http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ A search of MERLOT materials Copyright 1997-2013 MERLOT. All rights reserved. Sat, 18 May 2013 02:40:08 PDT Sat, 18 May 2013 02:40:08 PDT http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/images/merlot.gif http://www.merlot.org:80/merlot/ 44 34 http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=680888 This workshop provides an introduction to urban environmental design and explores the potential of information technology and the Internet to transform public education, city design, and community development in inner-city neighborhoods. Integration of comprehensive (״top-down״) and grassroots (״bottom-up״) approaches to design and planning is a major theme. Students will work in a real neighborhood with real people on a real project, putting theory into practice and reflecting on insights gained in the process. We will study environmental and community history and devise designs for vacant land near a middle school in West Philadelphia within the context of planning for the larger community and watershed. The class website can be found here: Power of Place: Media Technology, Youth, and City Design and Development. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555585 This subject discusses the broader trends in the labor market, how urban labor markets function, public and private training policy, other labor market programs, the link between labor market policy and economic development, and the organization of work within firms. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555587 As an introduction to the field of Housing, Community, and Economic Development (HCED), the course is structured to: Advance student's understanding of how public policy and private markets affect housing, economic development, the local economy, and neighborhood institutions; Provide an overview of techniques for framing public and private interventions to meet housing and community development agendas, broadly defined, of inner city and low income neighborhoods; Review and critique specific programs, policies and strategies that are (and have been) directed at local development and neighborhood regeneration issues; Give students an opportunity to reflect on their personal sense of the "housing, community, and economic development" process and the various roles that planners play in implementing the elements of that agenda. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555595 This practicum subject integrates theory and practice through the design, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive community information infrastructure that promotes democratic involvement and informs community development projects. Students work with Lawrence Community Works, Inc. to involve constituents and generate solutions to an important planning problem in the City of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Final project presentations take place in a public forum, and serve to inform future development of the information infrastructure. Subject begins with an overview of the digital divide, e-government, public participation GIS, and neighborhood information systems. Subject includes a reflection component and a deliberate investigation of race, class, and gender dynamics. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555615 Governments at every level assume a measure of responsibility for seeking good design. Some of that responsibility is exercised directly—through the design and construction of government buildings, for example. But most changes to our environments are neither designed nor built by governments. Rather, they are the result of the actions and investments of private individuals, institutions, corporations, joint ventures, or private/public collaborations. Yet, the actions of all of these actors are affected by the design policies of government and the interventions that are undertaken to implement those policies. In this advanced graduate-level seminar we will explore new ways of thinking about urban design policy in an attempt to better understand just what government does—and what it can do effectively—in the realm of design policy. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555622 The seminar is designed to provide advanced graduate students with a thorough understanding of selected regional economic theories and techniques and with experience in using alternative socioeconomic impact assessment models and related regional techniques on microcomputers. Discussions will be held on particular theoretical modeling and economic issues; linkages among theories, accounts, and policies; relationships between national and regional economic structures; and methods of adjusting and estimating regional input-output accounts and tables. Examples from the Boston area and other U.S. cities/regions will be used to illustrate points throughout the seminar. We will also examine how such models are used in other countries. New material on analyzing regional development issues will be covered. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555629 This course introduces undergraduate planning students to the role of the planner in researching issues in cities both in the United States and abroad. This course is a practical, hands-on workshop that challenges students to research, write and present their ideas on two different cities: A U.S. City (preferably somewhere close) and Copenhagen. Students will be equipped to: select and research a thesis topic, work professionally with faculty and other experts on the topic of their choice, and research, write and present. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555637 This course examines the economic, political, social, and spatial dynamics of urban growth and decline in cities and their key component areas (downtown, suburbs, etc.). Topics include impacts of industrialization, technology, politics, and social practices on cities. Students will examine the role of public and private sector activities, ranging from zoning and subsidies to infrastructure development and real estate investment, in affecting urban growth and decline. Readings are both theoretical and empirical, with considerable thought paid to comparative and historical differences. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555640 The Springfield Studio is a practicum course that focuses on the economic, programmatic and social renewal of an urban community in Springfield, Massachusetts by combining classroom work with an applied class project. The course content covers the areas of neighborhood economic development and the related analysis and planning tools used to understand and assess urban conditions from an economic and community development perspective. http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=555653 This course combines a seminar format with fieldwork to examine strategies of planning and control for growth and land use, chiefly at the municipal level. Specific topics include growth and its local consequences; land use planning approaches; and implementation tools including innovative zoning and regulatory techniques, physical design, and natural systems integration. Projects are arranged with small teams serving municipal clients.