ISBN: 149929414X 9781499294149

Category: Architecture / Urban & Land Use Planning

Page count: 92

"A Tale of Two Cities" was written to establish a guide for the development of student/community-based action studio plans and programs. Students are broadly defined to include urban designers, community organizers, architects, landscape architects, and community planners. This report captures and analyzes the Seventh Annual Lecture (2013) by Thomas E. Deller, MCP, AICP; Director of the Hartford City Department of Development Services; Former City Planning Director, City of Providence. Thomas Deller's lecture, "A Tale of Two Cities: Economic Development and Housing Change in Hartford, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island" examines the linkages among demographics, land use, and organizational development of the delivery of planning services for the two cities that, despite their common elements, are substantially different. Both cities were shaped by the demographics, economic development and housing change of the decades of 1990-2010. The report emphatically suggests that in order to understand the structure of the planning profession and the city, one must understand the changes and needs of the communities being served. Without real participation there is no way to achieve policy integration of the different constituencies. Understanding the needs of the community comes directly from the field of community participation planning, highlighted in this lecture and subsequent report.Open communications are rarely achieved in current graduate school courses primarily because faculty have not been trained in community participation planning. This report is a rare instance of a literary attempt to highlight the virtues of just such a process. An in-depth study of this report in your classes will spark many discussions on the concepts involved in how to implement the wishes of the community on policy and infrastructure change in the area of city planning. This is a vital addition to the substance of your course and skill sets for students.About the Dr. Marcia Marker Feld Lecture Series for Social Justice and the City:For over thirty years Dr. Marcia Marker Feld devoted herself to her students and to furthering social justice in Rhode Island's cities. These annual lectures honor and commemorate Dr. Feld's contribution by bringing the very best thinkers on urban issues to the University of Rhode Island in a forum where they can both enlighten students and faculty and share their ideas with the wider community. Dr. Feld is a pioneer who paved the way for women in planning, a visionary who recognized the potential of university-community partnerships, a tireless advocate for this country's urban areas and the people who live there, and a beloved teacher. She also directed a major urban research operation, the Urban Field Center. The Center provided funded urban programs to contribute to the quality of life in Rhode Island, particularly education and human services for low income students.In the last seven years, the lecture series has convened stakeholders representing the governmental, academic, non-profit, and private sector institutions that comprise the fabric of the city. The Seventh Annual Lecture was given on November 6, 2013 by Thomas E. Deller, MCP, AICP and entitled: A Tale of Two Cities: Economic Development and Housing Change in Hartford, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island.