Urban Portfolio - Sarath

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Understanding the Urban Geography Philosophy Sociology Anthropology Political Economy Cultural Studies Design Thinking Strategy Decision Making Urban Planning

A Portfolio

Sarath Balaji Ramanan

About Me Graduated from the Design and Urban Ecologies program at Parsons School of Design Strategies, The New School, New York, with a strong interest in Urbanism and Sociology. Having practiced as an Architect prior to joining the program, my primary interest lies in understanding the social consequences as well as the implications of my practice upon urban communities and to also define the term ‘development’, with respect to my design sensibilities.

COURSES COMPLETED MENTORSHIP

Urban History Lab Malav Kanuga Urban Theory Lab Miguel Robles Duran Public Space Lab Miodrag Mitrasinovic Maps as Media Shannon Mattern Right to the City Miguel Robles Duran Civic Imaginaries: Urban Commons Eduardo Staszowski Nidhi Srinivas Urban Methods 1 (Research Methods) Mary Taylor Urban Methods 2 (Representations/Analysis) Lize Mogel Urban Methods 3 (Mapping Techniques) Eric Brelsford Urban Methods 4 (Research and Communication) Kiersten Nash Urban Colloquium 1 (Workshop) Adam Lubinsky Urban Colloquium 2 (Seminar) William Morrish Mindy Fullilove Urban Studio 1 (Tackling School Overcrowding Gabriela Rendon in Sunset Park, Brooklyn) Urban Studio 2 (Activism and Coalition Building Tom Angotti on the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront Understanding the BQX) Urban Studio 3 (Situation Analysis - Identifying the Urban Issue) Miguel Robles Duran Miodrag Mitrasinovic Urban Studio 4 (Tackling the Identified Situation) William Morrish David Lopez Gracia

URBAN@PARSONS

STUDIO 1

PART 1 - Research

UNDERSTANDING THE CITY (Through the lens of Sunset Park, Brooklyn) Group project by Burak Sancakdar, Lyric Kelkar and Sarath Ramanan.

The group was involved in trying to understand the role that policies and procedures played towards planning the city, in terms of infrastructure, waste management, environmental justice, community engagement as well as zoning. As a result, we produced work that analyzed the techniques and effects that were used for brownfield remediation, superfunds allocation for toxic waste management (Gowanus Canal), transit oriented development (BQX Streetcar), community based planning tools for public engagement (197-A Plans), Industrial Business Zones (Special Districts for Manufacturing), Uniform Land Use Review Procedures and Rezoning processes - All tools of land management used by the NYC Planning Commission towards managing the political economy of land in New York City. The group was part of four other groups that researched the neighborhood of Sunset Park in terms of Housing, Demographics and Migration Patterns, Property Ownership and Investment Trends, Quality of Public Schools facilities as well as Community Engagement. I was involved in analyzing the effects of the most recent rezonings (2009) in Sunset Park, which required me to understand the zoning ordinances in the city, the codes that represent these ordinances, the translation of these rezoning practices onto the built form and the resulting socio-spatial fabric of the neighborhood. Furthermore, I dwelled into the criticism that these rezonings were subjected to in the form of environmental impact assessments and the potential of rezonings to be co-opted for certain political and economic gains. Also, the public participation that is usually involved in these processes were assessed.

ZONING AND REZONING ZONIFICACIĂ“N Y REZONIFICACIĂ“N ĺœ¨ć—Ľč?˝ĺ…Źĺœ’çš„ĺˆ†ĺ?€ĺ’Œé‡?ĺŠƒĺˆ†

ZONING OF SUNSET PARK ZONIFICACIĂ“N DE SUNSET PARK ć—Ľč?˝ĺ…Źĺœ’çš„ĺˆ†ĺ?€

=RQLQJ LV GRQH WR FODVVLI\ ODQG DQG GHÂżQHV the land use that is allowed to happen on that land. The Department Of City Planning, New York, has the entire city zoned but does rezonings in order to accommodate for development. To the left is a map explaining the current development zones in Sunset Park. /D ]RQLÂżFDFLyQ VH KDFH SDUD FODVLÂżFDU OD WLHUUD \ GHÂżQH HO XVR GH OD WLHUUD TXH VH permite que suceda en esa tierra. El deparWDPHQWR GH OD SODQLÂżFDFLyQ GH OD FLXGDG Nueva York, tiene la ciudad entera zoned pero hace rezonings para acomodar para el desarrollo. A la izquierda estĂĄ un mapa que explica las zonas de desarrollo actuales en el parque de la puesta del sol. ĺˆ†ĺ?€ć˜Żç‚şäş†ĺ°?ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°é€˛čĄŒĺˆ†éĄžďźŒ丌厚瞊ĺ…

REZONING SUNSET PARK: KEEPING THE CHARACTER REZONIFICACIĂ“N SUNSET PARK: MANTENER EL CARĂ CTER é‡?ć–°ĺŠƒĺŽšć—Ľč?˝ĺ…Źĺœ’ďźšäż?ćŒ č§’č‰˛ The major rezoning in 2009 was implimented by the Department of City Planning, with the Community Board being an advisory body. They claim that this rezonings were a way to preserve the character of the neighborhood, by imposing height restrictions to protect the waterfront views and the architectural character of the area, while at the same time, opening up the neighborhood for further development. The contextual zoning of the residential area is said to make sure that new developments stay only 2 or 3 stories tall. However, this may not be entirely true as the rezonings allow for buildings that are upto six stories tall. Also, the rezonings accommodate for Voluntary Inclusionary Housing along the 4th and 7th Avenues, and have a much highHU ]RQLQJ FODVVLÂżFDWLRQ DOORZLQJ IRU JUHDWHU Ă€RRU DUHD DQG EXLOGLQJ KHLJKWV 7KLV KDV been done to attract the development of affordable housing in the neighborhood, at the cost of losing the character of Sunset Park. The areas along the avenues have been upzoned to accomodate for the development of higher value commercial activities; the DYHQXHV ZHUH SUHYLRXVO\ D ORZHU FODVVLÂżcation of mixed residential and commercial zones. The only part of the neighborhood that was not rezoned is the 8th Avenue and the streets along it.

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/D UH]RQLÂżFDFLyQ SULQFLSDO HQ IXH LPplementada por el Departamento de PlanLÂżFDFLyQ GH OD &LXGDG VLHQGR HO &RQVHMR de la Comunidad un Ăłrgano consultivo. $ÂżUPDQ TXH HVWDV UH]RQDFLRQHV HUDQ XQD forma de preservar el carĂĄcter de la Barrio, imponiendo altura Las restricciones para proteger las vistas de la costa y el carĂĄcter arquitectĂłnico de la zona, mientras que, al mismo tiempo, la apertura del barrio para el futuro desarrolOR /D ]RQLÂżFDFLyQ FRQWH[WXDO GH OD ]RQD residencial se dice para asegurarse de que los nuevos desarrollos de estancia sĂłlo 2 o 3 pisos de altura. Sin embargo, esto no puede ser enteramente cierto, ya que las re]RQDFLRQHV SHUPLWHQ HGLÂżFLRV GH KDVWD VHLV

pisos de altura. AdemĂĄs, las rezonizaciones acomodan la Vivienda Inclusiva Voluntaria a lo largo de las avenidas 4 y 7 y tienen una FODVLÂżFDFLyQ GH ]RQLÂżFDFLyQ PXFKR PiV DOWD SHUPLWLHQGR XQD PD\RU VXSHUÂżFLH GH SLVR \ DOWXUDV GH HGLÂżFLRV (VWR VH KD KHFKR para atraer el desarrollo de Viviendas asequibles en el barrio, a costa de perder el carĂĄcter de Sunset Park. Las ĂĄreas a lo largo de las avenidas han sido acondicionadas para acomodar el desarrollo de actividades comerciales de mayor valor; Las avenidas eran previamente una FODVLÂżFDFLyQ PiV EDMD GH ]RQDV PL[WDV UHVLdenciales y comerciales. La Ăşnica parte del barrio que no fue rezoned es la 8va avenida y las calles a lo largo de ella.

The rezonings show a general trend towards upzoning throughout Sunset Park. 7KLV PHDQV WKDW PRUH ÀRRU DUHD LV DOORZHG for the newer developments, which increases the density of the buildings, and thereby the number of people in the neighborhood. This increase in density would adversely impact the already stressed civic amenities in the neighborhood, such as, transportation systems, power and water supply, community spaces, availability of school seats, hospitals etc. The upzonings also have an adverse impact on the commercial character of the neighborhood. The rezoning accomodates for commercial activities that are not necessarily a part of the neighborhood, such as, lumber supply, auto rentals etc., which have a more regional market. This would displace the prevalent commercial activities that are vital to serving the needs of the neighborhood. However, the manufacturing zone in WKH QHLJKERUKRRG KDV QRW EHHQ PRGL¿HG

Las rezonaciones muestran una tendencia general Hacia el upzoning a travĂŠs del SDUTXH GH OD SXHVWD GHO VRO (VWR VLJQLÂżFD que se permite mĂĄs ĂĄrea de suelo para los desarrollos mĂĄs recientes, lo que aumenta OD GHQVLGDG GH ORV HGLÂżFLRV \ SRU OR WDQWR el nĂşmero de personas en el vecindario. Este aumento en la densidad impactarĂ­a negativamente los servicios civiles ya tensionados en el vecindario, tales como, sistemas de transporte, suministro de energĂ­a y agua, Los espacios comunitarios, la disponibilidad de asientos escolares, hospitales, etc. Las alteraciones tambiĂŠn tienen un impacto adverso en el carĂĄcter FRPHUFLDO GHO YHFLQGDULR /D UH]RQLÂżFDFLyQ se adapta a las actividades comerciales que no son necesariamente una parte del barrio, tales como, suministro de madera, alquiler de automĂłviles, etc, que tienen un mercado mĂĄs regional. Esto desplazarĂ­a las actividades comerciales predominantes que son vitales para atender las necesidades

