URBAN PLANNING & DESIGN PROFESSIONALS COUNCIL 2019 – 2020 LECTURE SERIES
Planning for People
Commissioner Mitchell Silver
New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
Lecture – January 29, 2020 | Architecture Hall, University of Washington Campus (Seattle)
On January 29, 2020 Commissioner Mitchell Silver joined the Department of Urban Design & Planning for the winter quarter Professionals Council lecture. He presented insights from his 30-year career as a professional planner and international leader on contemporary planning issues.
Commissioner Silver oversees management, planning and operations of nearly 30,000 acres of parkland for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. His lecture, entitled “Planning for People”, spoke to the importance of centering planning work, particularly in the public realm, around communities:
As the country urbanizes and demographics of the American population shifts, planning and urban design is gaining greater importance to attain public health, social interaction and equity. However, equity has emerged as the new buzzword in the past decade. What does equity mean for the planning profession and how can planners implement it in the work they do?
To answer this question, Commissioner Silver shared practical examples from New York City, Washington, D.C and Raleigh, NC to show how planners can create equitable, healthy and just communities.
U.S. Army Captain Alyssa Cummin will soon complete her Master’s in Infrastructure Planning and Management degree. Just over two years ago Alyssa started her academic journey at UW. When she discovered the online MIPM program she thought, “This is a great opportunity and I want to get my master’s degree in an area that interests me instead of a standard MBA.”
Balancing Military Service and School
Most MIPM students work regular 9 to 5 desk jobs while attending online courses in an asynchronous format. For Alyssa however, she has served her country overseas as a Captain in the US Army Reserves. She planned logistical training for African militaries in Nigeria, Somalia, Djibouti, Tunisia, Morocco, and Malawi. Twenty-eight months and many countries later, Alyssa is graduating with both rich academic and practical experience in critical infrastructure management. “The hardest part of this degree was identifying my capstone project,” Alyssa explained. Ultimately, Alyssa selected the logistics infrastructure of Africa as her topic.
For Alyssa, managing her time during the degree program while also working was essential. “I adopted new habits, Alyssa shared. “I know I work best in the mornings so I started waking up earlier than usual to complete homework prior to leaving for work and I took advantage of my lunch breaks to squeeze in homework time.”
Achieving Goals
Alyssa also volunteered as a high school swim coach over the past two years and enjoys training for triathlons. During this past year Alyssa completed her first Iron Man triathlon, finishing 3800 meter swim, 112 mile bike ride and a full marathon in 13 hours and 28 minutes. When asked how she was able to successfully complete the program despite all the deployments, travel for work, and physical training she said “I was surprised myself when I realized how much time there actually is in a day when we want to make the time to achieve our goals.”
Article researched by Morgan A. Zantua.
Honoring Our Veteran Students
On Monday, November 11, we will be observing Veteran’s Day. We will honor the students, alumni, faculty, and staff in our department that have served in the military. Join us in thanking these individuals for their service, and for their continued dedication to bettering our communities and cities through planning and design.
Our goal in the Department of Urban Design and Planning is to provide more than excellent teaching and research. Our real mission is to have an impact on the lives and careers of our students, the future of the planning profession, and the health and welfare of our urban and regional communities.
We’ve selected a few stories and events that we think illustrate this impact. Some of them are personal, such as the story of MUP graduate student Asela Chavez-Basurto whose internship is helping her make the leap from student to professional. Others illustrate the impact our students and faculty are having on our communities and planet. For example, MIPM graduate student Danté DiSabantino is helping develop King County’s Climate Action Plan, while professors Bob Freitag and Dan Abramson are partnering with Washington coastal communities to make them more resilient to tsunamis and other natural hazards. This work is innovative, urgent, and could one day save lives.
