good deal about European forms of zoning, the impact of American developers (development of new suburbs around Disney-Paris), and pro-
gressive design of new mixed-use suburbs. Jon Deluzio I worked for myself as an independent consultant doing real estate consulting/valuation work. I spent all of my remaining time doing background reading and conducting field research for my thesis. My thesis is also a business plan: I want to build infill affordable housing for senior citizens in suburban communities. I want to utilize the low income housing tax credit program, low interest bond financing, CDBG, real estate tax abatements, and anything it takes to get it built. Kil Huh I taught a summer course at Barnard. Devan Jason Reiff I began an internship with the NYC Housing Partnership, working with two amazing bosses who are trying to make affordable housing and sustainable development mesh. The Partnership builds and rehabs home-ownership units for the City, but the section I work for is attempting to reform the state’s brownfields laws and introduce green building techniques into the City’s developments. Inspiring stuff. I helped plan and enjoy the Trading Places conference in Amsterdam, Emscher Park, Berlin and NY. Vicky Chan I worked for UTAP (Urban Technical Assistance Project) this summer, working on “Sharing Diversity Through Community Action: A 197-a Plan for Community Board 9.” I conducted physical surveys of neighborhoods, and mapped social, financial, and physical data using ArcView. Milena Gomez For the past 14 years I worked at the Universidad Externado de Colombia. I was Vice Dean of the School of Finances, Government and International Relations and taught International Relations courses. Patricia Anne McMahon-Houser I’m a second year Ph.D. student – and a teacher and parent. My summer was spent studying for and taking comprehensive exams and taking care of my family (lackluster
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but important!). Katherine Tucker Wood I worked for the 42nd St. Development Project, a division of the Empire State Development Corp. My tasks included review and analysis of retail and business signage proposals to determine their compliance with 42DP guidelines; creation of a database cataloging progress (development status, occupancy, signage) of the 8 individual sites within the project; and assistance with coordinating a design competition for the new New York Times headquarters slated for the east side of Eighth Ave. between 40th and 41st Streets. Danielle N. Harris This summer I worked at the Urban Technical Assistance Project (UTAP) here in New York on a couple of different projects, including the 197-A plan for Community Board 9 and 10, and on a proposal to provide technical assistance to HDFCs. Rebecca Marie Hersh I worked for the New Jersey Office of State Planning in Trenton. The commute was hell, but I got to work on some interesting projects, including writing a manual called “Planning New Jersey,” a publication to guide municipal officials to develop smart growth master plans consistent with NJ’s State Plan. I also worked on the summary document for the new and improved State Plan, and a number of presentations for outreach/information sessions to promote the Plan and educate the public on its goals.
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to be. And if you’ve got to start somewhere to mold reality, then following dreams is a lot more interesting than following sheep, which I understand can be a pretty smelly experience. Nicholas Salas I’m originally from Detroit, Michigan. My background is in economic and marketing analysis. I’m interested in how the physical geography and the built environment affect the human condition. My interest is in economic development. Jay Winston Shuffield I’m originally from a small industrial town in Oregon, and lived in Chicago for several years. The transformations my hometown underwent when I was growing up, coupled with various forms of built environment I discovered once I began traveling, sparked an interest in planning. I’m interested in the built environment and how it can be regulated and the manner in which images of it are produced. Jenny Chen I am from New York City. I majored in PoliEcon at Barnard College and graduated in 1997. I worked as a fundraiser at the Community Service Society and the Asia Society after graduation. In college, I helped on various campaigns and local political offices in college. My interests are: international planning (Southeast Asia & South Asia), regional planning, and economic development (inner city).
