Part 4 - Urban Renewal in New London: History and Legacies
Channel: Mapping Urban Renewal
Date: 09/12/2019

In this video, panelists answer the following questions (3)What are some of the issues and problems that cities are facing today? Which of these are similar to what urban renewal planners were dealing with? Which are different? Which are products of urban renewal? (00:00-08:03). Questions were then opened to the audience. (A) Can you talk a little more about the notion of you can’t trust the private sector to protect the public interest shaped the way urban renewal and planning, in general, happened during the [Edward] Logue [urban planner] period and Urban Renewal in New London? (08:12-11:38). (B) Do you believe that too much of the discourse and modern critique surrounding urban renewal exists in an elitist echo chamber and whether the manner of conversation with which we discuss urban renewal needs to further cross socio-economic boundaries to avoid perpetuating the very problems that we studied? (11:41-22:24). Also includes a reflection by an audience member on the city's lack of engagement with the public on the urban renewal projects. (22:25-23:45)

Overview: Like many American cities, New London was dramatically transformed through a series of redevelopment campaigns from the 1940s to the 1970s. A panel discussion at Connecticut College addresses events in New London in the broader context of midcentury urban planning in New England and across the country, the complex consequences and legacies of urban renewal, and the challenges that face planning today. 

Featured speakers:
Lizabeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies at Harvard University and author of Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux: 2019); 

Philip Michalowski, former planning consultant and City Development Administrator, City of New London, CT;

James Butler, AICP, Executive Director, Southeastern CT Council of Governments;

Moderated by Anna Vallye, Assistant Professor of Art History and Architectural Studies, Connecticut College.

Please note:  Sybil Tetteh, City Planner of New London,  originally scheduled to be part of the panel,  was unable to participate due to unforeseen circumstances.

Held Monday, December 2. 5:00pm-7:00pm. Charles Chu Room, Shain Library, Connecticut College.

This event is part of Mapping Urban Renewal in New London: http://bit.ly/ccurbanrenewal

Sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges with Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Friends of the Library.