Global Impact
Our impact is not just local. Assistant Professor Rachel Berney, for example, talks about her work in Colombia and the Global South. Through her research and teaching she also reminds us that learning from other cultures and global cities makes us better – and more impactful -planners here at home. The students in the study abroad group led by Professor Emeritus Fritz Wagner to Quebec City would certainly agree. So too would the members of the Berlin Studio, led by Ph.D. student (and now faculty at the University of Chicago) Evan Carver and CEP Program Manager Megan Herzog, who spent 30 days exploring and learning from one of the most interesting and historic cities in the world. Be sure to check out their website and blog, as well as the quirky films made by the students (my favorite is A Trophy of Democracy.)
Of course, none of what we do in the Department of Urban Design and Planning would be possible without the partnerships and support of our alumni, friends, and professional community. Planning is always a collaborative process and so is the project of educating the next generation of professionals and discovering the solutions to our most pressing urban problems. We are grateful for your help with this important work and want you to know that our success is yours as well.
Very best –
Christopher Campbell, Chair
Featured Stories
Bridging to Professional Practice
Master of Urban Planning (MUP) student, Asela Chavez-Basurto, dove into professional practice during a summer internship at Sound Transit. She took on real-world planning projects in Seattle, further exploring the dynamics of collaborative teamwork.
Master of Infrastructure Planning and Management (MIPM) student, Dante DiSabatino, is working on King County’s 2020 update of the Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP). His team recently implemented the first Youth Summit on climate change.
What makes a city? Who decides how a city grows and changes, and what criteria do they use? These are just a sampling of the questions that UDP students tackled while traveling to Berlin over summer quarter 2019.
Master of Infrastructure Planning and Management (MIPM) student, Danté DiSabatino, is working on King County’s 2020 update of the Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP). In fact, his team recently implemented the first Youth Summit on climate change. The summit was held at UW’s SCAP Public Workshop on Saturday, October 12th. Most importantly, it gave young people in King County the platform to voice their opinions about addressing climate change within our region.
King5 News subsequently featured the King County Youth Summit in a recent segment:
To summarize, SCAP is King County’s 5-year plan to reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for climate change impacts. Significantly, it focuses on supporting resilience in communities disproportionately impacted by climate change. Danté is presently working with a team of colleagues, including King County Climate Engagement Specialist Jamie Stroble, to solicit public feedback and cultivate strategic community partnerships.
“More often than not, youth haven’t had a seat at the table as stakeholders in governmental processes.” Danté explained. “The youth of today, and many of their surrounding communities, will be on the frontline of climate change. As as a result, they need to be part of the conversation and will be impacted by their government’s actions or lack there of around climate change adaptation, mitigation, and preparedness.”
Students march on Market Street in San Francisco during the Global Youth Climate Strike on September 20th, 2019. Photo by Ronan Furuta.
A Global Movement
The SCAP Youth Summit is part of a much larger movement amplifying the voices of young people around climate change. Beyond King County, youth all over the world vehemently represented their concerns during the Global Youth Climate Strike on September 20th. Youth climate activists joined together in many major cities to march in support of taking urgent action. Likewise, young people in Seattle also participated, taking time away from their studies to stand in solidarity.
Celebrating Our First-Generation College Students
On Friday, November 8, we will lift up the experiences of our first-generation students, faculty, and staff. UW is joining universities across the country in the third annual National First-Generation College Celebration. Danté is a first-generation college graduate (Florida State University) and holds a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Science. He joined the MIPM program to focus on equitable community driven resilience and social infrastructure systems.
> To learn more about the Master of Infrastructure Planning and Management (MIPM) program, visit the website here.
> To learn more about King County’s 2020 update of the Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP), visit the King County climate action website here.
“I’ve spent the last year acquiring knowledge, and this was the chance to translate all of that into tangible work that’s useful to others.”
Master of Urban Planning (MUP) student, Asela Chavez-Basurto, dove into professional practice during a summer internship at Sound Transit. She took on real-world planning projects in Seattle, further exploring the dynamics of collaborative teamwork. Specifically, Asela joined the Sound Transit Planning, Environment and Project Development department. As a result, she focused much of her time on alternative transportation. She worked to assess and improve the Sound Transit bike program in particular.