IMPLICATIONS OF THE REZONING IMPLICACIONES DE LA REZONIFICACIĂ“N é‡?ĺŠƒĺ?€çš„役é&#x;ż

訹ĺœ¨čŠ˛ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ä¸Šç™źç”&#x;çš„ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ĺˆŠç”¨ă€‚ĺ&#x;Žĺ¸‚čŚ? ĺŠƒéƒ¨ďźŒç´?ç´„ďźŒćœ‰ć•´ĺ€‹ĺ&#x;Žĺ¸‚ĺŠƒĺˆ†ďźŒä˝†ć˜Żé‡? ć–°çˇ¨ćŽ’ďźŒäťĽé Šć‡‰ç™źĺą•ă€‚塌é‚Šć˜Żč§Łé‡‹ć—Ľč?˝ ĺ…Źĺœ’ç•śĺ‰?開癟ĺ?€çš„ĺœ°ĺœ–ă€‚ĺ…Źĺœ’ç•śĺ‰?ĺ?€ĺ&#x;&#x; çš„ĺœ°ĺœ–ă€‚ĺ&#x;&#x;çš„ĺœ°ĺœ–ă€‚ 2009ĺš´çš„ä¸ťčŚ é‡?ć–°ĺˆ†ĺ?€ç”ąĺ&#x;Žĺ¸‚čŚ?ĺŠƒéƒ¨ č˛ č˛ŹďźŒ礞ĺ?€ĺ§”ĺ“Ąćœƒć˜Żä¸€ĺ€‹荎芢ćŠ&#x;構。 äť–ĺ€‘č ˛ç¨ąé€™税俎ć”šć˜Żä¸€税äż?ćŒ ĺ…ść€§čłŞ çš„ć–šćł• é„°é‡ŒďźŒé€šé Žć–˝ĺŠ éŤ˜庌 é™?ĺˆśäż?譡芲ĺœ°ĺ?€çš„澡濹ć™Żč‰˛ĺ’ŒĺťşçŻ‰ç‰š č‰˛ďźŒĺ?Œć™‚開攞芲礞ĺ?€é€˛ä¸€ć­Ľç™źĺą•ă€‚ä˝?厅 ĺ?€çš„ä¸Šä¸‹ć–‡ĺˆ†ĺ?€ć“š說確äż?ć–°çš„é–‹ç™źĺƒ…äż? ćŒ 2ćˆ–3幤ć¨“éŤ˜ă€‚ç„śč€ŒďźŒé€™ĺ?Żčƒ˝ä¸?ć˜ŻĺŽŒ ĺ…¨ć­Łç˘şçš„ďźŒĺ› ç‚şé‡?ć–°čŚ?ĺŠƒĺ… 訹坺çŻ‰ç‰ŠéŤ˜ é ”ĺ…­ĺą¤ć¨“éŤ˜ă€‚ć­¤ĺ¤–ďźŒé€™äş›ć”šĺťşĺŽšç´?了沿 č‘—珏4ĺ’Œ珏7大é “çš„č‡ŞéĄ˜ĺŒ…厚性ä˝?ćˆżďźŒ 丌ä¸”ĺ…ˇćœ‰ć›´éŤ˜çš„ĺˆ†ĺ?€ĺˆ†éĄžďźŒĺ… 訹更大的 坺築é?˘çŠ?ĺ’ŒĺťşçŻ‰éŤ˜庌。這樣ĺ šć˜Żç‚şäş† ĺ?¸ĺź•ç™źĺą• ĺœ¨é™„čż‘çš„ĺť‰ĺƒšä˝?ćˆżďźŒ䝣ĺƒšĺ¤ąĺŽťäş†ć—Ľč?˝ĺ…Ź ĺœ’çš„ć€§čłŞă€‚沿çˇšçš„ĺœ°ĺ?€塲çś“ć“´ĺ¤§äťĽé Šć‡‰ ć›´éŤ˜ĺƒšĺ€źçš„ĺ•†漭洝動的癟幕;大襗䝼ĺ‰? ć˜Żćˇˇĺ?ˆä˝?ĺŽ…ĺ’Œĺ•†漭ĺ?€çš„čźƒä˝Žĺˆ†éĄžă€‚ć˛’ćœ‰ é‡?ć–°ĺŠƒĺˆ†çš„é„°é‡Œçš„ĺ”Żä¸€éƒ¨ĺˆ†ć˜ŻçŹŹĺ…Ťĺ¤§é “ ĺ’Œ沿č‘—ĺŽƒçš„čĄ—é “ă€‚ del vecindario. Sin embargo, la zona de fabricaciĂłn en el vecindario no ha sido PRGLÂżFDGD é‡?çľ„饯示了一個總çš„蜨勢 ćœ?ĺ?‘ć—Ľč?˝ĺ…Źĺœ’ĺ…¨é?˘ĺˆ†ĺ?€ă€‚這ć„?ĺ‘łč‘—ć›´ć–° 的坺築é?˘çŠ?ĺ… 訹更多的坺築é?˘çŠ?ďźŒé€™ĺ˘ž ĺŠ äş†ĺťşçŻ‰ç‰Šçš„ĺŻ†庌ďźŒĺžžč€Œĺ˘žĺŠ äş†é„°é‡Œçš„ 人數。密庌çš„ĺ˘žĺŠ ĺ°‡ä¸?ĺˆŠĺœ°ĺ˝ąé&#x;żé™„čż‘塲 çś“埡調çš„ĺ…Źĺ…ąč¨­ć–˝ďźŒäž‹ĺŚ‚交é€šçłťçľąďźŒé›ť ĺŠ›ĺ’Œäž›ć°´ďźŒ 礞ĺ?€犺é–“ďźŒĺ­¸ć Ąĺş§ä˝?ďźŒé†Ťé™˘ç­‰çš„ĺ?Żç”¨ 性。上ĺ?‡ĺ?€äš&#x;ĺ°?é„°é‡Œçš„ĺ•†漭性質產ç”&#x;ä¸? ĺˆŠĺ˝ąé&#x;żă€‚é‡?ć–°čŚ?ĺŠƒé Šç”¨ć–źä¸?ä¸€ĺŽšć˜Żé™„čż‘ ĺ?€ĺ&#x;&#x;的商漭洝ĺ‹•ďźŒäž‹ĺŚ‚ćœ¨ć??äž›ć‡‰ďźŒćą˝čťŠ ç§&#x;čłƒç­‰ďźŒĺ…śĺ…ˇćœ‰ć›´ĺ¤šçš„ĺ?€ĺ&#x;&#x;ĺ¸‚ĺ ´ă€‚é€™ĺ°‡ ĺ?–䝣ĺ°?ćœ?ĺ‹™é„°é‡Œéœ€ćą‚č‡łé—œé‡?čŚ çš„ć™Žé ?çš„ 商漭洝ĺ‹•ă€‚ä˝†ć˜ŻďźŒé™„čż‘çš„製é€ ĺ?€ć˛’ćœ‰俎 攚。

ZONING AND ITS RELEVANCE TO SUNSET PARK ZONIFICACIĂ“N Y SU RELEVANCIA PARA EL PARQUE DEL ATARDECER ĺˆ†ĺ?€ĺ?Šĺ…śčˆ‡ć—Ľč?˝ĺ…Źĺœ’çš„ç›¸é—œć€§ Zoning Codes are represented as R/C/M, followed by a number as shown alongside. 7KH\ DUH IXUWKHU FODVVLÂżHG (J & $ WR JLYH D FRQWH[WXDO GHÂżQLWLRQ WR WKH FRGH The major rezonings that have been effected at Sunset Park are as follows: Residential: R6 zones have been rezoned to R6-A and R7-A. Commercial: C1-3, C2-3 have been rezoned to C2-4. Also, higher valued commercial zones of C4-3 have been revised to be C4-3A. The effect of the rezonings can be seen from the graphic alongside. /RV &yGLJRV GH =RQLÂżFDFLyQ VH UHSUHVHQWDQ como R / C / M, seguido por un nĂşmero FRPR VH PXHVWUD DO ODGR 6H FODVLÂżFDQ ademĂĄs (Ej .: C4-3A), para dar una GHÂżQLFLyQ FRQWH[WXDO DO FyGLJR Las principales rezonizaciones que han sido Efectuadas en Sunset Park son las siguientes: Residencial: Las zonas R6 se han rezonizado a R6-A y R7-A. Comercial: C1-3, C2-3 han sido Rezoned a C2-4. AdemĂĄs, las zonas comerciales de mayor valor de C4-3 se han revisado para ser C4-3A. El efecto de los rezonings se puede ver del JUiÂżFR DO ODGR ĺˆ†ĺ?€䝣碟襨示ç‚şR / C / MďźŒĺžŒé?˘čˇ&#x;著一 ĺ€‹ć•¸ĺ­—ă€‚ĺŽƒĺ€‘袍é€˛ä¸€ć­Ľĺˆ†éĄžďźˆäž‹ĺŚ‚ďźšC43Aďź‰ďźŒ䝼羌䝣碟上下文厚瞊。 ä¸ťčŚ çš„rezonings一直 ĺœ¨ć—Ľč?˝ĺ…Źĺœ’富施匂下 ä˝?厅R6ĺ?€塲çś“ć”šĺŠƒç‚şR6-Aĺ’ŒR7-A。 商漭ďźšC1-3ďźŒC2-3塲çś“ é‡?ć–°ĺŠƒĺˆ†ç‚şC2-4ă€‚ć­¤ĺ¤–ďźŒC4-3çš„čźƒéŤ˜ĺƒš 借的商漭ĺ?€ĺ&#x;&#x;塲çś“袍俎攚為C4-3A。 ĺ?ŻäťĽĺžžĺœ–形中çœ‹ĺˆ°é‡?ć–°ćŽ’ĺˆ—çš„ć•ˆćžœă€‚

UNIFORM LANDUSE REVIEW PROCEDURE (ULURP) PROCEDIMIENTO UNIFORME DE REVISIĂ“N DEL USO DE LA TIERRA (ULURP) 羹一ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ĺŻŠć&#x;Ľç¨‹ĺş?ďźˆULURP

