HUPO

Tonight the Just City Lab’s exhibition launched at the NYC Center for Architecture! Led by Professor Toni Griffin, the Just City Lab at the GSD explores urban justice and examines how design and planning contribute to conditions of justice and injustice in cities, neighborhoods, and the public realm. Learn more here: https://goo.gl/3kcoKR

#harvardurbanplanning #justcitylab #designforthejustcity
#nyccenterforarchitecture

“I grew up in Astoria, a city within New York City. From the aroma of samosas, maduros, and souvlaki wafting in the air to the affordable housing that brought diverse families together (my Armenian best friend’s mother and my mother spent countless hours “couponing” together), Astoria enveloped me with warmth and dynamism. With its beautiful parks and vibrant public transportation system, Astoria also helped raise an independent, globally-minded woman. Over the last decade, however, Astoria has gentrified dramatically due to its proximity to Manhattan. Much of what provided a sense of normalcy and comfort to my family during tough times now appears threatened by upscale restaurants and rent surges. Even our library, where my late father would rent Yanni concert videos to alleviate his debilitating illness, is under threat due to budget cuts.

At the same time, my upbringing – living in a lead-infected one-bedroom apartment shared between 11 people; resisting eviction attempts; attending under-resourced health clinics (a casual prescription hospitalized me for a week) and schools (the first time I held a lab flask was at Columbia University); and navigating unannounced visits by welfare officers – took a major toll on my family’s health, academics, and grit. Stress would extend to domestic violence, family court, foster care, and my brothers’ challenges completing school and maintaining employment.

It is this tension between the empowerment I felt living in a dynamic city and the
disempowerment exacerbated by volatile government assistance, gentrification, and weak support systems that inspires my interest in urban planning. I believe that as we improve policies, we must also create equitable and dignifying environments that extend the positive impacts of policies or step up when policies fail. I want to ensure that communities feel empowered and have the wherewithal to persevere in times of extreme duress.“ -Class of 2020 MUP Henna Mahmood (Astoria, Queens, New York)
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#path2MUP #harvardurbanplanning #harvardgsd #urbanplanning #stories

“I grew up loving to draw and playing SimCity and thought that meant I should be an architect. A hard look at the architecture profession revealed only too clearly that I wasn't cut out for it (physics? no can do), but maybe there was still some career opportunity in city building. I've my undergraduate advisor at UC Berkeley to thank for introducing me to urban planning, revealing to me a profession where I found a natural convergence of traditional design with social complexities and cultural expressions. I enjoy most of the opportunities planners have to engage with both designers as well as professionals from other disciplines, be it a public policy maker, real estate developer, or environmentalist. Through collaboration and understanding how each component and area of expertise can lend valuable insight and perspective, I’ve learned that planning has the unique capacity to converge ideas and create usable spaces and designs that hopefully best serve people in diverse communities. The MUP program at Harvard has granted me wonderful opportunities to develop skills and engage with neighborhoods and cities at both the local and international level, especially through its studio courses. Better still, I’ve found that professional planning is, in fact, basically just like SimCity (just harder, and more advanced).” -Class of 2019 MUP Jeremy Pi (San Jose, CA)
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#path2MUP #harvardurbanplanning #gsd #mups

“My path into planning has been anything but direct! Before attending the GSD I worked as a designer of public space in Boston, a photographer in Rome, and a product designer in Copenhagen. The GSD was the perfect place to meld my interests in cities, entrepreneurship, and design. It has been an essential platform to launch my own venture, Green Screen, which is a passive cooling panel that relies on urban analytics to combat intractable problems facing New Delhi, India.” -Class of 2019 MUP Gina Ciancone (Houston, TX)

#Path2MUP #HarvardUrbanPlanning #HarvardGSD #urbanplanning

And that’s a wrap! Congrats on a great semester, MUPs. Time to relax, recharge, & reflect. Check out this final project by first-year MUPs, @emilydooma & @sydneyhfang

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@harvardurbanplanning repost: What does a people’s plan for South Boston look like? For their first semester core studio final review, first years Anne Lin, @sydneyhfang, & @emilydooma took on the role of advocacy planners. Their justice-oriented framework includes participatory budgeting and community-driven zoning. @ Harvard Graduate School of Design

Many MUPs, along with fellow GSD and Harvard student organizations, rallied in support of the Green New Deal just outside the Institute of Politics at HKS where newly elected members of Congress are participating in a bipartisan training program. Student were also urging Harvard to include climate mitigation, adaptation, and environmental justice training in their curriculum for incoming members of Congress. MUPs were even featured on the story feed of newly elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez #climateaction #greennewdeal #advocacyplanning #planningispolitical #hupo #harvardurbanplanning