Fall 2000
Ann Tomoko Yamamoto I’ve been living in NYC for 12 years, but I’m from Indiana. Before urban planning, I was doing TV & film production in NYC, covering U.S. current events for Japanese TV, and location-managing independent features. But I was always dreaming about cities, not movies. So, I made the switch to planning earlier this year, interning at the Municipal Art Society here in NYC. I’m interested in international planning. Maria Nichan Pamoukian I’m Lebanese, originally Armenian. I grew up in Dubai (UAE) and I moved to NY 5 years ago. I just graduated from NYU, where I studied urban studies. I’ve always been interested in city formation because I’ve moved around a lot and traveled to many different countries. I wanted to stay in NY because I realize the importance of being in an urban environment for studying planning. I am interested in international planning and the issues of globalization and the spatial aspect of world economies. Stefan Smith I’m originally from New York City. I got my BA in History at UC Berkeley, and worked at the City of Berkeley Planning Department during my senior year. I’m interested in planning because of my urban focus in my history degree, and I took a handful of undergraduate planning courses. I’m interested in development issues. Jennifer Hui-Jun Sun I grew up in Northern California, and I
1st Year Students David Benjamin Kantor I’m originally from Sarasota, Florida, and I went to Washington University in St. Louis. After college, I lived in Israel for a year, in Costa Rica for 1/2 year, Dallas for 2 years, then Colorado for 2 years. My interests are environmental and health-related, because I think those are the primary issues society needs to address. I know planners are sometimes rendered impotent by a bureaucratic system bent to the needs of the powerful, and so I know that to many, I’m dreaming. But the way I see it, reality is what we deem it 11
Student Poll spent the last 9 years in L.A., where I was involved with labor and community organizing in Asian American communities and multiethnic coalitions. I became interested in planning when I organized a mapping project in low-income immigrant communities. I want to equip myself with the technical skills and theoretical background to work more effectively for change. My interest is in bringing community planning, teaching, community organizing, and Buddhism together in my work and life. Natalie Hon I’m from Auckland, New Zealand. I’ve my undergraduate urban planning training at University of Auckland. I graduated last year and went to Sydney to study Urban Design and Development at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. After finishing half the degree, I came to Columbia. I’m interested in policies related to multiculturalism and urban economic development in metropolitan areas. James Jason Garland I’m from Lake Charles, Louisiana. What brought me to planning? My interest of the environment and my internship experiences involving planning. My interests are environmental and/or housing. James “Cuz” Potter I’m from Mystic, CT via Boston, San Francisco, and Korea. I drew and painted pictures in San Francisco while working in a bicycle shop, decided to get my act together and moved to Korea, where I wound up editing and translating for the International Affairs Division of the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Labor of the Republic of Korea. I came to planning because I didn’t think I could work on problems in a direct and tangible enough way if I stuck with simply the big environmental issues. I’m interested in sustainable community development in developing countries...and now GIS. Kelly Ross I have a BA in History from the U. of Kansas. My interest in urban planning stemmed from an interest in Historic Preservation (I actually started a master’s degree program in H.P. at Cornell then switched to Urban Planning at Columbia). I’m also in12
terested in economic development. Christina Michaelian I’m from New York, graduated from Binghamton University this past year with a double degree in Environmental Science and Geography with a concentration in planning. My interests lie on the environmental side of planning, but I still want to get a taste for other areas in planning. Lani Hsiao My undergrad degree is in Civil & Environmental Engineering, and I worked in multimedia in NYC for four years. Working in NY, Europe, and SE Asia stimulated my interested in International Planning. Myrna Elizabeth Iton I’m from El Salvador, and immigrated to San Francisco in 1982. I was a liberal arts major and have worked as a tenant and
environmenta justice organizer for 10 years. I also worked as a legislative aide for a member of the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco, where I staffed the housing and social services and the zoning and land use committees. I came to planning school because I need better skills to do what I want to do; the American Left and the Labor movement have not had an articulated urban agenda in a long time, and I’d like to help create and implement that. Ted Bardacke I’m from San Francisco CA. I have a background in Journalism. Being able to think about buildings and politics and economics in one big jumble is what brought me to planning and I have an interest in all things international, whether here in NYC or abroad.