The internship experience
Asela managed two projects that studied morning peak-hour bike ridership. Notably, she focused on studying bike commuting trends at busy light rail stations. The projects included conducting time-intensive bike count surveys. Subsequently, Asela employed the help of multiple volunteers to successfully complete this work. Through this process, she provided key leadership in the field. Asela specifically organized survey schedules and directly trained volunteers to collect data. Above all, she gained valuable perspective in a project management role. Accordingly, Asela integrated classroom lessons with her growing on-the-ground knowledge. Most significantly, she completed work that has a measurable impact for her community.
“For me, the most valuable part of my internship experience has been the opportunity to apply my skills directly,” Asela shared. “I’ve spent the last year acquiring knowledge, and this was the chance to translate all of that into tangible work that’s useful to others.”
Image provided by Sound Transit.
Looking at the bigger picture
“I observed that sometimes buildings were built for the architects and not its users and I wanted to have a broader impact.”
Asela is originally from Mexico, where she initially studied architecture. She’s lived in the Seattle area for the past five years. Presently, Asela in her 2nd year in the University of Washington MUP program. After graduation, she wants to focus on addressing the larger, interconnected issues around urban design and planning.
“Architecture gave me valuable skills and experiences, but I felt it did not include the kind of problems I was passionate to resolve,” she explained. “To me, site analysis and user input were as pivotal as design styles. I observed that sometimes buildings were built for the architects and not its users and I wanted to have a broader impact.”
Ultimately, Asela learned about professional practice directly. In addition, she shared the insights she gained with others. She presented her work at the 2019 Sound Transit Intern Presentations. This annual event, open to the agency’s entire 800 plus workforce, gives interns a platform to showcase their projects.
“My most memorable experience at Sound Transit [was] giving my internship presentation,” said Asela. “I loved sharing my experience at the department and the projects I worked on. The presentation was an opportunity to introduce myself, my goals, and my contributions.”
Photo provided by Sergio Lira.
Laying a strong foundation
For planning students like Asela, the combination of academic and internship experience is often helpful for career preparation. That is to say, internships can compliment academic learning. They offer an important glimpse into professional practice. Moreover, having the opportunity to contribute to team projects, and accordingly network with established professionals, can create rich opportunities post-graduation.
“Through the MUP program, I’ve acquired knowledge of regional regulations and professional processes that allow me to understand the current issues and potential solutions. It’s not difficult for me to know where my contributions could fit into the work of the agency and also on the development of the city and the region; this inspires me to work hard every day.”
> To learn more about the Master of Urban Planning (MUP) program, visit the website here.
Master of Urban Planning (MUP) Studios – Livable City Year, Bellevue
A group of UW Master of Urban Planning (MUP) students took their skills and knowledge from the classroom into the local community as part of the 2018-19 Livable City Year (LCY) program.
Students worked directly with stakeholders from the partnering city of Bellevue, WA over the course of two studios taught by Urban Design and Planning Professor Branden Born. These studios focused on researching and developing designs for Bellevue’s new Civic Center.
The project
As the future gateway to Bellevue, this project presented an opportunity to enhance Bellevue’s civic identity and create a vibrant downtown. The Bellevue Civic Center will include the Downtown Link Light Rail Station, important civic and cultural buildings, a proposed lid over I-405 to provide better neighborhood cohesion, as well as new park, pedestrian, bicycle, and recreational connections to other sites within the surrounding urban context.
Students collaborated to identify design goals for the site. These included improving connectivity, addressing challenging topography, adding affordable residential and commercial uses, and introducing human scale design and civic functions.
The resulting research and evaluations fueled the creation of three final designs, each structured around one unique principle:
“intimacy” – characterized by green infrastructure, rooms, and local residents. Focus on using site topography as an advantage for green space and community gathering.
