Urban Planning 532:  Sustainable Development, Winter 2024

Assignments

last updated Saturday, April 20, 2024 4:20 PM

Prof. Scott Campbell (home page)
College of Architecture and Urban Planning
University Of Michigan
sdcamp@umich.edu
(734) 763-2077



Students are expected to complete all the required readings before the scheduled class time, actively participate in class discussions and presentations, and prepare several written assignments over the semester.  Evaluation of your work will be based on substantive content, analytical rigor, and writing quality.  Be sure to follow appropriate citation guidelines in all your work. Late assignments will result in point reductions.

Most of the assignments are short (with the exception of #5 project, and involve a mix of written answers and brief in-class presentations). There is no exam.

 

 

Format and Style Guidelines (READ CAREFULLY):

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1. Ecotopia/Dystopia (presentation Jan 25; text: Jan 28)

Select an example of a vision/description/depiction/design of an ecological utopia (ecotopia) or of an ecological dystopia.  Your example might be a film, a piece of literature (a novel, short story, graphic novel, science fiction, etc.), a speculative architectural design, a series of paintings or illustrations, etc.  [I look forward to a range of examples and formats. Do not worry if you coincidentally select the same example as another student -- the contrast in your interpretations will be interesting.]

NEW: I have created a google spreadsheet to help you select an example for this task. LINK.

Use this spreadsheet for two purposes:
(1) create a long, collective list of examples of ecotopian (environmental utopias) and dystopian (anti-utopian) visions. (Your suggestions may be useful for other students looking for an example to use in class.) (
2) once you have selected an example, please note it below (write your name in Column A and add the relevant information).
Do not worry if you coincidentally select the same example as another student -- the contrast in your interpretations will be interesting.
Note: it's fine (and even encouraged) to draw upon examples from outside the US and in a range of languages beyond English

 

Task: TWO PARTS -- (1) presentation and slide; (2) one-page analysis (uploaded to Canvas):

1. Create a slide of your image(s) and upload it to the add to google class file
[Note: if a film, you might either include some selected still images and/or a very brief movie clip. For a text, you might include some selected quotes, a book cover, and -- if relevant -- a few illustrations from the publication.] Be sure to include:

2. Write a one-page analysis/critique of your example and its vision of the future. [upload to Canvas by SUNDAY evening, Jan 28]
Here are a few (optional) questions you might consider in your critique:

(Note: depending on your example, not all of these questions may be relevant. For example, a science fiction novel may reveal more than a movie, which in turn might reveal more than a set of paintings or architectural designs.)

A few broader questions to consider:

Outside readings: I am beginning to assemble a list of readings on this wide-ranging topic. (Thanks to Annette S. Koh, Lily Baum Pollans and Kian Goh for ideas and suggestions.)

A few observations about ecotopias and dystopias:

 

2. Mini case study on the urban form/sustainability connection (presentation: Feb 8: write-up: Feb 14)

Task: Each student will give a brief 2-3 minute presentation of a mini case study that explores the relationship between land use/urban form and environmental consequences. This assignment builds on the readings from Jan 30 - Feb 6.

Case study selection/unit of analysis: you are to choose a city, region, neighborhood or block that allows you to explore an example of how urban form (e.g., density, land use types, design, street layouts, size, landscaping, relationship between buildings and nature, etc.) influences environmental impacts (e.g., emissions, impervious surfaces and water resources, resource use, VMT, HVAC energy use, etc.). You might instead select a specific site project (e.g., a new development that is designed or promoted -- accurately or otherwise -- as sustainable (or "green", or "carbon-neutral" or "eco-friendly", etc.). Or you could go the opposite direction, and examine an urban form that you think is unusually UNsustainable, and explore if this is the case and why (e.g., a sprawling Sunbelt city, etc.)
Be sure to select your case study by Feb 1 and write your case study location here.