ULURP is a seven month long process that allows for different people to decide THE FORMAL REZONING PROCESS | EL PROCESO FORMAL DE CAMBIO DE ZONIFICACIĂ“N if the city should allow for an exception or change in the land use within the city ć­Łĺź?çš„é‡?ć–°ĺŠƒĺˆ†é Žç¨‹ boundaries. This process is usually initiated by developers who see an economic Borough President/ Department of City Community Board potential in a region that has not been Board Planning zoned for the intended economic activity. Junta de El Presidente del Departamento de This could mean making an exception to Comunidades Condado/Junta 7SHUPĂ„JHJP}U <YIHUH WKH H[LVWLQJ UXOHV IRU D VSHFLÂżF SURSHUW\ D 礞ĺ?€ĺ§”ĺ“Ąćœƒ 自沝市丝席/č‘Łäş‹ćœƒ ĺ&#x;Žĺ¸‚čŚ?ĺŠƒçłť neighborhood or changing the zoning rules entirely. Step 3 | Paso 3 | ć­ĽéŠ&#x;3 Step 1 | Paso 1 | ć­ĽéŠ&#x;1 Step 2 | Paso 2 | ć­ĽéŠ&#x;2 ULURP es un proceso largo de siete meses Available For Public Review que permite diferentes personas para decidDisponible para revisiĂłn pĂşblica ir si la ciudad debe permitir una excepciĂłn ĺ?Żç”¨ć–źĺ…Źĺ…ąĺŻŠć&#x;Ľ o el cambio en el uso de la tierra dentro de City Planning los lĂ­mites de la ciudad. Este proceso se Mayor Commission *P[` *V\UJPS inicia generalmente por los desarrolladores *VTPZP}U KL que ven una econĂłmica (SJHSKL Ayuntamiento 7SHUPĂ„JHJP}U <YIHUH potencial en una regiĂłn que no ha sido diĺ¸‚č­°ćœƒ 市镡 vidida en zonas para la actividad econĂłmiĺ&#x;Žĺ¸‚čŚ?ĺŠƒĺ§”ĺ“Ąćœƒ FD SUHYLVWR (VWR SRGUtD VLJQLÂżFDU KDFHU Step 4 | Paso 4 | ć­ĽéŠ&#x;4 Step 6 | Paso 6 | ć­ĽéŠ&#x;6 Step 5 | Paso 5 | ć­ĽéŠ&#x; ć­ĽéŠ&#x;5 una excepciĂłn a las reglas existentes para XQD SURSLHGDG HVSHFtÂżFD XQ EDUULR R HO FDPELR GH ODV UHJODV GH ]RQLÂżFDFLyQ HQ VX The people of the neighborhood have a say in the ULURP Process at the Community Board and at the City Council. However, totalidad. the recommendations of the Community Board are ‘Advisory’ and they do not have a say in the decision making. The power to ULURPć˜Żä¸€ĺ€‹é•ˇé ”ä¸ƒĺ€‹ćœˆçš„é Žç¨‹ďźŒĺ… 訹 approve the application lies solely with the City Council, which can even override the Mayor’s decision if necessary. ä¸?ĺ?Œçš„人湺厚ĺ&#x;Žĺ¸‚ć˜Żĺ?Ść‡‰ĺ… 訹ĺœ¨ĺ&#x;Žĺ¸‚é‚Š La gente del vecindario tiene voz en el Proceso de ULURP en la Junta Comunitaria y en el Ayuntamiento. Sin embargo, las ç•Œĺ…§çš„ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ĺˆŠç”¨çš„äž‹ĺ¤–ćˆ–čŽŠĺŒ–ă€‚é€™ĺ€‹é Ž recomendaciones de la Junta de la Comunidad son ‘Asesoramiento’ y no tienen voz en la toma de decisiones. El poder de apro程通常ç”ąçœ‹ĺˆ°çś“ćż&#x;的開癟商癟辡 bar la solicitud recae Ăşnicamente en el Ayuntamiento, que puede incluso anular la decisiĂłn del Alcalde si es necesario. ĺœ¨ćœŞĺŠƒĺŽšç”¨ć–źé ?ćœ&#x;çś“ćż&#x;ć´ťĺ‹•çš„ĺ?€ĺ&#x;&#x;çš„ć˝› 芲礞ĺ?€çš„äşşĺœ¨ç¤žĺ?€ĺ§”ĺ“Ąćœƒĺ’Œĺ¸‚č­°ćœƒçš„ULURPé Žç¨‹中ćœ‰ç™źč¨€ćŹŠă€‚ç„śč€ŒďźŒ礞ĺ?€ĺ§”ĺ“Ąćœƒçš„ĺťşč­°ć˜Żâ€œ荎芢â€?ďźŒäť–ĺ€‘ĺœ¨ćąşç­–中沒 力。 ćœ‰ç™źč¨€ćŹŠă€‚ć‰šĺ‡†ç”łčŤ‹çš„ćŹŠĺŠ›ĺŽŒĺ…¨ç”ąĺ¸‚č­°ćœƒć‰żć“”ďźŒĺŚ‚ćžœĺż…čŚ ďźŒç”šč‡łĺ?ŻäťĽčś…é Žĺ¸‚é•ˇçš„ćąşĺŽšă€‚ 這ĺ?Żčƒ˝ć„?ĺ‘łč‘—ĺ°?牚厚貥ç”˘ďźŒé„°ĺą…çš„ç?žćœ‰ čŚ?ĺ‰‡é€˛čĄŒäž‹ĺ¤–ďźŒćˆ–ĺŽŒĺ…¨ć”ščŽŠĺˆ†ĺ?€čŚ?則。 7

STUDIO 1

PART 2 - Strategy

Strategizing for a Community Land Bank

Group project by Emily Sloss, Andrew Strong, Angelica Jackson and Sarath Ramanan. The Community Land Bank aims at securing land for the development of public schools to tackle the issue of school overcrowding in New York City. Also, the proposal identifies the potential to collaborate with housing development agencies in the city, to work towards swapping acquired land to promote the development of affordable housing or schools, as seen fit. The group was part of a larger studio, where we explored on strategies that were classified as very short term, short term, medium term and long term solutions to the issue of school overcrowding. The project involved the formulation of a policy that would ensure the availability of land for the development of public institutions such as schools in this case. The other projects involved proposals for changes in the school curriculum, construction of temporary learning spaces as well as the redistribution of responsibilities to the various schools that already exist in the neighborhood. It can be argued that the free market does not allow for the development of public facilities such as schools and hospitals as neoliberal economics and the resulting political interests do not allow for the same. Since, the market value of land is high, the facilities developed on the land need to have very high returns of capital investment, which is usually not the case with such public projects. This results in a weakening of state based systems of redistribution, and hence any new development would be that of luxury condominiums, private hospitals and schools etc., which have a much higher return on investment over a very short period of time. Thus, the issue is that the land needs to be independent of the market to allow for projects of public interest to be feasible and this necessitates the need for a community land bank that will be managed by the school construction authority, the governing body responsible for the construction as well as the maintenance of public school facilities in the city. I was involved in identifying means of managing the acquired land under the land banking strategy, so as to not allow the land to go back into the market due to underutilization by the governing body or the resulting contestation by private entities to allow for redevelopment on principles of the free market. This involved opening up the land to public use as an interim or as a permanent facility for recreation/community development. Also, existing school facilities were being sold to private development if the requirements for school seats were not met (very low enrollment). The policy under the land bank advocated for the use of such buildings as other forms of public interest such as emancipatory actions towards the homeless populations in the neighborhood, thereby making sure that the valuable resource of land is sustained within the land bank for a considerable period of time, until the requirement for a new school is achieved.

ACTION STRATEGY 4 | ESTRATEGIA DE ACCIĂ“N 4 | čĄŒĺ‹•ćˆ°ç•Ľ 4

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STRATEGY 4: NYC COMMUNITY LAND BANK ESTRATEGIA 4: BANCO DE TIERRA DE LA COMUNIDAD DE NUEVA YORK ćˆ°ç•Ľ ç´?ç´„礞ĺ?€ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°éŠ€čĄŒ ANGELICA JACKSON, SARATH RAMAMAN, EMILY SLOSS, ANDREW STRONG WHY? The School Construction Authority (SCA) frequently cites lack of appropriate lots as a major reason for the slow pace of new school construction. Their 5-year Capital Plan SULRULWL]HV WKH FRQVWUXFWLRQ RI QHZ VFKRRO VHDWV EXW GRHV QRW VSHFLÂżFDOO\ DOORFDWH IXQGV or staff resources to securing property to accomodate for future population growth. The longer the SCA waits to acquire future school sites, the more challenging it becomes to ÂżQG D VLWH RI DGHTXDWH VL]H DQG WKH PRUH FRVW SURKLELWLYH LW EHFRPHV WR SXUFKDVH ODQG $GGLWLRQDOO\ VFKRRO RYHUFURZGLQJ LV QRW XQLIRUP WKURXJKRXW WKH FLW\ 7KH FRQVWDQWO\ FKDQJLQJ QHLJKERUKRRG GHPRJUDSKLFV ZLOO DOZD\V OHDYH VRPH VFKRROV RYHUFURZGHG DQG others underutilized. ÂżPOR QUÉ? La Autoridad de ConstrucciĂłn Escolar (SCA, por sus siglas en inglĂŠs) menciona con frecuencia la falta de lotes apropiados como una de las princiSDOHV UD]RQHV SDUD HO OHQWR ULWPR GH FRQVWUXFFLyQ GH OD QXHYD HVFXHOD 6X SODQ GH FDSLWDO D FLQFR DxRV SULRUL]D OD FRQVWUXFFLyQ GH QXHYRV asientos escolares, pero no asigna espeCtÂżFDPHQWH IRQGRV o recursos de personal para asegurar la propiedad para acomodar el futuro crecimiento de la poblaciĂłn. Cuanto mĂĄs tiempo la SCA espera para adquirir futuros planteles escolares, mĂĄs difĂ­cil resulta encontrar un sitio de tamaĂąo adecuado, y cuanto mĂĄs costoso sea el costo de adquirir tierras. AdemĂĄs, la superpoblaciĂłn escolar no es uniforme en toda la ciudad. La FRQVWDQWH HYROXFLyQ GHPRJUiÂżFD del barrio siempre dejarĂĄ a algunas escuelas sobrepobladas y otras subutilizadas.

