WHAT'S NEWMore than a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the City of New Orleans, the city and its residents are still struggling to recover. Estimates suggest that the recovery process will go on for at least several more years. To lend support to this important task, faculty members at UNC-CH have developed the New Orleans Recovery Initiative (NORI), an interdisciplinary program designed to connect the expertise of the University’s faculty, students and staff with the critical needs of community groups in New Orleans. NORI was developed under the auspices of the University’s Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity with the participation and support of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, the Department of City and Regional Planning, the School of Social Work, and the School of Law.
NORI is focusing its efforts on the Gentilly area of New Orleans and working closely with the District 6 Community Council representing that area. Based on discussions with citizen leaders, we are initially concentrating on two discrete projects: the development of a set of scenarios for clustering the residents in viable sections of the District, and the development of a neighborhood information center to provide residents with the information they need to rebuild.
More information on this project can be found at the Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity’s website. http://www.law.unc.edu/Centers/details.aspx?ID=425&Q=3
Presentations will take place at Hickerson House from 12:30 to 1:45 unless noted otherwise. Beverages and light dessert is provided.
April 18, 2008
"The Effectiveness of Local Immigration Policies"
Dr. Mai Thi Nguyen, Assistant Professor, Department of City & Regional Planning
The failure of the 2006 Federal immigration reform has sparked a quiet revolution among local jurisdictions across the U.S. From Hazleton, Pennsylvania to Costa Mesa, California and hundreds of communities in between, local government officials are adopting a variety of immigration policies. Five jurisdictions in North Carolina have implemented the 287g program that trains local law enforcement--sheriff’s deputies and police officers--essentially to become immigration agents.
Dozens of other local jurisdictions are considering adopting it. Local law enforcement officers say that the 287g program is a crime fighting tool, enabling them to identify criminals and deport
them if they are undocumented. Immigrants, whether documented or not, say the lack of transparency and understanding about the program is creating fear and hostility towards
law enforcement that break down lines of communication and trust. Dr. Nguyen’s seminar will address her preliminary work assessing the effectiveness of the 287g program and directions for future research of this topic.January 25, 2008
"Scientific Growth” for Chinese Cities: Experiences from Beijing
Xiaodong Shi, Planner, Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design
Beijing’s fast growth during the last two decades has been accompanied by a broad set of issues such as sprawling and congested metropolitan areas, limited space resources, degrading environments, and skyrocketing housing prices. In facing these issues, decision-makers began to realize that pursuing economic growth in a single dimension would not be sustainable. Recent efforts have manifested Beijing’s determination in developing the city in a more sustainable way. Mr. Shi will discuss four of the most important recent planning efforts carried out by city planners:
-Beijing 2006-2015 “Rail Transit Plan” for Compact City;
-Beijing 2005-2020 “Underground Space Plan” for Alternative Space;
-Beijing 2006-2020 “Undevelopable Area Plan” for Ecological Responsibility; and
-Beijing 2006-2010 “Low-income Housing Plan” for Affordability and Livability.Note: This Brown Bag Seminar will we held in New East, Room 102, Department of City and Regional Planning, 12:30 to 1:45 p.m.
December 7, 2007
Dr. Nichola Lowe, Assistant Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning with Dr. Jaqueline Hagan, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
Nichola Lowe will present preliminary findings from her research with UNC Sociology Professor Jackie Hagan on immigrant skill formation processes. Through a study of urban construction sites in North Carolina, their research examines the processes of skill building that occur outside formal education settings, as well as the channels through which employers come to recognize, value and reward the skill sets of less-educated, immigrant workers. This project is designed to explore
local and national policy options for facilitating the skills development process of immigrant workers and in turn, policy options for enhancing the economic well being of both foreign and native-born workers in the United States.November 2, 2007
Local Political Geography and Institutionalized Racial Inequality
Allan Parnell, Vice President, Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities
Local political geography is a component of ongoing racial residential segregation. Racially disparate application of local governments’ power to shape local political geography creates barriers to equality that are difficult to discern on the ground, but which can be made visible though mapping of spatial data. Over the past decade, public geographic information system (GIS) data has become increasingly available as municipalities and other government agencies have digitized spatial databases which record local political and administrative boundaries, locations of infrastructure, environmental conditions, school attendance areas, police coverage, and many other services and characteristics. These developments, together with the laws granting public access to these records, make it possible to reveal discriminatory spatial structures which were previously hidden from public view.
October 26, 2007
Disaster Management in South Africa
Todd Owen, Associate Director, Center for Urban and Regional Studies
South Africa faces a wide variety of hazards and the country took a big step forward with the passage of the Disaster Management Act of 2002 (DMA). How is South Africa implementing the DMA? What are their challenges? What can we in the U.S. learn from South African disaster managers? Todd will discuss various perspectives he encountered while traveling in South Africa this summer.
April 20, 2007
Market-Based Approaches to Environmental Restoration
Dr. Martin Doyle, Associate Professor, Department of Geography
Over the past 15 years, the United States has increasingly adopted market-based approaches to environmental management and restoration. These approaches, commonly in the form of compensatory mitigation, mitigation banking, or water quality trading, have generally received strong support from economists, and but less from ecologists. Dr. Doyle will discuss his work investigating the impact of market forces on mitigation location decisions, and the potential long-term signature of market-based restoration on the landscape.