Summer in Bangkok Michele Payne’s response to URBAN’s student poll was particularly interesting; her summer working for the UN in Bangkok is described below. I had an internship with the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, Thailand. There are Regional Commissions for many parts of the world, but ESCAP covers the largest region and the biggest chunk of the world’s population. I worked for the Human Settlements section, which works primarily with the UN Habitat (UN Commission on Human Settlements) in the context of the priorities set by the ESCAP Regional Commission. The principal project I worked on was a study on the involvement of women in local government throughout the ESCAP region. This included: helping prepare draft guidelines for a comparative study between countries. I also helped prepare draft guidelines for a study of the effect of land speculation. This is something that affects housing distribution in Asia’s rapidly urbanizing countries. This is interesting because many countries like Thailand and Indonesia have had incredible experiences using housing stock as a speculative commodity. For example, when Thailand’s economy collapsed several years ago, 350,000 housing units were built but never lived in, and the buyers and sellers did not acquire or dispose of the units with the intention that the property would be income-producing. They bought and sold looking for a rapid capital gain over a short time. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that in a place like Bangkok, the land market is not very efficient. There are few subdivision controls of the kind we are used to in developed countries (such as the requirement that land be subdivided in an orderly way so that no land is cut off from the possibility of access) and so on. Squatting is a huge issue too. Enormous numbers of people moving to cities for jobs, and they often live in squatter communities without adequate land tenure or security that they can stay. I went on a field trip with some planning students from the Asian Institute of Technology and saw a slum called Khlong Toey, which houses 100,000 people on land owned by the Bangkok Port Authority.
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Volume III, Number II
Fall 2000
Alumni News By Josh Moreinis, Class of ’88 Alumni News is provided each month by the Columbia GSAPP Graduate Program in Urban Planning Alumni Association. URBAN appreciates their commitment to sharing their post-graduation professional experiences with the readers of URBAN. Held April 15th – 19 th at the Hilton Towers, the 2000 American Planning Association (APA) conference in New York City turned out to be an outstanding success for the New York Metro Chapter APA and area planning programs. Columbia maintained a strong presence throughout, with several alumni taking key roles in organizing panels, mobile workshops tours, consultant exhibits, and events for the APA Metro Chapter, including John O. Phillips, GSAPP class of ’66, one of the chairs of the Metro Chapter Host Committee. Professor Sigurd Grava was inducted as an AICP Fellow at Sunday night’s FAICP induction ceremony at the Hilton. The climax of the conference for the GSAPP Planning Program was the Tuesday night Columbia reception at the Municipal Art Society, which brought together nearly thirty years of planning graduates and was attended by several hundred people. Elliott Sclar, Program Director, Ana Puszkin-Chevlin, class of ’89, Assistant Program Director, and the staff and students of Columbia’s Graduate Program in Urban Planning put together an event that will long be remembered. The Columbia Planning Program’s booth at the conference highlighted the program’s recent accomplishments, with student attendees from other parts of the country enjoying the display and commenting on Columbia’s reputation as a leader in developing on-line planning applications, thanks in part to the dedication to upgrading the program’s technology resources shown by recent past program Chair, Lionel McIntyre, class of ’88. Students and alumni had a chance to network at the exhibit booth, and at Monday night’s All Schools Reception, where Columbia had a table attended by graduates Peter Liebowitz, class of ’82, of Allee King Rosen & Fleming; Josh Moreinis, ’88, of Parsons Brinckerhoff; Ana Puszkin-Chevlin, ’89, Assistant Program Director; Mark Walker, of
Parsons Brinckerhof; and other consultants and agency staff from around the country. The Tuesday evening event was an overwhelming success in providing the opportunity for a diverse array of alumni to catch up on each other’s careers. One alum in attendance at the Municipal Arts Society event was Joseph Hayman, class of ’64. He told an Alumni Association member born in 1964 that following graduation, his career eventually evolved from planning into real estate development, though he has remained active in planning decision-making as a local planning board member for the Town of Ridgefield, Connecticut. There was news from the Alumni Association as well. Suany Chough, class of ’98, related to fellow Alumni Association members, including Anthony Borrelli, class of ’96 and director of the UTAP community planning team, some of her impressions of the rapidly changing city of Oakland California, where she has taken a new position as a planner for that city. Alumni Association Co-Chair Janice Yuvan described her new job as Transportation Planner for URS Greiner. The Columbia event was notable for its international representation. Narelle Townsend, class of ’65, related her experiences as a planner for the United Nations to a conference attendee from Vancouver, British Columbia. Joining the graduates and students were several prospective students and friends from Mexico and Argentina. Pablo Vengoechea, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission member and adjunct professor at Columbia who has led several studio classes to Argentina, was also present at the event, highlighting the strength of the Columbia program in international planning.