Format:
(a) Feb 8 presentation (depending on class size, ca. 2-3 minutes, plus one or several slides) - add to google class file
(b) Feb 14 written analysis (uploaded to Canvas ) [revised deadline]

Each written analysis should include the following elements if relevant (though you do have discretion about the focus and sequence of the parts of your analysis):

Working alone or in groups?
Individual (option: do as group of two, with correspondingly more in-depth analysis)

Advice:

 

3. Evaluation of a Sustainability Plan (presentation: Mar 7; written version, Mar 10)

Task:

  1. Select a case study, either a city or region in the US or elsewhere that has published a sustainability plan.
    Please enter your selected city name here on this google form.
  2. March 7: Prepare a short presentation (2-3 minutes) for  class on Feb 21.  Given the brief time, focus on the most interesting aspects of your case study.  If you choose to use one or more slides for your presentation, please add to google class file
  3. March 10: Write a concise (length: ca. 1-2 pages, single-space) evaluation/critique of this plan.  Possible questions to address (where appropriate) include: How is sustainability defined? How are broader sustainability goals linked to specific tasks and local policies? What common themes, strategies and priorities emerge? How effective do you think this plan is? Is sustainability addressed in a separate, stand-alone plan or incorporated into the city's comprehensive (i.e., master or general) plan? How are related issues of climate change and resilience addressed (if at all)? Does the plan have clear implementation and enforcement mechanisms? [upload to Canvas]

UPDATE:  Several of you have asked whether it’s ok to use a “climate action plan,” a “resilience plan,” etc. (rather than a plan with the term “sustainability” in the formal title).  YES, that is fine.  (And it will be interesting to listen to see if these different labels reflect substantive differences in the plans’ content and approaches.)

Note: Here is a list of ways that cities might take different approaches to planning for sustainability. No need to address all of these points in your write-up, but some of these questions might be relevant.

  1. Does the city have a separate, stand-alone “sustainability plan” or is it integrated into other documents (such as the long-standing comprehensive/master/general plan)? Or a climate action plan? (Think about the pros and cons of having one integrated, omnibus plan versus having separate plans: a Comprehensive Plan, a sustainability plan, a resilience plan, a Climate Action Plan, etc.).
  2. Does the plan define sustainability?  If so, how?
  3. How is “sustainability” used?  Is it an explicit, measurable goal; a broader organizing principle; or more implied?
  4. Does the plan focus on process or outcomes?  (and the plan’s sense of time, from short-term to long-term)
  5. Does the plan call for a radical break with the past or a modest reform/redirection?  (e.g., Is sustainability presented as something new — “time for a course correction!”  Or instead does the plan reassure local citizens that “we have been doing this all along…”)
  6. Does the plan address head-on the potential conflicts (e.g., over land use, resource use, budgets, transportation priorities) within sustainability, or instead does the plan emphasize sustainability as a way to rise above current conflicts?
  7. Is global climate change mentioned?  If so, how?  
  8. Is the vision of sustainability customized/tailored/adapted for local conditions, or does the plan instead offer a rather generic vision of sustainability?   For example, does the plan both take advantage of existing local natural resources to make the citizens take ownership of it (Cleveland’s Green city on a blue lake; or Mpls’s link to current pride of place; or Union PA’s sense of sustainability and small town living) and also address locally-specific challenges (e.g., water shortage in arid towns, or sea level rise in Florida, etc.)?
  9. Does the plan link sustainability to social justice/diversity?
  10. How does the plan engage the compact cities debate?  Does the plan assume that compact cities (including ideas from new urbanism, transit-oriented development, etc.) are the path towards sustainability?

