MILWAUKEE __ Gentrification, neighborhood development and environmental justice from an urban perspective will be examined on Friday, April 27, when Urban Studies Programs at UW-Milwaukee hosts its annual research forum in the UWM Student Union Fireside Lounge at 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd. The event is free and open to the public. A full schedule is below.
Now in its 23rd year, the annual student research forum will feature a panel on environmental justice, awards for best student paper and poster, and a keynote address from University of Illinois-Chicago professor Janet L. Smith. She will present her talk, “Who Can Live in Chicago (or any city)?” at 4:30 p.m. A reception will follow.
Gentrification is the practice of developing older areas of a city that leads to an influx of more affluent residents and often “prices out” long-term residents whose income levels do not overlap with the goods, services, and rental and mortgage rates of their “redeveloped” neighborhoods. In her keynote talk, Smith will discuss the pressures and redevelopment priorities that make urban living increasingly unaffordable for middle- and low-income families. The talk will draw heavily from her book, “Claiming Neighborhood: New Ways of Understanding Urban Change” (with John J. Betancur; University of Illinois Press, 2016).
The environmental justice panel, featuring faculty and student speakers, will address local case studies, such as:
- Waukesha’s plan to return wastewater to Lake Michigan via the Root River
- Flood risk and urban adaptation to climate change
- I-94 expansion and transit issues
- Washington Park and green spaces
- Settlement homes in Milwaukee.
For special accommodations, please contact Carrie Beranek at 414-229-4751 or beranekc@uwm.edu. The schedule is as follows:
- Noon — registration
- Noon-1:45 p.m. — undergraduate/graduate poster session and lunch
- 1:45-2:55 p.m. — concurrent paper sessions
- 3-4 p.m. — Panel: Approaching Environmental Justice in Milwaukee
- 4-4:15 p.m. — break
- 4:15-4:30 p.m. — awards presentation
- 4:30-5:30 p.m. — Keynote: “Who Can Live in Chicago (or any city)?”
- 5:30-6 p.m. — reception
The Urban Studies Programs Annual Research Forum is sponsored by: Urban Studies Programs, the Henry W. Maier Fund, the UWM Center for Economic Development, the Department of Urban Planning, the Buildings-Landscapes-Cultures Program and the College of Letters & Science.