and for the City of New York attended the Columbia event. Several 1987 graduates, including Nancy Danzinger and Judy McClean, had an opportunity to reminisce with Professor Peter Marcuse. Planning studio participants from the class of 1987 helped to prepare the groundbreaking Chelsea Plan, eventually approved as one of the first 197-A Plans in New York City, whose recommendations are now being implemented through zoning actions by the Department of City Planning. Alton Kolsal, class of ’96, currently with the New York City Planning Department’s Transportation Division, was one of numerous alumni present whose career involves public service for the City of New York. Alton also serves on the Alumni Association Executive Committee. Having thoroughly drowned out the string trio performing for the crowd, the noise level that persisted for several hours was the best indication of the success of the Columbia event, and many thanks are owed to Elliott and those involved in putting together a most successful reunion. Hopefully this can be a continuing tradition at future APA conferences. With both Alumni Association Co-Chairs now working at One Penn Plaza in midtown Manhattan, the Executive Committee will likely continue to meet at that location. Alumni association chairs met in September 2000, with an Executive Committee meeting to be scheduled this fall. Contact the GSAPP planning program for details on meeting times and contacts for the Alumni Association.
Numerous other Columbia Planning graduates that have been active as planners in 13
Department News By Seth Spielman
Roundtable Discussion: Planners Effecting Change To compliment its minority recruitment efforts, the Planning Department hosted a forum on October 20th called, “Minority Perspective: An Education and Career in the Future of Cities.” In conjunction with the forum was a roundtable discussion featuring: former New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins; Jacquelyn Harris, Director of Land Use Review at the New York Department of City Planning; Takisia L. Ward of the New York City Housing Partnership; and the former Landmarks Preservation Commissioner. In his opening remarks, David Dinkins shared his vision of activist government that includes coalition-building and participatory processes as central to effective urban governance. The roundtable participants provided his or her personal perspectives on the planning practice, and each one expressed pride in his or her work and of the rewards of public service.
New Classes and New Professors The planning department has made significant new additions to the curriculum this year. Several new adjunct professors have been hired, and a number of new classes are currently being offered or will be offered in the near future. The department is also in the process of formulating the Spring Studio classes for 1st year students. The new Adjunct Professors, Moshe Adler, Adam Friedman, Joyce Rosenthal, and David Maurasse, enhance the planning curriculum with their diverse backgrounds, academic interests and personal experiences. Cooperation between the planning department and the School of Public Health will continue this spring with the Environmental Planning II course, thanks to the huge suc14
cess of the first collaboration last year with the Environmental Planning course. The interdepartmental partnership is facilitated by Adjunct Professor Joyce Rosenthal, a 2000 graduate of the Urban Planning program. As they did last year, Mary Northridge and Patrick Kinney from the School of Public Health and Elliott Sclar from the Urban Planning program will participate in the class. The department is enthusiastic about the continued cooperation with the School of Public Health; keep your eyes open for further interdepartmental course offerings. A semester-length course in Geographic Information Systems is also being developed for the Spring 2001 semester, and the department is currently looking for a qualified GIS instructor to teach the course. The course will offer an in-depth review of cartographic techniques and GIS methodology, and will be taught using ESRI ArcView GIS software package. Finally, the Spring Studio courses are in the process of being developed. While several ideas have been discussed, none of them have been finalized yet. The ideas under consideration are described below. However, these ideas have not been formally approved by the faculty, as the Planning Department is still in the early stages of the Studio development process. • Caracas, Venezuela – The Urban Design, Urban Planning, and the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory may collaborate on an environmental planning project in Caracas, Venezuela. The project involves transportation and hazard planning. • Interstate 95 Corridor Regional Planning – This studio involves a site slated for urban renewal in southern Westchester County. A neighborhood is threatened with potential “redevelopment” as a shopping center. The studio would develop an alternative to the current redevelopment plan, and potentially a comprehensive plan for the area that is responsive to community needs.
• Manhattan, NY- Consideration of the issues around a large commercial site in Midtown Manhattan. • Mexico - Housing and planning shanties in Mexico.