äť€äšˆďź&#x; ĺ­¸ć Ąĺťşč¨­ĺą€ďźˆSCA眓常 ĺˆ—čˆ‰çźşäš?é Šç•śçš„ĺœ°ćŽľďźŒ é€™ć˜Żć–°ĺťşć Ąĺ­¸é€&#x;庌慢的 ä¸ťčŚ ĺŽ&#x;ĺ› ă€‚äť–ĺ€‘çš„äş”ĺš´ čł‡ćœŹč¨ˆĺŠƒĺ„Şĺ…ˆ坺設ć–°çš„ ĺ­¸ć Ąĺ¸­ä˝?ďźŒä˝†ć˛’ćœ‰ĺ°ˆé–€ĺˆ†é…? čł‡é‡‘ćˆ–äşşĺŠ›čł‡ćş?䞆äż?éšœ貥ç”˘é Šć‡‰ ćœŞäž†çš„äşşĺ?Łĺ˘žé•ˇă€‚ SCAç­‰ĺž…ć”śčłźćœŞäž† ĺ­¸ć Ąçś˛çŤ™çš„ć™‚é–“čśŠé•ˇďźŒć‰žĺˆ°ä¸€ĺ€‹čśłĺ¤ ĺ¤§ ĺ°?çš„眲çŤ™čŽŠĺž—čśŠĺ›°é›ŁďźŒ丌且賟財ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°çš„ćˆ?ćœŹčśŠ éŤ˜ă€‚ć­¤ĺ¤–ďźŒĺ­¸ć Ąé Ž庌ć“ ć“ ĺœ¨ć•´ĺ€‹ĺ&#x;Žĺ¸‚ć˜Żä¸?ĺ?‡ĺ‹ťçš„。ä¸? ć–ˇčŽŠĺŒ–çš„礞ĺ?€äşşĺ?Łçľąč¨ˆĺ°‡總ćœƒ使ä¸€äş›ĺ­¸ć Ąäşşćťżç‚şć‚ŁďźŒč€Œĺ…śäť– ĺ­¸ć ĄćœŞĺ……ĺˆ†ĺˆŠç”¨

WHAT IS A COMMUNITY LAND BANK? ÂżQUÉ ES UN BANCO DE TIERRAS COMUNITARIAS? äť€éşźć˜Żç¤žĺ?€ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ĺ„˛ĺ‚™éŠ€čĄŒďź&#x; This hybrid model of land acquistion and ownership combines elements of community land trusts and land banks. Operating as a city agency, the CLB will acquire land for the long-term use of the public based on the needs of each community. Local UHVLGHQWV ZLOO SOD\ DQ DFWLYH UROH LQ GHWHUmining the priorities of land use, including schools, affordable housing, community FHQWHUV OLEUDULHV RWKHU SXEOLF VHUYLFHV Este modelo hĂ­brido de adquisiciĂłn y propiedad de tierras combina elementos de ÂżGHLFRPLVRV GH WLHUUDV FRPXQLWDULDV \ EDQcos de tierras. Operando como una agencia de la ciudad, el CLB adquirirĂĄ tierras

para el uso a largo plazo del pĂşblico basado en las necesidades de cada comunidad. Los UHVLGHQWHV ORFDOHV MXJDUiQ XQ SDSHO DFWLYR en la determinaciĂłn de las prioridades de uso de la tierra, incluyendo escuelas, YLYLHQGDV DVHTXLEOHV FHQWURV FRPXQLWDUios, bibliotecas, parques, jardines y otros VHUYLFLRV S~EOLFRV 這税ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ć”śčłźĺ’Œć‰€ćœ‰ćŹŠçš„桡ĺ?ˆ樥ĺź?çľ?ĺ?ˆ 了礞ĺ?€ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°äżĄč¨—ĺ’Œĺœ&#x;ĺœ°éŠ€čĄŒçš„čŚ ç´ ä˝œç‚ş ĺ&#x;Žĺ¸‚䝣ç?†ćŠ&#x;構 CLBĺ°‡ć šć“šćŻ?個礞ĺ?€çš„需 ćą‚ ç‚şĺ…Źçœžé•ˇćœ&#x;使用ĺœ&#x;ĺœ° ç•śĺœ°ĺą…ć°‘ĺ°‡ĺœ¨ç˘ş 厚ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ĺˆŠç”¨çš„ĺ„Şĺ…ˆ揥ĺş? ĺŒ…ć‹Źĺ­¸ć Ą çś“ćż&#x;é Š 用ä˝?ćˆż 礞ĺ?€中ĺżƒ ĺœ–ć›¸é¤¨ ĺ…Źĺœ’ čŠąĺœ’ĺ’Œĺ…ś äť–ĺ…Źĺ…ąćœ?務斚é?˘ç™źć?ŽçŠ?漾ä˝œç”¨

WHAT? 7KH EHVW ZD\ WR GHDO ZLWK ORQJ WHUP VFKRRO RYHUFURZGLQJ LV WR DFW VWUDWHJLFDOO\ LQ ODQG DFTXLVLWLRQ LQ RUGHU WR UHVHUYH ODQG IRU WKH EHQH¿W RI WKH FRPPXQLW\QRZ DQG LQ WKH IXWXUH The NYC Community Land Bank will acquire sites for schools to accommodate for future populations. This ongoing process will add certainty to school construction by securing ODQG EHIRUH VSDFHV EHFRPH WRR OLPLWHG RU FRVW SURKLELWLYH ¿QUÉ? La mejor manera de lidiar con la superpoblación escolar a largo plazo es DFWXDU HVWUDWpJLFDPHQWH HQ OD DGTXLVLFLyQ GH WLHUUDV SDUD SRGHU UHVHUYDU WLHUUDV SDUD HO EHQH¿FLR GH OD FRPXQLGDG DKRUD \ HQ HO IXWXUR (O %DQFR GH OD 7LHUUD GH OD &LXGDG GH 1XHYD <RUN DGTXLULUi VLWLRV para las escuelas para acomodar a las poblaciones futuras. Este proceso continuo agregarå seguridad a la construcción de la escuela asegurando la tierra antes de que los espacios sean demasiado limitados o SURKLELWLYRV

äť€äšˆďź&#x; 處ç?†é•ˇćœ&#x;ĺ­¸ć Ąäşşćťżç‚şć‚Łçš„ćœ€ 弽螌ćł•ć˜Żĺœ¨ĺžľĺœ°ä¸­ćŽĄĺ?–ćˆ° ç•Ľć€§čĄŒĺ‹•ďźŒ䝼䞿ĺœ¨äťŠĺžŒĺ’Œ äťŠĺžŒç‚şĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ĺˆŠç›Šé ?ç•™ĺœ&#x; ĺœ°ă€‚ç´?約市礞ĺ?€ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°éŠ€ čĄŒĺ°‡ć”śčłźĺ­¸ć Ąçš„眲çŤ™ďźŒ äťĽé Šć‡‰ćœŞäž†çš„äşşĺ?Łă€‚這 ä¸€ćŒ çşŒçš„é Žç¨‹ĺ°‡ĺ˘žĺŠ ĺ­¸ć Ąĺťşč¨­çš„確ĺŽšć€§ďźŒ ĺœ¨çŠşé–“čŽŠĺž—太ćœ‰é™?ćˆ– ćˆ?ćœŹé ŽéŤ˜äš‹ĺ‰?ç?˛ĺž—ĺœ&#x; ĺœ°ă€‚

POTENTIAL SUNSET PARK PROPERTIES FOR THE NYC COMMUNITY LAND BANK POSIBLES PROPIEDADES DE SUNSET PARK PARA EL BANCO DE TIERRAS DE LA COMUNIDAD ç´?ç´„礞ĺ?€ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°éŠ€čĄŒçš„ć˝›ĺœ¨ć—Ľč?˝ĺ…Źĺœ’牊漭

Public land no use Tierra pĂşblica sin uso ĺ…Źĺ…ąç”¨ĺœ° Tax delinquent Delincuente de impuestos ćŹ ç¨…

OPERATIONAL STRUCTURE: New York City Agency ESTRUCTURA OPERACIONAL: Agencia de la Ciudad de Nueva York ć“?ä˝œçľ?構ç´?約市ćŠ&#x;構 LAND OWNERSHIP: Long term, can be transfered to other public agencies while in use PROPIEDAD DE LA TIERRA: A largo plazo y puede ser transferida a otras agencias pĂşblicas mientras estĂĄ en uso ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ć‰€ćœ‰ćŹŠďźšé•ˇćœ&#x;ďźŒĺ?ŻäťĽĺœ¨ä˝żç”¨ć™‚轉秝ĺˆ°ĺ…śäť–ĺ…Źĺ…ąćŠ&#x;構 FUNCTION: Remove land from the private market, reserving land for future public use FUNCIĂ“N: Eliminar la tierra del mercado privado, reservando la tierra para uso pĂşblico futuro ĺŠ&#x;čƒ˝ďźšĺ°‡ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ĺžžç§ äşşĺ¸‚ĺ ´ä¸­ç§ťé™¤ďźŒé ?ç•™ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°äž›ćœŞäž†ĺ…Źĺ…ąä˝żç”¨

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ACTION STRATEGY 4 | ESTRATEGIA DE ACCIĂ“N 4 | čĄŒĺ‹•ćˆ°ç•Ľ 4

LAND ACQUISTION TOOLS HERRAMIENTAS DE ADQUISICIĂ“N DE TIERRAS ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°éŠ€čĄŒ塼ĺ…ˇĺŒ… DEVELOPER INCENTIVES OR IMPACT FEES INCENTIVOS PARA DESARROLLADORES O TASAS DE IMPACTO 開癟商激勾 ćˆ–役é&#x;żč˛ťç”¨

EMINENT DOMAIN DOMINIO EMINENTE ç&#x;Ľĺ??ĺ&#x;&#x;ĺ??

3URYLGH WD[ DEDWHPHQWV RU KLJKHU GHQVLW\ LQ H[change for land sales, donations or swaps with the FRPPXQLW\ ODQG EDQN $OWHUQDWLYHO\ IRU HD FK QHZ XQLW EXLOW GHYHORSHUV FRXOG EH FKDUHG DQ LPSDFW IHH ZKLFK ZRXOG EHQHÂżW WKH &/%

(PLQHQW GRPDLQ FDQ EH XVHG E\ JRYernment agencies to acquire property with compensation. It is not an ideal tool because it may displace people from their land but it is a tool that the land bank can use if necessary.

Proporcionar reducciones de impuestos o mayor GHQVLGDG D FDPELR GH YHQWDV GH WLHUUDV GRQDFLRQHV o permutas con el banco de tierras de la comuniGDG $OWHUQDWLYDPHQWH SDUD FDGD QXHYD XQLGDG construida, los desarrolladores podrĂ­an tener una WDULID GH LPSDFWR TXH EHQHÂżFLDUtD DO &/%

Dominio Eminente puede ser utilizado por las agencias gubernamentales para adquirir propiedad con compensaciĂłn. No es una herramienta ideal porque puede desplazar a la gente de su tierra, pero es una herramienta que el banco de tierra puede usar si es necesario.

