Office: 448C Gould Hall
Office Hours: By Appointment
Phone: (206) 685-4057
rberney@uw.edu
Research Keywords
Public space, Equitable development, Community engagement, Urban design education, Active transportation, Urban regeneration, Social equity in planning, Built environment and health, Urban form and mobility, Sustainable urban development
Rachel Berney
Associate Professor - Director, Urban@UW
Rachel Berney is an urban designer and scholar whose research examines the social, political, and spatial dimensions of public space in cities across the Americas. She focuses on how the built environment shapes community development, equitable urban development, sustainability, and everyday life. Her work examines the use of public space to promote belonging and the impacts of mobility and transit infrastructure on public health and well-being. A central focus of her research and teaching is community-engaged work that supports more just and inclusive planning practices. Across these areas, she is particularly interested in the legibility of urban environments—how invitations to use public space and their imaginaries (intended audiences) communicate meaning, foster inclusion, and support more equitable urban futures.
Courses Taught:
- BE 505: Nehemiah Interdisciplinary Studio
- BE 598: Nehemiah Interdisciplinary Seminar
- URBAN 508: Urban Design Studio
- URBAN 576 | CET 586: User and Design Considerations for Pedestrian and Rolling Mobility (cross-listed with Transportation Engineering)
Selected Publications:
- Berney, R. (2017). Learning from Bogotá: Pedagogical Urbanism and the Reshaping of Public Space. University of Texas Press. Reprinted by Universidad de Colombia (2024). https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477311042/
- Berney, R. (2010). “Learning from Bogotá: How Municipal Experts Transformed Public Space.” Journal of Urban Design, 15(4), 539–558. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2010.502344
- Berney, R. (2011). “Pedagogical Urbanism: Creating Citizen Space in Bogotá, Colombia.” Planning Theory, 10(1), 16–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473095210386069
- Beck, H., Berney, R., Kirk, B., & Yocom, K. (2024). “Building Equity into Public Park and Recreation Service Investment: A Review of Public Agency Approaches.” Landscape and Urban Planning, 247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2024.105069
- Baquero, B., Berney, R., et al. (2024). “Advancing Active Transportation through Mobility Justice and Centering Community.” Health Equity, 8(1), 720–730. https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2024.00
- Berney, R. (2022). “Whose City? Invitations and Imaginaries and the Nehemiah Initiative’s Example for Seattle.” In K. Goh, A. Loukaitou-Sideris, & V. Mukhija (Eds.), Just Urban Design: The Struggle for a Public City (pp. 199-216). MIT Press. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262544276/just-urban-design/