Student: Ben Carsner
Graduation date: May 2020
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: November 2017
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Summary
For my concentration, I chose to weave together the most impactful fields urban spaces contribute to. The role of urban spaces, their implications for urban conservation, and their tendencies to either promote or hinder environmental justice.
Many cities across the US are experiencing rapid growth both in expansion and density. One of the important parts of adjusting for this rapid development is providing urban spaces for public use and enjoyment. However urban spaces, like any public service often show the presence of inequality. The distribution of urban green space tends to be located in more spatial, residential, and wealthy, areas away from the denser lower-income communities who might need that space more (Wolch, Byrne, Newell 2014). Urban spaces also can provide much-needed ecosystem services acting as permeable surfaces and provide space to contribute to urban forests and increase their efficiency as carbon sinks (Bulkeley 2005).
Finding ways to create space in dense urban areas is a challenge in many regards. For example, in a high-density area space has to be used efficiently while still providing an enjoyable environment for those who use it. The efficiency debate is in itself a complex topic, but it is part of many aspects including inclusivity, community benefit, and safety to name just a few.
This debate exemplifies why the study of these spaces is so important. Each of the aspects listed above evokes unique opinions from each of us. Understanding what urban space means to others is incredibly important in order to not only achieve communal benefit but to also ensure that in the process of meeting one necessity for urban space, another alternate necessity is sacrificed. This situation can be seen in conflicts that arose from the “closing off” of the people’s park in Berkley California. In this situation, the pursuit of making a park “safer” sacrificed its role as a public space and excluded vulnerable groups like the homeless who do not have many spaces open to them in the first place (Mitchell 1995).
When Looking at the role of urban spaces in cities it is important to focus on what they will provide while also proving a space for everyone in the community. Finding a balance between efficient use of space and designated space for enjoyment can be hard to find. As cities become denser the creation of space for parking or housing becomes a priority. However as evidenced by this New York Times, public spaces don’t have to be the cost of urbanization. Through the of micro-parks, organizations in New York were able to convert parking spaces that benefited a handful of people a day, into community spaces that were used and appreciated by many more individuals (Hu 2017). Scott Campbell, in his publication, argues that city planners need to sacrifice traditional ideas of what constitutes a “green space” or “sustainability” and instead find ways to create public green spaces that address the need of the community in which they are located (Campbell 1996). In this regard, the micro park program is a perfect example of non-traditional green space being created to benefit the specific needs of a community.
Distribution of urban space is not the only way in which urban space can affect Environmental justice. According to a New York Times article about community gardens, spaces like these garden that provide a gathering location for residence as well as the fact that an area that creates shared experiences can actually foster community advocacy (Hu 2017).
It is clear to see that the presence of urban spaces has noticeable impacts on the communities that are located around, and use them. The challenge in creating spaces that benefit everyone, a difficult task when many of the actors involved seem to be in opposition to one another, but one I hope to work towards though this concentration.
Questions
- Descriptive: What does urban conservation look like? What different meanings does urban space carry for different people?
- Explanatory: What are current uses for urban space? Where do urban spaces tend to be most prevalent?
- Evaluative: How is Environmental justice indicative of conservation practices? What are ways in which conservation can be influenced by urban spaces?
- Instrumental: How can urban space be used to promote community advocacy and unity? How do we repurpose and change the role of urban spaces without sacrificing the services they provide to communities? How can conservation be used to protect communities who experience inequality like poorer air or water quality?
Concentration courses
- HIST 239 (Constructing the American Landscape, 4 credits), Spring 2018. Course studying the forces that shape the built environment and its impacts on social structures and interactions.
- USP 313U (Urban Environmental Issues, 4 quarter credits), Fall 2018. PSU course addressing urban environmental problems and their social and economic implications.
- USP 325U (Community and the Built Environment, 4 quarter credits), Fall 2018. PSU course examining the relationships between urban form and social patterns, and efforts by urban designers to influence community life by shaping the built environment.
- SOC 420 (Urbanization and Community, 4 quarter Credits), Spring 2019. PSU course looking at issues with specific relevance to urban areas and the social constructs of city life.
- SOAN 282 (Pacific Rim Cities, 4 credits), Fall 2019. Examination of urban life from social disparity to urbanization in cities along the Pacific Ocean.
Arts and humanities courses
- HIST 261 (Global Environmental History, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- PHIL 215 (Philosophy and the Environment, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.