ć??䞛稅攜減ĺ…?ćˆ–ć›´éŤ˜çš„ĺŻ†庌ďźŒ䝼ć?›ĺ?–ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ĺ‡ş ĺ”ŽďźŒć??č´ˆćˆ–čˆ‡礞ĺ?€ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°éŠ€čĄŒäş’ć?›ă€‚ćˆ–č€…ďźŒĺ°?ć–ź ćŻ?ĺ€‹ć–°ĺťşçš„ĺ–Žĺ…ƒďźŒé–‹ç™źĺ•†ĺ?Żčƒ˝ćœƒĺ?—ĺˆ°ĺ˝ąé&#x;żč˛ťďźŒ é€™ĺ°‡ćœ‰ĺˆŠć–źCLB

ć”żĺşœćŠ&#x;構ĺ?ŻäťĽä˝żç”¨ç&#x;Ľĺ??ĺ&#x;&#x;ĺ??ç?˛ ĺž—čŁœĺ„&#x;貥產。 這ä¸?ć˜Żä¸€ĺ€‹ç?†ćƒł çš„塼ĺ…ˇďźŒĺ› ç‚şĺŽƒĺ?Żčƒ˝ä˝żäşşĺ€‘ĺžž 䝖們的ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ďźŒä˝†ĺŽƒć˜Żĺœ&#x;ĺœ°éŠ€čĄŒ ĺ?ŻäťĽä˝żç”¨çš„塼ĺ…ˇďźŒĺŚ‚ćžœĺż…čŚ ă€‚

POST NO BILLS

5,000 feet2

14,000 feet2

POST NO BILLS

Tax delinquent Delincuente de impuestos ćŹ ç¨…

L LAND USE BY LOT SIZE IN INTERCAMBIO DE TIERRAS ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°äş’ Based on the land-use priorities determined by the FRPPXQLW\ YDULRXV DJHQFLHV ZRXOG ZRUN WRJHWKHU WR PD[LPL]H WKH EHQHÂżW RI SXEOLF ODQG )RU H[DPSOH VFKRRO sites require at least 12,000 square feet, while affordable housing can be built on smaller lots. Con base en las prioridades de uso de la tierra determinadas por la comuQLGDG YDULRV RUJDQLVPRV WUDEDMDUiQ MXQWRV SDUD PD[LPL]DU HO EHQHÂżFLR de las tierras pĂşblicas. Por ejemplo, los sitios de la escuela requieren por lo menos 12.000 pies cuadrados, mientras que la cubierta comprable se puede construir en lotes mĂĄs pequeĂąos. ć šć“š礞ĺ?€確厚的ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ĺˆŠç”¨ĺ„Şĺ…ˆç´šďźŒĺ?„ćŠ&#x;構將兹ĺ?ŒĺŠŞĺŠ›ďźŒćœ€大é™?庌ĺœ° ĺˆŠç”¨ĺ…Źĺ…ąĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ă€‚äž‹ĺŚ‚ďźŒĺ­¸ć ĄčŚ ćą‚č‡łĺ°‘12000ĺšłć–šč‹ąĺ°şďźŒč€Œçś“ćż&#x;é Šç”¨ ä˝?ćˆżĺ?ŻäťĽĺťşĺœ¨čźƒĺ°?çš„ĺœ° 掾。 SCAĺ°‡ĺœ¨ĺ¤§ć–ź ĺšłć–šč‹ąĺ°şçš„ĺœ°ćŽľč‡Ş 2

Residential Zone Zona residencial �厅�

Manufacturing Zone Zona de fabricaciĂłn ćŹ ç¨…

LAND SWAP INTERCAMBIO DE TIERRAS ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°äş’ /RFDO GHYHORSHUV ZRXOG EH HQFRXUDJHG WR VZDS ODQG with the CLB, for example, the CLB would swap a more desireable zoning designation in exchange for a larger lot. Los promotores locales serĂ­an alentados a cambiar de terreno con el CLB, por ejemplo, una zona mĂĄs deseable para un lote mĂĄs grande. ćœŹĺœ°é–‹ç™źĺ•†ĺ°‡袍éź“ĺ‹ľčˆ‡CLB交ć?›ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°ďźŒäž‹ĺŚ‚ 個更 ç?†ćƒłçš„ĺˆ†ĺ?€ç‚şć›´ĺ¤§çš„ĺœ°ćŽľă€‚

ACTION STRATEGY 4 | ESTRATEGIA DE ACCIĂ“N 4 | čĄŒĺ‹•ćˆ°ç•Ľ 4

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BANKED LAND LIFE CYCLE CICLO DE VIDA DEL BANCO DE TIERRA ĺœ&#x;ĺœ°éŠ€čĄŒç”&#x;命逹ćœ&#x; INTERIM USE BEFORE SCHOOL USO PROVISIONAL SIN UN ESCOLAR 臨時使用 ć˛’ćœ‰ĺ­¸ć Ąĺ¤§ć¨“ Once a potential school site is banked, it could take months or years before a new school is built. During this interim process, the space may still be used for the public good. Depending on the site, temporary uses may include: greenspace, pop-up HYHQWV RU PHGLXP WR ORQJ WHUP OHDVLQJ WR FRPPXQLW\ EHQHÂżW JURXSV OLNH ORFDO QRQ SURÂżWV 8QD YH] TXH XQ VLWLR HVFRODU SRWHQFLDO VH deposita, puede tomar meses o aĂąos antes GH TXH VH FRQVWUX\D XQD QXHYD escuela. 'XUDQWH HVWH SURFHVR SURYLVLRQDO HO HVSD

FLR WRGDYtD SXHGH VHU XWLOL]DGR SDUD HO ELHQ pĂşblico. Dependiendo del sitio, los usos temporales SXHGHQ LQFOXLU HVSDFLRV YHUGHV HYHQWRV HPHUJHQWHV R DUUHQGDPLHQWRV GH PHGLR D ODUJR SOD]R D JUXSRV GH EHQHÂżFLR FRPXQLWDULR FRPR RUJDQL]DFLRQHV VLQ ÂżQHV de lucro locales. ć—Ść˝›ĺœ¨çš„ĺ­¸ć Ąçś˛çŤ™袍ĺ­˜ĺ…ĽéŠ€čĄŒďźŒĺ?Żčƒ˝éœ€ čŚ ĺšžĺ€‹ćœˆćˆ–ĺšžĺš´ć™‚é–“ć‰?čƒ˝ĺťşçŤ‹ć–°ĺ­¸ć Ąă€‚ ĺœ¨é€™ĺ€‹é Ž渥ćœ&#x;é–“ďźŒ犺é–“äť?ç„śĺ?ŻäťĽç”¨ć–źĺ…Ź ĺ…ąĺˆŠç›Šă€‚ć šć“š眲獙 臨時使用ĺ?Żčƒ˝ĺŒ…ć‹Źďźš çś č‰˛çŠşé–“ďźŒĺ˝ˆĺ‡şäş‹äťśďźŒćˆ–中镡ćœ&#x;ç§&#x;čłƒ羌 礞ĺ?€çŚ?ĺˆŠĺœ˜éŤ”ďźŒĺŚ‚ç•śĺœ°é?žç‡&#x;ĺˆŠçľ„çš”ă€‚

INTERIM USE IN SCHOOL BUILDING USO PROVISIONAL CON UN EDIFICIO ESCOLAR čˆ‡ĺ­¸ć Ąĺ¤§ć¨“çš„č‡¨ć™‚使用 Using schools as homeless shelters is just one example of the way that these spacHV FDQ EH XVHG IRU FRPPXQLW\ EHQHÂżW LQ districts with excess school space. Schools FRQWDLQ VSDFHV WKDW FDQ EH HDVLO\ UHQRYDWHG WR VHUYH WKH QHHGV RI KRPHOHVV SRSXODWLRQV Examples of how these spaces can be conYHUWHG WR PHHW WKLV QHHGV DUH WR WKH ULJKW Usar las escuelas como refugios para personas sin hogar es sĂłlo un ejemplo de cĂłmo estos espacios pueden ser usados SDUD EHQHÂżFLR GH OD FRPXQLGDG HQ GLVWULWRV FRQ HVSDFLR HVFRODU H[FHVLYR /DV HVFXHODV contienen espacios que pueden ser IiFLOPHQWH UHQRYDGRV SDUD VDWLVIDFHU ODV necesidades de las poblaciones sin hogar. Ejemplos de cĂłmo estos espacios pueden VHU FRQYHUWLGRV SDUD VDWLVIDFHU HVWDV QHFHVLdades son a la derecha.

Student population incresases, returns to school use Cuando aumenta la poblaciĂłn estudiantil ç•śĺ­¸ç”&#x;人數增ĺŠ

Apartments Los apartamentos 兏寓 Skill building ConstrucciĂłn de habilidades ćŠ€čƒ˝ĺťşč¨­ 使ç”¨ĺ­¸ć Ąä˝œç‚şç„ĄĺŽśĺ?Żć­¸çš„é żé›Ł 所ĺ?Şć˜Żé€™äş›犺é–“ĺ?ŻäťĽç”¨ć–źç¤žĺ?€ ĺˆŠç›Šçš„ć–šĺź?的一個䞋ĺ­?ĺœ¨ćœ‰é Ž ĺşŚĺ­¸ć ĄçŠşé–“çš„ĺ?€ĺ&#x;&#x;。 ĺ­¸ć Ąć“ ćœ‰

USE AS A SCHOOL USO COMO ESCUELA ç”¨ä˝œĺ­¸ć Ą

Student population decreases, becomes homeless shelter Cuando disminuye la poblaciĂłn estudiantil ç•śĺ­¸ç”&#x;人數 減少

Health services Servicios de salud ĺ Ľĺşˇćœ?ĺ‹™ Daycare facility La guarderĂ­a 旼託中ĺżƒ ĺ?ŻäťĽčź•éŹ†çżťć–°çš„犺é–“ďźŒ䝼板蜳 焥厜ĺ?Żć­¸č€…çš„éœ€čŚ ă€‚ 這些犺é–“ 匂何袍轉ć?›䝼板蜳這税éœ€ćą‚çš„ äž‹ĺ­?ć˜Żć­Łç˘şçš„ă€‚ 3

STUDIO 2 - Understanding the BQX Coalition Building along the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront Group project by Andrew Strong, Caroline Macfarlane and Sarath Ramanan.

The studio provoked us into understanding the implications of development in the city of New York, furthering our knowledge about the political economy of land in the city. The class was involved in analyzing the effects of transit oriented development, namely the streetcar project proposed by the city to connect the various neighborhoods along the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront. The studio was divided into four groups that assessed the politicizing of the waterfront - as most new developments were happening along the waterfront of the outer boroughs of the city, the consequences of adopting transit oriented development trajectories, tracing the private investment happening along the waterfront, as well as forming a coalition of actors that would mediate the shortcomings of new development on the waterfront. We identified that there was a need for a coalition of NGOs and activists already operating along the waterfront, working towards community engagement and advocacy as the people did not necessarily have a voice against the government or the economic investment happening on the waterfront, thereby allowing for any environmental justice issues to go unnoticed by the authorities of concern. Therefore, a coalition was proposed after understanding the issues that neighborhoods along the waterfront have confronted over time. My role within the project involved identifying events that dictate the patterns that community engagement followed with respect to planning for developments in the city, with a focus on the five neighborhoods along the waterfront that the proposed streetcar connects. It identifies the proposals that were made by the community districts as part of the 197-A planning provisions and the resulting co-optation of these recommendations by the city, in favour of economic investment that could eventually result in outcomes that go against the existing people in the neighborhood, in terms of environmental justice, gentrification as well as displacement.Also, it identifies events of activism and successful pushbacks against development and policy decisions made by the NYC Planning Commission and the NYC EDC, thereby making community voices heard in the process of planning for the neighborhoods. Upon understanding these trends, we were able to further our knowledge towards making a strong proposal for building a coalition along the waterfront, making us aware of the possible shortcomings of community based planning in the eyes of the city.

