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Capturing Corners:
Neighborhood
Revitalization through Ecological Democracy
Andrew Clarke, Principal, urban film + design. Kansas
City, Missouri, United States of America.
Dr. Jacob Wagner, Associate Professor, University of
Missouri-Kansas City, Department of Urban Planning and Design. Kansas City,
Missouri, United States of America.
Brett Shoffner, Graduate Student, University of
Missouri-Kansas City, Department of Public Affairs. Kansas City, Missouri,
United States of America.
Christopher Fasl, Graduate Student, University of
Missouri-Kansas City, Lewis White Real Estate Center. Kansas City, Missouri,
United States of America.
The authors
are completing their initial paper detailing the concept of "Capturing
Corners", and how, if implemented, the multidisciplinary, integrated urban
design approach can create sustainable places by revitalizing neighborhoods
through ecological democracy.
The notion of
“Capturing Corners” has roots in Dr. Jacob Wagner’s research of the urban core
vacancy epidemic seen throughout the east side of Kansas City, Missouri, and
distinctly concentrates on the problem of corner lot vacancy. Our
hypothesis is that corner lot vacancy acts as a catalyst for further
neighborhood decline. Because corner lots are the first thing people see
when entering a block, there are huge perceptual implications; when people
drive by on main streets and only see vacant corner lots, they are not likely
to want to stop and spend retail dollars in that neighborhood, and very
unlikely to invest in homeownership. With the aid of Geographical
Information Systems, incorporation of past Census block demographic data is
overlaid with historical land use, corner lot morphology, and historical
neighborhood asset location data to illustrate that when corners lose their
character, so do the surrounding neighborhoods.
Communities must re-capture corner lots to create perceptually more
inviting neighborhoods as residents become reciprocal stewards of their
neighborhoods by taking active responsibility for the people and places around
them (Hester, 2006). This is
accomplished by engaging residents in not just the design processes, but also
in the construction and entrepreneurship phases of neighborhood revitalization
projects. Capturing Corners permits high return, low cost, and low impact
sustainable development by incorporating green infrastructure, social
connectivity, and economic opportunity through vibrant community driven urban
design; in turn, people are attracted to the neighborhood core through
aesthetic beauty, natural curiosity, and economic necessity.
Through
ecological democracy and sustainable planning and design, neighborhoods can
"Capture Corners" in order to produce a sense of place that retains
and attracts residents, thereby fostering sustainable neighborhoods and
creating vibrant communities.
Mr. Brett Shoffner Dr.
Jacob Wagner
5622 Virginia Avenue UMKC
Urban Planning & Design
Kansas City, Missouri, USA. 64110 5100 Rockhill Road, 109 Katz
Hall
Phone: (785)
979-2706 Kansas
City, Missouri, USA. 64110
E-mail: bscm8@umkc.edu Phone: (816)
235-6053
capturingcorners.blogspot.com E-mail: wagnerjaco@umkc.edu
Andrew Clarke
· Principal
· urban film + design
· Kansas
City, Missouri, United States of America.
Andrew Clarke is a 2012 graduate from the Department of
Architecture, Urban Planning and Design at the University of Missouri –
Kansas City. He spends much of his time on his bicycle traversing Kansas
City’s historic Parks and Boulevards system and riding through parts of the
city that have literally become forgotten. Mr. Clarke actively works with
local elementary schools and other community organizations that are creating
a precedent towards the future of urban agriculture in Kansas City. Besides
urban agriculture development, a good portion of his time is spent in
distressed urban communities developing neighborhood stabilization
initiatives by building social capital. Mr. Clarke is also in the process of
starting up the social enterprise, Urban Film and Design, which uses film as
the primary medium for community based planning and organizing, urban design
initiatives, and neighborhood revitalization efforts. The activities that
take up his life have overarching themes, nature and people; without these
crucial elements, Mr. Clarke believes, there is no hope for sustainable and
equitable communities.
Dr. Jacob Wagner
· Associate
Professor – Department of Urban Planning and Design,
Director – Urban Studies Program.
· University of Missouri-Kansas City.
· Kansas
City, Missouri, United States of America.
Dr. Jacob Wagner is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning
and Design at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Dr. Wagner’s research focuses on cultural
heritage, place identity, and participatory design processes in the recovery
of urban neighborhoods in New Orleans and Kansas City. He is currently president of The Historic
Kansas City Foundation, which is dedicated to the preservation of the area’s
heritage, neighborhoods, and historic built environment. Dr. Wagner also serves on the Board of
Directors for both Cultivate KC, Kansas City’s center for urban agriculture,
and the Metropolitan Energy Center, which is dedicated to creating resource
efficiency, environmental health, and economic vitality in the Kansas City
region.
Through his teaching and scholarship, Dr. Wagner seeks to
create more sustainable communities that are connected to a deep
understanding of place, public memory, and the urban environment.
Brett Shoffner
·
Graduate Student,
Department of Public Affairs at the Bloch School of
Management.
·
University of Missouri-Kansas City.
·
Kansas
City, Missouri, United
States of America.
|
Brett
Shoffner is a graduate student in the University of Missouri-Kansas City
Department of Public Affairs studying urban administration. His research and practical interests are in
ecological connectivity, environmental planning/policy, urban landscape
restoration, green infrastructure design, social equity/environmental justice,
and sustainability theory. A 2011 graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas
City, he holds degrees in Environmental Studies (minor: Spanish) and in
Sociology (minor: Geography), as well as an Advanced GIS Certificate. Mr.
Shoffner plans to continue his studies pursing a Masters of Landscape Architecture,
and eventually a PhD with hopes of teaching at the university level. Working
with a diverse assembly of partners and stakeholders, he is also the volunteer
ecological trail steward for Kansas City’s urban park trail systems in charge
of design and construction of natural single-track trails for hiking, running,
and mountain biking in Roanoke and Kessler parks, coordinating of up to 80
volunteers for big workday events. Mr. Shoffner honors the Marie T. Freeman
quote, “If you're too busy to give your neighbor a helping hand, then you're
just too darned busy.”
Christopher
Fasl
·
Graduate Student, Lewis White Real
Estate Center at the Bloch
School of Management.
·
University of Missouri-Kansas City.
· Kansas
City, Missouri, United States of America.
Christopher
Fasl is a graduate student in the University of Missouri-Kansas City Lewis
White Real Estate Center studying real estate development. With interests in resiliency and
sustainability, Mr. Fasl has experience in a variety of real world
projects. A 2012 graduate from the
Department of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design at the University of
Missouri – Kansas City, Mr. Fasl was a part of the UMKC urban planning and
design senior studio that was the first group to address recovery efforts in
Joplin, Missouri after a catastrophic T-5 tornado destroyed one-third of the
city. Their efforts were featured in Planning, the American Planning Association’s
magazine. He has also worked with the
Kansas City area metropolitan planning organization on the national Sustainable
Communities grant, focusing on Troost Avenue, a historic streetcar corridor. Mr. Fasl is a visionary thinker and believes
achieving true sustainability will require innovation and imagination as we
move into the 21st century.
*Presented
at the Webster University Sustainability Conference (4/16/12) and also to be
presented at the Ninth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural,
Economic and Social Sustainability, Hiroshima, Japan (1/23.25/13)
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