4. Measures of Sustainability (presentation: Mar 12; written version, Mar 17)

 

Task:

  1. Select a case study, either a city or region in the US or elsewhere that has (a) made a substantive effort to measure local sustainability and (b) has sufficient documentation of this effort for you to evaluate. [Note: you may choose to use the same city from your sustainability plan evaluation, though you could also choose another example if you wish.]
    Please enter your selected city name here on this google form.
  2. March 12: Prepare a short presentation (2-3 minutes) for  class on Feb 23.  Given the brief time, focus on the most interesting aspects of your case study.  If you choose to us one or more slides for your presentation, please add them to the google class file.
  3. March 17: Write a concise (length: ca. 1-2 pages, single-space) evaluation/critique of these measurement efforts.  Possible questions to address (where appropriate) include  : what measures are used? how measured? what is the unit of analysis? Are these measures merely a guideline, or are targets/limits enforced through regulatory action, fines, etc.? [upload to Canvas by Sunday evening, Feb 27]

Here are some further comments about this assignment (and possible questions to consider):

 

5. Project: Analysis of an Environmental-Economic-Social Conflict and/or Sustainability Project/Design and/or a Climate Action Project, Design

UPLOAD YOUR FINAL PRESENTATION SLIDES TO THIS google class file by April 16

The purpose of this assignment is to explore the potential and the challenges of achieving sustainable urban development through a the close examination and analysis of a specific case. (That is, can we make the inductive-deductive connection? How do we connect the broader ideas and concepts of sustainability to the nitty-gritty details of communities, people, stakeholders, politics, negotiations, and the natural world around/above/below us?) As the largest assignment this semester, this is also an opportunity to synthesize various ideas, readings and debates from across the syllabus.

You can focus on either:

(A) a case study of a conflict between environmental and economic/social interests (a relevant question for this option: how does an understanding of the nature of economic-environmental-social conflicts lead to a better understanding of pathways towards sustainability?), OR
(B) a case study of a sustainability (or climate) project, policy, regulation or design (such as a new "green" community, a community effort to redress environmental injustices, etc.).
NOTE: I can imagine interesting case studies that are a hybrid of both (A) and (B), so if your proposed project seems to straddle both these approaches, that is fine.
You may choose to examine either a single case or several comparative cases. The case(s) may be either in the US and/or international. If you have questions about a possible topic or format, feel free to contact me and we can discuss.

PROPOSAL (due March 26) [updated due date]

Please write a concise proposal and upload to Canvas

ADDED INSTRUCTIONS for your proposal [added Mar 24]

We will devote the March 28 class to discussing and sharing ideas about your final project.

--> Please read these instructions carefully.  NOTE:  some of these steps should be completed by Tuesday evening (March 26).

1.  To do by Tuesday evening (midnight):
Your proposals for your projects are due Tuesday evening (March 26).  IMPORTANT: When you upload your proposals by Tuesday evening to Canvas, please also upload a copy to this folder in the shared google folder.  Please do this promptly by the end of Tuesday evening (so that other members of your editing group can read your proposal on Wednesday).

2.  To do Before Thursday’s class:
I have created small “editing groups”.  Members of each group read each other’s proposals BEFORE Thursday’s class and come ready to share comments with the other members of the group.  (You are encouraged to provide some written comments on the proposals as well as oral comments on Thursday.  You can write these comments directly on the files in the shared shared google folder.)  Most of you will read two other proposals.  My appreciation to the “Polar Bears” (Group 5) for reading three.  [NOTE:  there are no other reading tasks for Thursday's class other than reading several proposals.]

3. The Agenda for Thursday March 28 class
a. I will begin with some general comments and advice about this project.
b. Each editing group (some 3 and some 4 students) will meet and share feedback about each other’s proposals.  Help each other think through the opportunities and challenges of each project, note what aspects of the project seem feasible or not, and to sharpen the logical structure of each project.
c.  We will then come back together as a large group and conclude with some final questions and comments.


Below is an example of a proposal. (I wrote it for another class: Tech Clusters and Smart Cities, so it is about high tech/urban economics, not sustainability -- but the elements of the proposal are still relevant.)