“civic home” – characterized by space fluidity, vertical recreation, and affordable opportunities. Focus on maximizing residential units next to the future light rail.
“cultural center” – characterized by civic identity, local economy, culture, and diversity. Focus on art and affordable retail spaces as key aspects for a vibrant, culturally engaging civic space.
The results
Students presented final designs to the stakeholders at the end of spring quarter. This project was also added to the extensive catalogue of research, findings, and recommendations from all thirty LYC Bellevue projects. Over 250 UW students contributed to this catalogue, bringing perspectives from a variety of schools and colleges within UW.
CEP Grad shares stories of local black musicians in new podcast
Nyles Green – 2019 Community, Environment and Planning (CEP)
This past year, Nyles Green – a 2019 graduate of the Community, Environment and Planning (CEP) program, undertook a unique senior project focused on preserving and sharing the stories of black musicians in the Pacific Northwest.
Through the lens of community and culture, the resulting podcast, “Let the Record Play”, became the perfect medium to capture direct interviews and explore the narrative of Seattle’s music scene from the perspective of black musicians. In these interviews, Nyles and his guests speak to the challenges and successes of being a working artist during a time of rapid change, gentrification, and displacement in Seattle. They discuss the way in which Seattle’s communities of color have vitally shaped music, arts, and culture – both locally and beyond – and how that continues today with emerging artists.
The podcast
In his first episode, Nyles spoke with twin siblings Eva and Cedric Walker of The Black Tones, a popular Seattle-based rock band. In addition to discussing their path into music and the recent release of their debut album, they touched on topics ranging from the joy of making music together, to being mislabeled within their genre, to the band’s continuing love of playing DIY shows.
In addition to being a member of the graduating 2019 CEP class, Nyles is also a musician. In his senior year he served as a drum major for the Husky Marching Band, leading the band during the 2019 Rose Bowl Parade and Halftime show.
CEP allowed him to bring his passion for planning and love of music together, giving him the room and encouragement to explore how people experience place through this podcast. Nyles hopes to continue creating more episodes of “Let the Record Play” while also pursuing a career in planning, focusing on community outreach.
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
> To learn more about the Community, Environment and Planning (CEP) program, visit the CEP website.
>Let the Record Play | Part of the Sound Bite podcast network created by The Daily, the University of Washington’s student-run newspaper.
Bringing academic knowledge into real-world challenges
Dolores Velasquez – 2019 Master of Infrastructure Planning and Management (MIPM)
Dolores Velasquez, a 2019 graduate of the Masters in Infrastructure Planning and Management Program (MIPM), is a first-generation college student from Ventura County, California.
Prior to attending the UW, Dolores obtained a BA from Johns Hopkins in Psychology, with a focus on neuroscience. Her decision to move into infrastructure planning and management occurred after gaining professional experience.
Starting the MIPM program
After her undergraduate studies, Dolores worked in real estate, including managing loans and a portfolio of properties. It was through that experience that she became interested in exploring issues around the housing sector. Dolores decided to enter the MIPM program to better understand the interconnectedness of policy, infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks.
As a resident of a coastal city, Dolores also recognized the impact that sea level rise would have on infrastructure, and in turn, housing access and affordability. What she didn’t anticipate upon entering the program was how she would experience firsthand the impact of another climate-driven disaster, the increased prevalence and intensity of wildfires.
The Thomas Fire
During her time as a student, the Thomas Fire ravaged her community and forced many of her tenants who worked in nearby agricultural fields into unemployment. Her high school in Ojai burned down within hours as she was sheltered by only a few miles of strawberry fields in nearby El Rio.
Through the MIPM program, Dolores learned about risk analysis, emergency management, and business continuity. She was able to draw directly on her academic experience to help her understand and navigate the past two years of her community’s recovery. Dolores’ exposure to the impact of the wildfires highlighted the spiraling need for adequate and affordable housing post disaster. She hopes to apply the knowledge she gained in the MIPM program to be a better advocate for smart development to ease the housing crisis in California.
