News – NCSG

Equity, Opportunity, Community Engagement, and the Regional Planning Process: Data and Mapping in Five U.S. Metropolitan Areas

NCSG’s Nicholas Finio, Willow Lung-Amam, Gerrit Knaap, Casey Dawkins and PhD Student Brittany Wong recently published this journal article, titled Equity, Opportunity, Community Engagement, and the Regional Planning Process: Data and Mapping in Five U.S. Metropolitan Areas, in the Journal of Planning Education and Research. Contact nfinio@umd.edu with questions about the article.

From the abstract: Government agencies and nonprofit organizations have increasingly used spatial data to create equity and opportunity atlases or maps. This paper investigates how such maps have been integrated into planning processes, and if they have been useful in catalyzing engagement on equity issues. We employ a multiple case study approach to assess efforts in five U.S. regions: Atlanta, Denver, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Portland, and Seattle. Our findings show that equity and opportunity mapping have stimulated new conversations, local actions, and regional plans, but many regions are still struggling to adopt policies that could meaningfully shift their landscapes of equity and opportunity.

Aishwarya BiddatandaJul 30No Comments

Clearing Up the Runoff

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Clearing Up the Runoff

New sensors installed outdoors across campus last week will provide important data about the University of Maryland’s environmental impact and are expected to put the institution in the forefront of stormwater analysis.

The sensors are part of a cross-campus project led by Marccus Hendricks, an assistant professor in the UMD School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, in collaboration with colleagues from the National Center for Smart Growth, the College of Information Studies, the Clark School of Engineering, Facilities Management, and Arboretum and Landscape Services, and more.

The hidden toll of California’s Black exodus

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The hidden toll of California’s Black exodus

Professor Willow Lung Amam, Director of Community Development at NCSG, was quoted in this story for Cal Matters (Read More..).

Black renters have been disproportionately forced out of cities as costs and evictions climbed; the Black population has plunged 45% in Compton, 43% in San Francisco and 40% in Oakland. While a version of this geographic scramble is playing out for working and middle-class people of all races, the distinct obstacles that Black residents encounter in new communities raise the question: How far do you have to go today to find opportunity — and are some things ever really possible to leave behind?

“Part of what we’re seeing is the kind of anti-Black racism that has followed Black folks wherever they go,” said Willow Lung-Amam, an associate professor of urban planning at the University of Maryland. “You still face the same kind of structural barriers.”

Aishwarya BiddatandaJul 16No Comments