Action on the Waterfront

Lo

The Sunnyside Feasability Study is done by the NYC Economic Deve Corporation to investigate whether real estate development is poss the rail yards, similar to the Hudson Yards development project in M The results of the study indicate that 80% of the yards

Organizations have a long history of activism against gentrification and displacement along the waterfront ranging from UPROSE in Sunset Park to Justice for all Coalition in Long Island City. This map includes only a few in order to share some key lessons that will be helpful in understanding the current climate of the city’s anti-gentrification and displacement movements. -

“We have to stop thinking about how we stop gentrification and start thinking more about how we prevent displacement.” - Ana Baptista “The biggest challengeS to addressing climate change and environmental gentrification are privilege, white supremacy, and the patriarchy.” - Elizabeth Yeampierre (Climate Action Conference) “If you are not at the table, you’re on the menu.” - Eddie Bautista

Sunset Park

The Bush Terminal Park opened up for public use. Neighboring property to the park sold for 20% above asking price. UPROSE took the lead in anti-gentrification organizing, determined to retain the green benefits for the community that demanded them.

2014

2015

Greenpoint and Wil neighborhoods in B City’s Housing and N increeased by 78% s

2012

Buildings on the waterfront were renovated industrial and commercial space, displacing

Sunset Park Bush Terminal Park’s remediation costs greatly increased. The park was scaled back from 22 acres to 11 acres. The NYC Economic Developmet Corporation took an active interest in the development of the park. This recognition by the city signified the park’s economic importance to development. Sunset Park is rezoned for future development.

2009

Greenpoint - Williamsburg The community plan was approved by the city in 2002, however Willamsburg and Greenpoint were rezoned in 2005, making the community plan obsolete.

2005

Sunset Park

2006

Federal, State, and City funding are secured for Bush Terminal Park, in part because of UPROSE’s significant work. The park received the largest State grant to date for brownfield remediation.

Long island city Long Island City is rezoned to include development similar to that of Greenpoint-Williamsburg, except that Long Island City was slated to be a business district rather than luxury condominiums.

2001 2001

Red HOok

Despite the approval of the Red Hook Community Plan, the city proposed to build a major waste transfer station in Red Hook following the closure of Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island, which handled most of New York City’s waste.

Red HOok

Because of the city’s approval of the Community Plan and push back from the residents of Red Hook, the waste transfer station was withdrawn and the existing waste treatment facilities were also shut down.

Property Owners

1999 1996

Sunset Park

Artists priced out of other neighborhoods in Brooklyn begin moving to the industrial waterfront in Sunset Park. UPROSE lead the community in advocating for a waterfront park.

Red HOok

The Red Hook Community Plan is approved by the city. The plan asks for better public transportation, access to the waterfront, better education more local jobs, and for the removal of waste transfer stations in the neighborhood.

Louis Valentino Park

NYCHA

Red hook

IS En ow pu tie Ba In fa fro ho

LE

vu

Su

1990s 1990

RE

Greenpoint - Williamsburg

residents got together to create a community plan for their waterfront. The neighborhoods ended up making two seperate plans because of disagreements. The desire to remediate the toxic waterfront was an issue that brought the two groups together.

Sunset Park

IS

Industry City

Bush Terminal PArk

pa ca be

LE w w 20

ong island city

QUEENS + LOng island city: Connecting movements

elopment sible over Manhattan.

ISSUE:Queens is facing many development pressures from the proposal to build the BQX, the recent rezoning of Long Island City and the Sunnyside Yards Redevelopment Feasibility Study by the Economic Development Corporation. All three of these projects threaten to alter the surrounding neighborhoods by paving the way through land use policies and transit development, which will inevitably increase rents and land value in the area; shifting the demographic to a whiter, wealthier population.

2017 2017

Asian Communties have been attending each other’s meetings regularly, sharing information, and working together to build coalition

Long island city

pressure on council members to oppose these initiatives and stay accountable to their constituents.

There has been speculation in the news that large areas of Long Island City will be rezoned in June to support the possibility of the future development of Sunnyside Rail Yards.

LESSON:There is power in numbers. Coalition building is a key strategy communities can adopt to make their voices heard!

nycha

Greenpoint - Williamsburg

lliamsburg were listed as the fastest gentrifying Brooklyn according to the State of New York Neighborhood report. Rents in the area had since the 1990s.

queens is not for sale

Justice For All Coalition

A diverse group of Queens

is building a coalition between NYCHA housing in Queens along the waterfront focused on the impacts of rezoning and development in Long Island City.

continue to live in their neighborhood. nycha

Jackson Heights nycha Woodside

Sunset Park

into upscale light g artist communities.

Rezoning sunnyside yards

Long ISland City

Queens Anti-Gentrification Project CAAAV organizing Asian communities

SunnySide

Woodside, Sunnyside, and the rest of Queens to displacement.

Working to build grassroots community power across Asian working class communities

Greenpoint Williamsburg

-

Williamsburg/greenpoint: The gentrification model 2005 Rezoning

ISSUE: When the communities of Greenpoint and Williamsburg tried to make a community plan together in the year ---, the neighborhood’s population was largely working class and racially diverse. The Williamsburg Greenpoint waterfront was largely industrial, inaccessible and the future of the neighborhood. Although both Greenpoint and Williamsburg residents wanted public access to a cleaner waterfront, the residents of Greenpoint were more supportive of high rise development in the area, whereas the residents of Williamsburg wanted the waterfront to function as an extension of the existing neighborhood. Willaimsburg’s community plan asked for more low rise development and (non-polluting) industrial jobs along the waterfront. The city approved of Williamsburg and Greenpoint’s community plan, but went on to The city claimed to have incorporated aspects of the community plans into their rezoning plan, by creating more green space along the waterfront. Many residents involved in the planning process view this as totally dishonest as the city rezoned the area surrounding the park to allow for the construction of more hotels and luxury development, creating a wall of towers around the public space. In the last two decades Williamsburg has gone from a working class, immigrant neighborhood to one of the wealthiest and whitest neighborhoods in the city. LESSON: ings will co-opt the language used by the community. The rezoning of Williamsburg Greenpoint reveals how successful rezoning is at gentrifying neighborhoods and displacing entire communities. Don’t be fooled by the sugar coated language!

ED HOOK: Negotiations In COMMUNITY PLANNING

SSUE: Red Hook started their community plan in --- amidst environmental debates over the numerous waste treatment plants located in the area. nvironmental issues surrounding Red Hook’s polluted waterfront was the singular issue that brought the public housing residents and the home wners together. However, there was still much disagreement among the two parties. The homeowners were more concerned with creating more ublic access to the waterfront and cleaning it up, whereas the public housing residents were more concerned with creating more education facilies in the neighborhood. The homeowners hired city planner Tom Angotti to help them advocate for their needs, while environmental lawyer Eddie aptista helped the public housing residents advocate for theirs. Tom and Eddie worked together in order to bridge the gap between both parties. n the end Red Hook’s community plan was a hybrid of its resident’s needs. However, the results that were implemented by the city were more avorable for the property owners. Louis Valentino Park and Pier was built as a result of the plan, but it much closer to the houses and farther away om NYCHA properties. Red Hook’s community plan was successful for all its residents in that it got rid of the waste transfer plants in the neighborood.

ESSON: Negotiations are central to the planning process - not everyone in the community is going to necessarily want the same thing. Sometimes

ulnerable residents are included.

unset park: COMMUNITY ACTIVISM AND THE DANGER OF ENVIRONMENTAL GENTRIFICATION

SSUE: Activism along Sunset Park’s waterfront has been led by the organization UPROSE. For decades,UPROSE has been working to reduce the numer-

ark with public access was built. As this time, Industry City had arrived in Sunset Park. Industry City is a an industry of studio and event spaces that ater to the “creative class.” It is a distinctly white, wealthy, and non-local vision of what Sunset Park should be. As Industry City grew, the park has ecome increasingly at risk of being used as an amenity for developers visions of the neighborhood.

ESSON: without enabling environmental gentrification. “[UPROSES] comprehensive approach to urban sustainability planning,” writes Terry Hum, “is contrasted with the green growth machine’s vision of a greened and gentrified Sunset Park waterfront, anchored by Industry City.” Hum, 2014, Sze, 2007; UPROSE 013, 2016).

Studio 3 - Situation Analysis Uneven Development - Identifying Geographies of Inequality As part of preparing for Thesis, we were required to identify an urban condition that we would like to understand about and strategize a resolution if need be. Therefore, my starting point towards my research was to understand the push towards urbanization in India, in particular, the ‘Smart Cities’ initiatives being propagated in the country as a model for economic development. As a result, I ventured into concepts of ‘Entreprenuerial urbanization’ (the city being developed for a particular group of people) and thereby started exploring on Lefebvre’s concept of ‘The Right to the City’. This was a turning point in my research as I started identifying the people who did not have the right to occupy space in the city. As a result, it was important to understand the marginalization of communities, thereby leading me towards understanding the Urban Poor. Thus, a process of generating the urban poor was identified, as shown in ‘The Cycle of Dispossession’ in the following page. Furthermore, it was understood that this dispossession was occuring due to the country’s obsession with modernity, as a percieved mode of generating economic development, job creation and thereby creating conditions of desirable social security for the citizens of the nation state. However, it is clear that this mode of development was creating inequalities in its own right, that had to be identified and dealt with in an effort towards promoting a more just and equitable distribution of the wealth that was seemingly flowing into the country. As a result, I studied the concepts of Mobility and Migration that were a precondition of Modernity (Urban Renewal), as a condition of Tabula Rasa was necessary for any form of capital investment to occur under the neoliberal era. Thus, as can be seen from the following pages, I have tried to identify geographies of inequality that Modernity posed on the urban fabric, thereby concluding the semester by identifying projects that come under the urban renewal schemes in the city of Chennai, India. This included policies of slum resettlement on the outskirts of the city, away from the geographies of opportunities for livelihoods, support and development, that these migrant communities settled themselves around.

