Damon Rich wants constituents and professionals alike to get excited about the bureaucratic slog.
Next City profiles Damon Rich—former Newark planning director, founder of the Center for Urban Pedagogy, and one of several urbanists to win a MacArthur "genius" grant this year.
The piece highlights the impact of Rich's career "democratizing and demystifying urban planning and design." From creating popular education tools to overhauling Newark’s zoning laws for the first time in 50 years, themes in Rich’s work include playfulness, accessibility, and civic engagement.
Whatever the project he ultimately pursues with the MacArthur grant, Rich's stated mission is to "de-stultify" key aspects of urban planning—like hearings, zoning, and regulations—for both professionals and the public.
In architecture school, he says, zoning and building codes were treated as necessary evils … It wasn’t until he was out in the real world, meeting with tenant advocates and community organizers, that he began to see these regulations as milestones on the road to civic progress. “It was a real revelation to me that these things weren’t tyrannical constraints,” he says. Quite the contrary — they were the end result of hard-won battles for social justice.
FULL STORY: MacArthur “Genius” Grant Gives Damon Rich a Chance to Champion the Planning Hearing
Former Planning Director, Landscape Architect Among MacArthur Genius Grants Winners
Professionals and academics of the built environment were recognized for their genius this week by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The Problem With Outsourcing Public Engagement
Why hiring outside consultants to represent public works projects at meetings often misses the point of having public officials hear community concerns.
Plastic Bag Bans Actually Worked
U.S. coastal areas with plastic bag bans or fees saw significant reductions in plastic bag pollution — but plastic waste as a whole is growing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
5 New England states march closer to 800 megawatt wind energy project
Securing federal approval for the project may be complicated under the Trump administration, which has historically been hostile towards domestic wind power.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association