Fayerweather 201 Gets a Facelift Fayerwether 201, the planning department’s equivalent to 7-11 (open 24 hours), is undergoing major renovations. The renovations began this summer and will continue throughout the year. In response to student suggestions at last year’s “Studio Design Charrette,” the studio was divided into three rooms: a computer room, a seminar room, and a lounge. The seminar room has been furnished with custom-made gray tables that can be used as a single large table or broken apart into four smaller units. A new track lighting system may be installed in the seminar room. A computer will be permanently installed in the seminar room for PowerPoint presentations using the department’s new projector. Changes are also planned for the computer room. Eight new Dell workstations have been ordered, as have new ergonomically-correct chairs. Some of the computers will be moved from the computer room into the lounge section of the studio to allow students to use computers while classes are using the computer lab. Plans for the lounge area, which is supposed to be an informal meeting place for group discussions, include new couches, removing old file cabinets and dead computers, and purchasing folding chairs. Suggestions for the lounge can be sent to upnewsletter@columbia.edu. Furthermore, the department has provided lockers for every student. The lockers were recently installed in the hall outside of the studio, and are available on a firstcome first-serve basis. Students must supply their own locks, and all locks must be removed before the end of the year.
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Volume III, Number II
Fall 2000
The Trading Places Conference: Keeping It Local, Globally By Devan Reiff A rare treat awaits the visitor to Germany’s Emscher Park, especially if he or she is of the planning persuasion. Emscher Park is an exhibition displaying 120 different planning projects that were part of an effort to reuse, revitalize and rethink the region’s industrial legacy. Each of the 120 planning projects is locally controlled, self-sustaining, and meant to help existing residents, not invite gentrification. The projects include public parks, ecological restoration, housing rehabilitation and self-built housing, new civic centers, and public sculpture.
ing Places.
Trading Places, a sort of club for urban planning students, had its start a few years ago as a network of European planning students. Last year, one of the organizers of the network, Mic Gruber, joined the Urban Planning program at Columbia. He brought with him from Berlin the passion for a joint American-European conference, and found some accomplices in myself, Michele Payne, Joyce Rosenthal, Alison Tomlinson, Nina Bejhati and Kevin Adams of the Real Estate program. With the unwavering support of Director Elliott Sclar Of all the projects, most impressive are and the rest of the Urban Planning dethe enormous gas tanks, steel mills and partment, we were able to organize a coal mines which have been fashioned into month-long journey to five cities: Amsterarts centers and recreational public parks. dam, Dortmund (the Emscher Park One of the most interesting, Duisburg projects), Berlin, New York and Boston. Nord, in the town of Duisburg. The project Registration was inexpensive (less than is an enormous steelworks factory, a $300), and we were staying mostly with former forbidden city that today offers the other students in their apartments. We ate lover of industrial chic a chance to gam- royally and cheaply of the immigrant cuibol amidst the largest pipes, bolts and sines of Europe and New York: a banquet mechanical bric-a-brac you’ve ever seen. in the Dutch-Chinese “tradition,” Turkish For the locals, Duisberg Nord reprograms pizzas, Colombian soups, and Kababs from the space that was their economic engine for a century, into a combination of history center, meditative nature park, and recreational zone, offering movies, concerts and rock-climbing.
the mysterious land of Doner. We made fast friends with fifty European and Canadian students as we collaborated in workshops and in discussions of the most pressing planning issues: airport cities, globalization, privatization, urban re-centering, and industrial regeneration. Some of our many adventures this summer included: touring Amsterdam’s burgeoning Schiphol Airport with its architect; walking through ten of the Emscher Park projects; discovering the center and the new edges of Berlin; gazing at Times Square from the roof of the “Green” Conde Nast Building; and talking via digital video with Saskia Sassen about Global Cities. A book and CD-ROM of the proceedings should be available by the year’s end. We put on the whole thing on by ourselves, collaborating through our website (www.planningnetwork.org/tradingplaces) and by e-mail with our European cohorts, and want you to join us as we plan next summer’s Trading Places conference. You can reach us via e-mail at tradingplaces@columbia.edu.
And just two months ago, several of Columbia’s planning students could be found recreating at Duisburg Nord, having a party late into the night in the glow of the old blast furnace. We had touched down as part of a month-long conference that we had organized, called Trad15
The Columbia University Urban Planning Newsletter GASPP, Urban Planning Program 1172 Amsterdam Avenue Columbia University New York, NY 10027
Contact Us URBAN Newsletter 413 Avery Hall, GSAPP Urban Planning Program 1172 Amsterdam Avenue Columbia University New York, NY 10027 e-mail: upnewsletter@columbia.edu web: http://www.arch.columbia.edu/UP/ To learn more about the graduate program in Urban Planning at Columbia, visit our website or call 212.854.3513
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