Entreprenuerial Urbanization (Smart Cities) Foreign Investment

Financial Advisors

Infrastructure Development

Feasibility Consultants

Smart Systems

The Cycle of Dispossession B

D Dispossession

Ownership of Land and Market Lost Entrepreneurial Character Lost

A

Sqatting Time and Space as a Function of Capital Unlivable and Unaffordable Integrated into a system of credit

C Speculation State and Corporate Investments Displacing People off their Property

Modernity Time and Space as a Function of Capital Unable to Afford or Integrate

Modernity at Large The country’s attempt at Modernity Mahindra Mumbai Ambani City World City Bangalore

Chandigarh Modern City

Lavasa Lonavala

Knowledge City

SEZ

Global City Hi Tech City

Eco City

Smart Cities

2002

2002

2004

2007

2014

1960

City Centric Redevelopment Strategies (Chennai)

Tsunami Rehabilitation

Port Maduravoyar Frieght Expressway

Chennai Floods

Chennai High Speed Transit Corridors

Policies Facilitating Urban Renewal (In other words, hiding the poor) TNSCB

Liberalization

JNNURM

Rajiv Awas Yojana

1970

1990

2005

2009

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PPP) Housing For All

2015

Credit Linked Subsidies In-Situ Rehabilitation Affordable Housing through PPP

Vision 2023 Slum Free Cities

Migrant Ecologies

The fact that there are many more settlements such as these that have not been recorded means that they are kept out of sight or are being systemically under-represented by the state, in an effort to show that the state is more functional than it actually is.

Map showing the location of slums in the city, sourced from the Census of India (2011), District Census Handbook, Chennai, Part XII-A. It is to be noted that this census only accounts for the settlements that have successfully obtained civic services from the state, such as street lighting, toilet facilities etc. Also, it accounts for only one-third of the estimated number of slums in the city.

The inability of the migrant population to situate themselves into decent housing and afford state services due to the much higher value of urban space and time than the speculated value that they were offered for their land, are forced into squatter settlements, whose existence is opposed by the state and the urban middle class in general. These settlements are seen as an ‘eyesore’ and are stereotyped as being undesirable. However, even though urban economics forces these people to settle into these slums, they often find others who are from very similar backgrounds and have been through similar circumstances as well. This shared experience gives them a perceived sense of solidarity and the dispossessed feel at ease with each other within the settlement. This not only gives them a place to house themselves, but over time, helps foster a sense of belonging and community. Such settlements usually happen on land that is of very low civic and commercial value. They also endure very undesirable sanitation and public health conditions. They situate themselves on land that they see as being economically accessible to them, but at the same time, will be given some degree of security in terms of tenure and livelihoods. Thus, they occur near railway lines, high speed transit corridors and river banks (as the rivers previously used to provide them with livelihood opportunities and affordable transportation). Sometimes, these livelihoods come from hazardous working conditions, such as ports, waste management and other industries that required high levels of physical labor for a very low wage. People who find work in these industries situate themselves in more precarious settlement sites in the city, such as near petro-chemical storage facilities, waste water treatment plants, solid waste landfill areas, coastal high tide zones, brown fields etc. The people were under the impression that the vulnerability and undesirability of the land that they situated themselves in would provide for the security of tenure that is a major requirement for any emancipatory trajectories of wealth creation to occur. However, very less were they aware of the plans that the city had made for their displacement and even further dispossession, in the name of making the city ‘beautiful’ and aesthetically appealing for further investment and development. The plan involved ‘Rehabilitation’ of these populations of the urban poor into concrete buildings in the periphery of the city, and more importantly away from their livelihoods and communities that have been secured and fostered over a very long period of time.

Modernity - A Critique

Map depicting land values in the city during the last quarter of 2017, data obtained from property listings site www.makaan.com. The boundaries in white depicts the census tracts for Census 2011 also known as wards. The region drawn by the shape in black represents the expansion of the city’s administrative boundaries after 2011.

Modernity functions as a mode of privatizing land and providing for ownership deeds that in turn allows the state to tax the property in order to be able to add to its inventory. In social terms, this inherent character of modernity translates into privatized social relationships, effectively defining your position in the social strata and thereby determining your political voice and capacity to participate in the everyday political economy of the city. This in turn allows the state to exercise a degree of control over individual actors and processes. Furthermore, the austerity measures that modernity provides for undermines the capacity of local production and small scale ecologies to provide for livelihoods to the population who are otherwise excluded from these grand development models. Moreover, Modernity allows the city to take the form of explicitly defined spaces that include certain people and tries to be exclusive of others as discussed above, primarily based on the individual’s economic ability to access space and less on their social capacity to do so. This explicit determination of urban functioning and the resulting categorization of urban space in the form of zoning, land use, tenure etc., has resulted in the creation of glorified as well as marginalized spaces, which eventually translate into social stratification as well.

This social stratification gives rise to the politics of identity, which in the urban environment translates into being branded as belonging to a particular segment of the society, upon which certain stereotypical characteristics are presumed to be true about individuals, even though they do not exhibit such characteristics. This exaggeration of the inherent differences that exist between individuals in the society lays the foundation for polarization which over time leads to the inability of the people to sort out their differences and function as a singular heterogeneous unit. This usually formalizes in the as confrontation between the fragmented communities, leading to crisis such as demonstrations, coups or could even attain more violent and devastating forms of urban uprisings. However, these modes of segregated functioning are necessary for the benefit of the global free market, in order to produce goods and services that would serve each of the polarized communities separately in the name of customization in order to generate further consumption. For example, there are development projects in India that aim at particular religious or caste based communities, adding to the already existing modes of segregation towards the development of the dwelling as well as the other modes of functioning; apart from the contestations that are already an integral to the urban form. This form of polarization could potentially lead to communities preferring to build walls around themselves, in order to feel secure from the forces of urban contestation that only become amplified by the ways of modernity. The communities do not realize that by building walls between each other, they are only making themselves more vulnerable than they previously were, and that the wall only served as a physical deterrent to their insecurities. In fact, the walls could show exactly where and whom to attack, in the case of urban conflict, thereby exposing the communities to further risk and tension. These processes effectively limit the capacity of the city to be the arena for a concentration of exchange opportunities, that would otherwise not occur. These exchange opportunities may vary from a simple conversation to a monetary transaction to the strengthening of social ties within the realm of the individual as well as the community. An instance of modernity’s inherent austerity – Transit Infrastructure The idealized modern city is orderly: activities are categorized and assigned to intentionally designed and thereby designated spaces. For Example, Commerce is planned to occur in spaces such as shops, stores, malls and markets. Similarly, activities of recreation are planned in the form of parks, gyms and sports fields. These modes of functioning are situated/dispersed in between the primary form of urban functioning – the dwelling – connected by the transit network of the modern city. The transit is used as a mode organizing urban space. Here, the transportation network becomes the most celebrated function of an urban agglomeration and a heightened form of privatization, the extreme form of which can be seen in the form of the car. It tries to connect the differentiated activity zones through modes of access that mandate mechanized living, thereby making way for lesser human interactions and also generate an obsession with the capacity of technology to promote a mode of individuality, that eventually results in the depoliticizing of the urban space through restricting access to a concentration of exchange opportunities that an urban agglomeration should come to represent to allow for comfortable political interaction for a sustained collective experience of the space. Moreover, the importance that this mode of infrastructure gains due to its ability to keep modernity happening makes it more important to invest in these infrastructure projects, rather than in attempting to correct the already existing challenges to urban living. Interestingly, these investments end up targeting the deprived urban communities and effectively displaces populations who depend on the very same pre-existing transit infrastructure for access to livelihoods, schools, healthcare and other public services, thereby hiding the inherent deprivation and disinvestment towards these communities by the state, and more recently by private entities through the public-private models of urban development.

Studio 4 (Thesis) - Identifying Strategies Understanding Settlement Ties - Religion, Caste and Class as tools for Integration My thesis tries to understand the shortcomings of imposing modernity onto human settlements and thereby tries to identify the roles that the social organizations of Religion, Caste and Class play in governing urban space. The thesis postulates that the characteristics of modernity and its innate ability to fragment communities, polarize neighborhoods and ghettoize people, creating inequalities (as the space in the modernist city is a function of land values) and resulting in insecurities between stakeholders of varying identities that come together to share the urban space. It tries to identify and advocate ways in which the city can become a safe haven for people to function as a cohesive unit, using the very social organizations that cause fragmentation during the identified processes of modernist development, and posits that development should happen in a manner that promotes communal aspects of sharing and solidarity. I identify a neighborhood in my hometown that functions as a cohesive unit as described above despite the differences in identities inherent to the people occupying the urban space and I try to understand the sociology that goes behind the neighborhood’s perceived success as a space that creates the interdependencies required to produce opportunities for exchange, in the form of conversations or capital exchange, to build the kind of relationships that promote tolerance and understanding between the communities of differing identities.

The Ways of Mylapore, Chennai, India. Religious Institutions - Social Control through Culture

Shared Space

Temples Mosques Churches Jain Temple Neutral Worship

Religious institutions have the capacity to determine the demographic of the occupants in the immediate environment, due to their ability to occupy urban space beyond the walls that contain the physicality of their institutional presence. This can be achieved through the activation of urban space in the form of religious and cultural events that people identify with, through architecture and through the use of other sensory perceptions such as visual grandeur, with tall towers and spires being symbolic of reaching into the heavens, vocal presence, through prayers and processions, nasal titillations, in the form of flowers used for decorations, as well as taste through organizing communal buffets (a prominent case from India would be the meals served in the golden temple in Amritsar) etc. Moreover, these institutions are entitled to property ownership under the administration of a TRUST, which oftentimes tend to be used to serve the community that identifies with the particular religion. Also, they are capable of influencing urban characteristics such as building heights, road widths, presence of footpaths etc., to match the activities that they actuate within their spheres of influence, through faith and not necessarily through regulations. For instance, since the towers and spires symbolize heaven, people hesitate to build taller than these structures, effectively controlling building heights and facades within close proximity to the religious site. The neighborhood in consideration here has a mosaic of various religions coming together within their immediate urban environments. Using the arguments above, I would like to assume that these institutions support and serve the demographic of people that identify with their respective religious institution as can be seen in the diagram on the far left. Thus, the various religious anchors serve the different religious categories of people, within their own circles/realms of belonging. However, these circles overlap with each other, creating spaces of interdependencies, that require constant negotiations and discussions in order to be able to sustain the particular urban space.

