Chicago City Planning: The Graphic Novel
April 8, 2017 9:59 AM Subscribe
No Small Plans, a graphic novel, is both a story of Chicago and a user's manual for youth to become Chicago's stewards. In the tradition of Wacker's Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, a 1911 textbook fashioned from Daniel Burnham’s 1909 plan of Chicago.
The book looks great. The only other books I've see that addresses any kind of urban planning for teens is Watch This Space by Hadley Dyer. A pretty good intro with a focus on rights of use. I really like the emphasis in No Small Plans on participation.
posted by carrioncomfort at 11:20 AM on April 8, 2017
posted by carrioncomfort at 11:20 AM on April 8, 2017
Backed. This looks great.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:43 AM on April 8, 2017
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:43 AM on April 8, 2017
How can I get a copy?
posted by Mesaverdian at 2:59 PM on April 8, 2017
posted by Mesaverdian at 2:59 PM on April 8, 2017
Nothing will break the heart of a urban planner faster and more thoroughly than trying to be a planner in Chicago.
I was with Planning/DPD in the 1990s and continued in the field for a few years after I left City government. I've been mostly out of that professional loop for 10+ years now and I sincerely hope that things have changed, but I would bet hard money that they haven't.
“Burnham and other city planners of his time were mainly thinking about what to build and where”
That became the purview of the aldermen, who were too preoccupied with their individual wards to consider what was best for the City as a whole. The Land Use plan/zoning regulations were treated as mere suggestions that—due to the custom of "alderman's prerogative" (you support me and I'll support you)—individual aldermen could easily have amended to accommodate real estate developers.
We didn't "plan", we came up with (always positive) justifications for decisions that had already been approved by the Mayor's office.
The graphic novel No Small Plans aims to empower the city’s youth through stories about their neighborhoods.
Good luck with that. I'm not sure that stories about the City's motivations re choosing sites for public housing, disinvestment in some neighborhoods while others were over-developed, etc, will be all that empowering. Enraging, perhaps, but not empowering.
I don't mean to discourage anyone's interest in the field—urban planning is work worth doing. Just do it elsewhere. You shouldn't spend your professional life spitting into the wind.
(Bitter? No I am NOT bitter, damn it. Jesus, why would you say such a thing?)
posted by she's not there at 7:38 PM on April 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
I was with Planning/DPD in the 1990s and continued in the field for a few years after I left City government. I've been mostly out of that professional loop for 10+ years now and I sincerely hope that things have changed, but I would bet hard money that they haven't.
“Burnham and other city planners of his time were mainly thinking about what to build and where”
That became the purview of the aldermen, who were too preoccupied with their individual wards to consider what was best for the City as a whole. The Land Use plan/zoning regulations were treated as mere suggestions that—due to the custom of "alderman's prerogative" (you support me and I'll support you)—individual aldermen could easily have amended to accommodate real estate developers.
We didn't "plan", we came up with (always positive) justifications for decisions that had already been approved by the Mayor's office.
The graphic novel No Small Plans aims to empower the city’s youth through stories about their neighborhoods.
Good luck with that. I'm not sure that stories about the City's motivations re choosing sites for public housing, disinvestment in some neighborhoods while others were over-developed, etc, will be all that empowering. Enraging, perhaps, but not empowering.
I don't mean to discourage anyone's interest in the field—urban planning is work worth doing. Just do it elsewhere. You shouldn't spend your professional life spitting into the wind.
(Bitter? No I am NOT bitter, damn it. Jesus, why would you say such a thing?)
posted by she's not there at 7:38 PM on April 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
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“Burnham and other city planners of his time were mainly thinking about what to build and where,” says Lyon. “Our novel is about who decides to build, and how decisions get made.”
An understanding of who is behind city planning and building is particularly important for students of color, as well as those who come from poor families and families in which English is a second language. These teens often attend schools that are under-resourced, with no government or economics classes and few opportunities to interface with public officials or participate in civic life, says Lyon. As adults, they are less likely to vote, call elected officials, or engage in collective activism. This has real consequences: Lyon notes that studies have shown, for instance, that senators generally vote according to the policy preferences of the (often wealthy) constituents who contact them or otherwise push their agenda.
* ** *
“The hoped-for outcome is to embed No Small Plans as part of Chicago’s formal teaching and learning for many years to come,” says Lyon. “We want to be the Wacker’s Manual for the 21st century.”
I have nothing to offer this but HELL YES and YES PLEASE, respectively.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:35 AM on April 8, 2017 [1 favorite]