John Gilderbloom’s Thought-Provoking Strategies About Regeneration and the Language of Planning

Planning is a 'jargon�-y' field with terminology that oftens distract from the purpose of a project or idea. During a luncheon seminar at Cal Poly, Dr. John I. Gilderbloom, a professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, addressed this challenge through his own work, case studies and personal antidotes. He discussed the intricacies of planning and the role played by language in the implementation of projects and community understanding. Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/focus Part of the Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons This Special is brought to you for free and open access by the City and Regional Planning at DigitalCommons@CalPoly. It has been accepted for inclusion in Focus by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@CalPoly. For more information, please contact mwyngard@calpoly.edu. Recommended Citation Schwartz, Jana E. (2016) "John Gilderbloom’s Thought-Provoking Strategies About Regeneration and the Language of Planning," Focus: Vol. 12: Iss. 1, Article 9. DOI: 10.15368/focus.2016v12n1.9 Available at: http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/focus/vol12/iss1/9 FOCUS 12 Special Events In February 2015, Dr. John I. Gilderbloom presented the talk “The 10 Commandments of Urban Regeneration” at Cal Poly sponsored by the Resilient Communities Research Institute. During his visit, he also presented his ideas to CRP’s students and faculty during a brown-bag session. A professor in the Department of Urban and Public A airs at the University of Louisville and director at the Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods, Dr. Gilderbloom is a notable planning professional and academic considered one of the “top 100 urban thinkers in the world.” He is an international consultant on creating livable cities and neighborhoods, and owns a real estate company that renovates historic housing. A Marxist-like scholar who uses divergent thinking to expand the way planners and students envision the future of our communities, he has published widely on rental housing, poverty, health, community development, and urban policy. Dr. Gilderbloom explores thought-provoking planning question from sometimes unusual or even revolutionary perspectives. One of Dr. Gilderbloom’s connections to Cal Poly comes through City and Regional Planning professor, Dr. William Riggs who worked with him during his Master’ s at the University of Louisville. The two teamed us again more recently to produce a highly successful article on the conversion of one-way streets to two-way streets (Riggs & Gilderbloom, 2015). This work was featured in Dr. Gilderbloom’s talk, along with other provocative topics such as the bene ts of gentrifying neighborhoods with the goal of creating healthy, safe, prosperous, sustainable, and just neighborhoods. The resonance of this topic of the pros and cons of gentri cation and it’ s relationship to urban planning is an important one and was the key concept that many in attendance took away. There was a key unspoken question throughout the entire talk. It screamed: How do we balance regeneration and economic development with justice? How do we achieve the bene ts of neighborhood improvement without gentri cation and displacement? While Dr. Gilderbloom talked about his work on the bene ts of walkable communities or creating job growth, the facts and interlaced ideas between gentri cation and regeneration resulted in further signi cant group dialogue long after the talk. Dr. Gilderbloom provided factoids about all types of bene ts provided by gentri cation. These included a ordable housing, displacement, diversity of amenities, and project appropriateness—based on environmental and demographic make-up. He o ered suggestions on how to supply these opportunities to all communities, primarily through urban regeneration and in ll. Dr. Gilderbloom provided several case studies that illustrated the impact his dialogue was describing. Dr. Gilderbloom comes from a diverse and arguably depressed area of Louisville that presents ample regeneration, or gentrifying, opportunities. In one case, a development project near the University of Louisville, which houses 500 people, has introduced 12 new stores and businesses and approximately 75 jobs. Of these jobs, 82% of these jobs are going to people without high Dr. Gilderbloom with BSCRP student Rob Etters, after his presentation. (Photo: William Siembieda) Planning is a argon field with terminolog that oftens distract from the purpose of a pro ect or idea uring a luncheon seminar at Cal Poly, Dr. John I. Gilderbloom, a professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, addressed this challenge through his own work, case studies and personal antidotes. He discussed the intricacies of planning and the role played by language in the implementation of projects and community understanding. John Gilderbloom’s Thought-Provoking Strategies About Regeneration and the Language of Planning