Forest Service Photo by Kari Greer
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
> To learn more about the Masters in Infrastructure Planning and Management Program (MIPM) program, visit the MIPM website.
The Positive Impacts of a Democratic Planning Process
Mathew Langley, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Mathew Langley, MUP ’17
In the summer of 2016, Mathew Langley (MUP ’17) interned as a Junior Program Analyst for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Great Plains Region, Division of Facilities in Aberdeen, South Dakota. This was a transformative experience as he spent three months assessing data, relevant policies, and housing conditions to create a Comprehensive Plan that would outline a 20-year process to improve the existing conditions of the community. The internship focused on a pilot project to assess and address the housing stock and built environment at the agency location of Standing Rock at Fort Yates, North Dakota that served local employees. These locations are typically on reservations, which are often in remote locations and have a limited housing market. As an incentive, government agencies offer housing opportunities for their employees to compensate for the housing deficiency. The existing housing stock was built nearly 80 years ago and has severely deteriorated due to harsh natural conditions, and the presence of mold and radon in the dwellings. The environmental degradation, coupled with programmatic and budgetary issues led to poor, and in some cases hazardous, conditions over time for the residents. Through stakeholder engagement, Mathew quickly discovered that these poor housing conditions were detrimental to the economic vitality of the community. In some instances, BIA employees sought employment elsewhere to improve their living circumstances. He realized that by improving the built environment, this community would begin to enjoy a healthier quality of life both physically and socially.
Mathew sites the time he spent in the UW Master of Urban Planning (MUP) program as an important building block to gain the expertise that made this experience possible. The hard skills that he learned during his time in the MUP program were instrumental in developing a draft master plan for the Great Plains Regional Office (GRPO) in South Dakota. In creating the plan, Mathew utilized his skills in research design, visual communication, and comprehensive plan implementation to create a planning methodology that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) GPRO would later use as a blueprint for future documents.
“By involving local experts and key stakeholders in the planning process, his collaborative planning practice has led to long term improvements in the community.”
The plan he drafted has since been adopted and the BIA GRPO is looking to replicate the process in all the local agencies in the region over time. “As the plans for one agency begin to undergo implementation, Facilities intends to work with another local agency to apply my process and begin drafting a new plan that identifies and evaluates the needs of that community.” In time, the intent is to stagger the development of each successive plan so that time and resources can be properly allocated to the appropriate communities. By involving local experts and key stakeholders in the planning process, his collaborative planning practice has led to long term improvements in the community. His work culminated in a thesis project titled A Roadmap to Better Agency Planning: A Case Study in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Great Plains Regional Office Division of Facilities Pilot Project. This stands as a beaming example of applied planning theory centered on collaborative planning and illustrates the power of community engagement.
Where is he now?
Mathew Langley facilitating a public meeting.
Mathew Langley is a graduate from the University of Washington with a concurrent Master of Urban Planning (MUP) degree from the Department of Urban Design and Planning, and Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Mathew started working at the Jackson County Development Services Planning Department in Medford, Oregon as a professional planner in September 2017. His current planning practice involves understanding the Land Development Ordinances adopted by the county and helping individuals navigate the language of those ordinances throughout the application process. “Whether helping people coming in with questions or looking over applications, I’m immersed in serving the public in a way that protects resources and provides fair opportunity for land uses.” He also works in partnership with Jackson County’s Floodplain Manager on the implementation of the Community Rating System Program, which grants rankings and flood insurance discounts for communities who participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. Driven by his passion to provide knowledgeable and robust assistance to his community, Mathew is now practicing to become a Certified Floodplain Manager.
To read more testimonials from students in the Master of Urban Planning program, please visit Why I Chose UW.
City officials, law professors and corporate privacy directors discuss the tension between open data work and privacy at the second day of the MetroLab Annual Summit in Atlanta, citing smart cities tech as an increasingly relevant part of the discussion.