April 13, 2007
Improving Regional and Intra-Urban Public Transit for the Poor in Cuenca, Ecuador
Dr. Daniel Rodriguez, Associate Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning and Dr. Brian Morton, Senior Research Associate, Center for Urban and Regional Studies
In 2006, Drs. Rodriguez and Morton conducted a comprehensive investigation of the mobility of the poor residents of Cuenca, Ecuador for the World Bank. Cuenca is a textbook example of a central place: the spatial interaction between Cuenca and its environs is intense because the city is the locus of traditional markets, the tourist trade, essential services, and several large manufacturers. At this seminar, they will summarize findings from their investigation and describe their recommendations for regional and intra-urban public transit improvements, with a particular emphasis on the disadvantaged groups in the rural parishes closest to the metropolitan area.
November 17, 2006
Dr.Michele Berger, Assistant Professor Curriculum in Women’s Studies & CURS Fall 2006 Scholar-in-Residence
According to recent CDC estimates new cases of HIV infection are occurring disproportionately among women of color in the southern United States. Researchers, however, know little about mother and daughter communication and its role in preventing (or contributing to) HIV/AIDS and STDs. This “work-in-progress” talk covers exploratory themes gleaned from recent focus groups held in North Carolina with African American mothers and their teenage daughters and explores their communication regarding health, sexuality, and the transition to “young womanhood.” This research was conducted in partnership with a local community organizing and service collective that seeks to empower local residents to work for systemic change. Dr. Berger will also discuss the challenges and possibilities of a collaborative health research model in developing new intergenerational HIV prevention programs.
October 13, 2006
A Proposed Model of Disaster Recovery and Its Application Following Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi
Dr.Gavin Smith, Director Mississippi Governor's Office of Recovery and Renewal
Dr. Smith will discuss his work as the Director of the Mississippi Governor's Office of Renewal and Recovery. Emphasis will be placed on the applicability of a model of disaster recovery developed as part of a book chapter he wrote for the forthcoming Handbook of Disaster Research (Rodriguez and Quarantelli, editors). An underlying theme of the presentation will include the significant role of planning and design in the recovery of the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.
September 29, 2006
A Portrait of Hunger, the Social Safety Net, and the Working Poor
Dr.Maureen Berner, Associate Professor Public Administration & Government
Millions of Americans turn to food stamps, soup kitchens and other hunger relief
services to feed themselves and their families. Contrary to common perception,
many of these families are working. This was documented recently by Prof.
Maureen Berner, UNC MPA student Trina Ozer, and N.C. State doctoral student
Sharon Paynter. Over the past two years, they examined key characteristics of
the clients of the largest food pantry in NE Iowa. Dr. Berner will discuss this study
and its findings, including results that show that neither working nor accessing
government benefits has an impact on the odds that a person will need long-term
food assistance. In fact, those people who work are more likely to have sacrificed
food to pay for other life necessities. They found that Government benefits do not
seem to provide an adequate food safety net, and non-profits are experiencing increased
pressure to fill the gap. Implications of these findings for non-profits, local
government, and public policy in general will be discussed.March 3, 2006
Mitigating Repetitively Flooded Properties in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina
Dr. Jim Fraser, Senior Research Associate, Center for Urban and Regional Studies and Danny de Vries, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Anthropology
Their discussion will focus on the vulnerability of people and property in flood-prone areas of the U.S. and in particular, properties that are flooded repeatedly. Fraser and de Vries will talk about the realities and limitations of mitigation programs and the findings of their recent study that examines issues facing disadvantaged communities and property owners considering mitigation remedies.
January 20 , 2006
Envisioning Beijing in 2020 Through Sketches of Urban Scenarios
Yan Song, Ph.D., Department of City and Regional PlanningDr. Song was recently part of a team that provided technical assistance to the
Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning during its drafting of the Beijing
2020 Plan. Dr. Song will talk about her work to provide decision-makers in Beijing, China with an assessment of alternative development models through the introduction of scenario planning to the city’s planning process. The city’s rapid urbanization and its social, economic, and physical development c hallenges will also be discussed.November 18 , 2005
"Soul City, North Carolina: Race, Politics and the Unmaking of an American Dream"Thomas J. Campanella, Ph.D., Department of City and Regional Planning
Dr. Campanella will discuss his work on the history of a visionary new-town development in North Carolina conceived in the 1970s by black civil rights leader Floyd B. McKissick. Kin to a long tradition of Utopian planning in the West, Soul City was envisioned as an engine of African-American free enterprise and economic development, as well as a community unburdened by bigotry or racism. McKissick hoped that Soul City would give African-Americans a seat at the nation's economic table, as well as help stem the "Great Migration" of rural blacks to the urban north (which he felt was anything but a Promised Land). Though the project failed in the end--a victim of economic recession, poor management and contant attacks by the press and Senator Jessie Helms--Soul City remains one of the boldest and most extraordinary social experiments in American history.
