Bringing in undergraduate and graduate students from Urban and Regional Planning or related programs from Michigan's universities as well as recent graduates with a few years of professional experience allows for a well-rounded set of presentations. Gain insight into the types of projects you may work on in your career as well as an understanding of the application and use of such projects and the tools by which they can be implemented.
11:05 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.
A Vision for Prosperity in Pontiac
To meet the needs of a struggling city and to overcome severe financial limitations in the master planning process, the Land Policy Institute provided a strategy for economic repositioning and an avenue to capture the vision of the greater Pontiac Community. A student's experience with pro bono planning.
Michael Forsyth, MSU graduate student
11:25 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Linking Lansing & U
The session will be based around the experience young professionals working for the Lansing Economic Development Corporation. It will highlight the Linking Lansing & U program, which aims to bring in and retain MSU graduates and the creative class to the City of Lansing. The synergy between the colleges and the City is an untapped resource that the program wants to dig into. See how they're doing it!
Caitlin Malloy, Wayne State graduate student, and Kenneth Szymusiak, young professional
11:50 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.
Blight, Impacts on Detroit Public Schools
Learn about the many blighted neighborhoods in Detroit plagued by abandoned homes and how such conditions lead to crime and increased squatter dwellings. The session will also discuss the proximity of these neighborhoods in reference to Detroit Public Schools [and the relationship between the status of the homes and schools?].
Amale Booth, Wayne State graduate student
12:55 p.m. -1:10 p.m.
Sustainable Development and Social Justice
The session will discuss a survey that focuses on sustainable development and social justice. The goal is to alert planners of the importance of sustainable development, using LEED-ND standards, and to find ways to increase the use of this concept.
Elise Fields, MSU undergraduate student
1:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Non-Motorized/Pedestrian Safety Guidelines
This session will explain our work to to develop pedestrian safety guidelines for the FHWA. These national guidelines are useful for anyone in the field of planning, urban design, engineering, landscape architecture, and are used to access the safety of current pedestrian facilities, especially those that are located in a highly traveled intersection.
Michael P. Woods, Jeffrey Bagdade, young professionals
1:35 p.m. - 1:55 p.m.
Urban Redevelopment in Germany- Innovative Ideas and New Applications
Innovative approaches to brownfield redevelopment, unique European planning perspectives, and other key lessons learned from the MSU Urban and Regional Planning Program's study abroad trip to Germany will be explored. Potential applications for urban redevelopment in Michigan and the US will be discussed.
Michael Forsyth, MSU graduate students
2:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Prioritizing "Complete Streets"
This session will cover a project with the City of Ann Arbor to develop a comprehensive system for prioritizing the myriad improvements called for in the 2007 Non-motorized Transportation Plan. It will cover GIS suitability analyses, creating cost projections and evaluating existing conditions.
Ben Stupka, UM graduate student
2:20 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.
Public Open Spaces in Mumbai
This session presents work on a public open spaces audit in Mumbai, used to evaluate the state of public open spaces in the financial capital of India, and one of the densest cities in the world, where open spaces are rapidly disappearing to developers. The session will present the issues that the city faces (i.e. corruption, inefficient management of open spaces, demands of missions who need adequate housing) as well as the measures currently being taken at the citizen's level to preserve Mumbai's public open spaces.
Kimiko Doherty, UM graduate student
2:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Land Banking and Brownfield Redevelopment in Michigan
Michigan has become a prominent leader in brownfield redevelopment by knocking down barriers that once discouraged infill development and brownfield reuse. Through innovative legislation and policies, especially with the passage of the Land Bank Fast Track law in 2004, the process of brownfield redevelopment for the public and private sectors has improved greatly. This session will provide an analytical history of brownfield legislation to determine the barriers that were eliminated by specific laws. The Land Bank Fast Track legislation will be introduced and critiqued using local, innovative examples.
Liz Lundholm, MSU graduate student
This page last updated on 1/10/2008.