A particular peculiarity contained within the neighborhood can be seen from the diagram on the right side of the image. Here, these spaces are being used in regular intervals by the different religious institutions, to activate the urban space and bring people together to create opportunities for exchange, which could include anything from a conversation to a monetary exchange to friendly interactions in the form of parties and gatherings, that are more secular than religious in nature. An instance of this argument can be seen from the fact that the neighborhood has a history of tolerance and dignified co-existence due to a practice introduced by the Nawab of Madras a while ago, during the invasion of the city by the Portuguese. The foreign presence displaced a particularly important Hindu temple from its original location. The Nawab who seemed to have tolerant views towards the Hindus, allocated large swathes of land for the current Mylapore Temple, which can be seen in the map with the large water tank. However, he had directed the Muslims to allow for the peaceful co-existence of the two religions, and asked for the Hindus to share their temple tank for the Muslims to pray during their important religious celebration of Muharram. This practice creates a sense of interdependence, apart from sharing urban space and resources. The Muslims view this event as an effort by the Hindu community to accept their differences and share their urban infrastructure, while for the Hindus, the longevity of this practice, enforces a belief that the Muslims using their tank for prayer is a sign of good will and prosperity. As a result, any tensions arising over sharing of the urban space between the two communal groups are settled amicably and with diligence. I have reason enough to believe that the sharing of these spaces during the floods in Chennai (Dec 2015), by both the communities in this neighborhood towards rehabilitation efforts were a direct resultant of this particular practice. This is what my professor Mindy Fullilove would describe as ‘Urban Alchemy’.

Omnipresence of Caste - Creating Interdependencies, Tackling Inequalities Members of a caste share a common culture, living conditions, livelihood, thought and behavior, beliefs, values, rules, conditions, economic as well as social organization.

Varna

Jati

Brahmin

Kshatriya

Caste System

Further Subdivisions

Vaishya

Shudras

Diagram exploring on the structural hierarchy of inequity that could be said to be caused by the system of caste.

A race to the top can happen only within the enclave of a Jati. Thus, there is no absolute upper caste or lower caste that can be defined within the system. All hierarchical relationships are relative to each other. Therefore, any emancipatory action at the level of a subdivision would not translate into mobility through this system of redistribution. Thus, it is often said to be a self sustaining and self preserving system of inequality.

The system of caste has always been perceived as one that perpetuates inequality in terms of access to social mobility and opportunities for economic emancipation. It is criticized in its most severe form to be a self-sustaining and self-preserving system of inequality, where any intervention made will exist only within the realm of a Jati and may not move into the more overarching structure of the Varna, unless an attempt is made for a coalition or cooperation between the various Jatis that fall within the Varna. Moreover, as unstable as coalitions already are within the same Varna, exploring on possibilities of cooperation between the different Varnas could prove to be extremely difficult. Even though the system of caste has come to be seen as one that creates inequalities between various communities that occupy urban space, its origins are rooted in the need to specialize in professional fields of interest determined by the individuals through choice and free will. It also aimed to serve as a mode for the redistribution of wealth, in the form of land and other resources in order to effect specialization and perfection in their respective fields of practice. However, through time, this mode of redistribution becomes one that starts exhibiting characteristics of rigidity and hierarchy. This in turn creates a race to the top of the hierarchical structure, in order to retain the social access and economic mobility that being above the other castes promised. It is at this point that the competitive edge created by the structural rearrangement of labor and communal collaborations, the system starts showing signs of creating unequal access to social, economic and political resources, thereby becoming identified as one of creating sustained inequity. An interesting method of creating these coalitions can be seen in the form of the bazaars (markets) that exist in these neighborhoods. The fact that people belonging to various different caste identities come together to practice their trade and exchange, thereby creating opportunities for interdependencies to occur within these urban geographies. These distributions also depend on the activity that is being generated by each caste within the space of the bazaar. For example, selling meat cannot happen next to trades that involve selling flowers, fruits or vegetables (this is not a strict mode of organization, exceptions can always be made based on the need of the settlement, allowing for customization of functions by the local communities inhabiting the urban space) as they would interfere with certain cultural norms that organize space.

Social Mobility

Expressions of Class – Through Built Form and Tenure Security

Squatting

Settler Neighborhoods

State Services Acquired

Tenure Secured

Confirmed Property Ownership

Level of Security in Tenure

The importance of tenure and the resulting investment in built form, expressing social mobility has been spatialized in the neighborhood of interest. Economic class can be argued to be expressed through the built form in the city. This built form is governed explicitly by the amount of land occupied, density of occupation, as well as by the tenure security that the land guarantees to the occupant. This may vary from squatter settlements on the lowest level on the economic strata, to the famous Antilia residence of the richest Indian, sited in the economic capital of the country, Mumbai. Thus, the discrepancy in the distribution of capital can vary from access to fifty square feet of multipurpose space to a 27 story residence for a family of five. When there is no security in tenure, the occupants of the land are unwilling to invest in the built form, in order to be able to house themselves in what could be considered as desirable living conditions. Thus, squatting usually involves using freely available materials in the immediate environment and techniques of dwelling, such as unused water pipes meant for infrastructure projects in the city. Their unwillingness to invest is irrespective of whether they have the means to afford better living conditions or not. This inability to invest in their dwelling has implications on the social space that they can gain access to in the present as well as in future. Moving up the economic ladder, having acquired permission from the local civic authority, whoever they may be - either governmental or otherwise, to occupy urban space, people are relatively more willing to invest and care for their immediate environment. Thus, they find means to invest in housing themselves by sourcing locally available and inexpensive materials from the market. These dwellings may range from thatch (huts) to bricks and asbestos for the walls and roofing. This intermediary form of investment results in a much higher mode of social access and mobility, as the occupants are in a position to leave their dwelling during the day, with a sense that they would come back to a roof over their head at the end of a tiring work day. However, they are yet to access

state services such as water, sanitation and electricity (which could be made available through other means, even though such a mode of access is less desirable). Moving forward, being able to access state services increases their chances of attaining better living standards. They are now able to invest in building toilets (either as a common or as a private in-house facility), acquire electrical and electronic gadgets etc., which could be argued to be leading up to higher social status and recognition from the society. It is to be noted that people are willing to purchase these commodities, even though their tenure has not yet been secured by the state in the form of property lease or deeds. Also, it is at this point that some people are interested in building additional floor space in order to be able to accumulate further wealth through the leasing or renting of this newly available excess built space to occupants outside of the family. The fact that they are now able to pay for urban services further increases their political authority, as they are now in a position to question authority, as they are now a consumer of these urban services. Further securing tenure through the state (public housing) or through acquiring private property ownership, people are further invested into pooling their resources to create spaces that can be argued to be more desirable, thereby, allowing for complete access and freedom to social mobility, relative to the constraints previously evident to the people undergoing circumstances of insecure tenure. From this point onwards, the land and the dwelling stops interfering with the accessibility of the occupants to social spaces that the individuals aspire to access, and it becomes their individual responsibility to prove themselves worthy of the spaces that they want to be a part of. Thus, it can be argued that property ownership involving a secure tenure and the respective investment from the individuals towards their dwellings, allows for freedom of access to social spaces that are no longer constrained by the issue of housing, which is a basic human right, to dwell in the city. The ability of the neighborhood to make people of varying economic classes to pass through each other’s space on a regular basis in order to be able to get to their mode of transit, place of work, worship or any other generator of urban mobility, creates solidarity over time, to the extent that they no longer perceive their differences in their daily lived experience. This mode of accessibility made available to the occupants of the neighborhood, creates opportunities for interactions, negotiations and discussions to occur on a regular basis, which proves to be efficient in creating ties between the varied classes of people.

Conclusion The social organizations of Religion, Caste and Class, even though are always regarded as social structures that create inequalities and enclaves, and thereby separate people based on their identities, the origins of these social identities did not aim at fragmenting society, but were seen as ways of redistributing wealth and welfare to the people in need of their services, in order to create more accessible and equitable societies. This can be argued as a more successful form of the social security system that exists in the US, which is completely based on economic factors in determining the access to resources by individuals. This conclusion can be observed from the alternative models of functioning that is a part of the neighborhood of Mylapore, as discussed in the previous sections. The fact that religion can allow the sharing of urban space with individuals belonging to other religious identities, through activating the urban space that lies within the realm of the religious institution and also not restricting access to the event generated by the institution. This event is usually one of cultural significance that depends on the qualitative aspects of social functioning such as faith and not on economic terms determining access to this space that is being shared. Caste as a mode of creating interdependencies in terms of livelihoods opportunities, and the fact that people belonging to different professional backgrounds - usually determined by their caste, which to an extent determines their access to resources, need to trade alongside each other in order to be able to work towards the community’s development. The need of the different professional specializations to grow and thrive can only be created through collaboration, as can be demonstrated from the market spaces in the neighborhood, and the fact that the identities of these caste based communities are acknowledged and identified, rather than hidden from the streets of the market place in the form of sign boards and symbolism, as well as expressions through language and origins of names, is an important reminder of the commerce that is being shared between the various communities. Also, the emancipatory nature of access to spaces belonging to people of various class based categories is also evident from this neighborhood. The need for people to move through these spaces, irrespective of them belonging to the affluent class or the marginalized, on a regular basis, in order to access the urban services that the neighborhood promises the occupants, diminishes their differences and naturalizes their existence within the same space to the extent that the occupants of the neighborhood no longer perceives them. This mode of interaction further makes it possible for the marginal class to avail contacts, jobs and other forms of exchange from the relatively affluent class, while at the same time making the services of the poor available to the affluent populations. This serves as a framework for possibilities with which the poor or the marginalized can avail the opportunity to redefine their position in the society and move up the economic ladder. Extending these findings from the neighborhood to the functioning of societies in general, where solidarity is made an inherent part of the daily activities that make the neighborhood happen, we can conclude that these modes of social organization need to be understood in depth in order to create equitable opportunities for access to resources by members of varied communities making up the society, by diminishing their differences through creating interdependencies, but at the same time acknowledging that they are different and that they need to continue doing the work necessary to actuate the sharing of urban space. The fact that global developmental forces are based on monetary relationships and measurements alone (such as GDP), accentuate the fault lines that exist between communities that make up the society and end up fragmenting the urban ecosystem, as discusses in the chapter on ‘The Ways of Modernity’, to the extent that they cannot be stitched together again. This fragmentation could potentially lead to the weakening of the society, and could bring down the people to be mere puppets in the hands of global capital. Thus, I would like to posit that religion, caste and class are the keys to sustaining relational systems of redistribution, and that identifying, acknowledging and working through our differences are the only ways in which we can make sure that we strive as a community within the forces of globalized austerity.

Miscellaneous Works Carto - Using datasets for analysis and representation

AirBNB locations in New York City, analyzed and linked to the AirBNB website for a geographic overlay of listings to facilitate decision making for users of the service.

Generating a dataset through research - representation of plot values and development activity in the city of Chennai, India.

Mapping Informal Urbanity (Maps as Media)

Thank You

Where do I see myself in the future? I plan on continuing with my journey on understanding the implications of the built form on the urban environment and attempting at minimizing or mitigating the perceived undesirable impacts of my practice on the sociology of urban space. I would eventually like to understand the dynamics of community engagement and the impact of political decisions and policies that go towards any effort made towards development of the urban space and finally head towards policy analysis and advocacy, aiming at promoting better governance.

URBAN@PARSONS

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