Elements of your individual project proposal:

example (NOTE: these are rather short, abbreviated answers. For your actual proposal, you will likely have longer, more detailed answers for one or more of these sections.) Note: you can either use this sample table as a template or instead organize your proposal in a format that works for you and your project.
title The historical and contemporary role of defense spending in Silicon Valley
names of student(s) in the group Robert McNamara*
[*a name worth googling, for the history of US military, the Detroit auto industry and the World Bank. A former Ann Arbor resident.]

central question(s) that guide your project research. (For this solo project, your research and/or policy question is critical, so think carefully about your question.)

Note: one optional strategy is to ask one major research question, and then pose several subquestions that either further elaborate the main question and/or break the main question into several (more easily answerable) components.

Does military spending (in the form of defense contracting) still play a significant role in the funding of high tech innovative work in Silicon Valley?
(Subquestions: a. If so, how can this be measured, e.g., in terms of contract dollars, employment, etc.? b. What sectors are most supported by defense dollars? c. More broadly, can one gauge the impact of contemporary defense spending on the trajectory of technological development in the Valley?)
context of project (that is, put your specific case study and question in a larger context of course readings, outside readings, scholarly or public debates/controversies; etc.) Military contracts played a significant role in the early history of Silicon Valley, providing demand for products that didn't yet have a civilian market and/or the initial price of such technologies was too high to generate much civilian demand. Such technologies included early radio technologies, vacuum tubes, oscilloscopes, computers (including components such as chips), etc. The commonly told story is that this military demand was important in the early years of the Valley, but that firms eventually shifted mostly to commercial markets, resulting in a much diminished dependence and influence on defense spending. (And that defense contracting exerted more influence on Southern California than Northern California in the late 20th century.). But is this historical narrative true?
proposal format of your final project (e.g., traditional scholarly essay; multimedia; maps/graphics; models; etc.) An essay (with supporting data tables, and a chronology/timeline of key events in SV’s history as linked to defense contracting.)
proposed structure/content (i.e., a table of contents)

1. Introduction and central questions
2. the history of military spending in the Valley (ca. World War I through the Cold War, i.e., ca. 1914 - 1989)
3. The recent history of military spending in the Valley (since 1989)
4. Several case studies of contemporary Silicon Valley firms and/or specific technologies with significant levels of defense contracting.
5. Analysis and Conclusions
6. Bibliography (list of sources)
your methods -- that is, the steps of your work (e.g., analysis of the literature; field work; observation; interviews, either in person or remote; etc.) 1. conduct an initial literature review, focusing on such key words as “Silicon Valley,” “defense contracting,” “Military spending,” as well as keyword searches using specific defense technologies and Silicon Valley firms. (Building on the initial list of citations below)
2. Explore what data sources are available, both public and private, on defense contracting (and understand how much this data is public, and how it is counted — e.g., in annual contract amounts, etc.).
3. Develop a chronology of the major defense contract-related events in Silicon Valley.
4. Develop a list of the major defense contractors in SV, ideally broken down by technology/product.
5. If possible, create a data table (and chart) of total defense contract amounts in SV by year (and thus a simple measure of “defense contract dependence” over time).
6. If possible, identify some possible interview subjects (either in the industry, trade group, academic or journalist or non-profit) to ask questions about SV’s continued role in defense contracting and the impact on the direction of SV’s development.
your initial hypothesis/expected results (that is, what do you expect to find? Note: you certainly don't need to make an accurate prediction, but it can be useful to put it down on paper what you are either expecting -- or hoping -- to find, or not find.) I am not sure what I will find, though I expect to find a relative decline in SV’s defense contracts over much of the late 20th century (either because defense contracts eventually were more widely distributed across the country or because the commercial market for SV technologies grew rapidly and thus the percent of revenues from defense contracting declined). That said, I might also expect a surprisingly large amount of defense contracts that still go to SV. If so, do we therefore underestimate the ongoing role of military technology as part of SV?  If true, do we not fully appreciate the ongoing role of defense spending in Silicon Valley because (a) it still is a rather small percent of total SV revenue (as compared to commercial markets) or (b) because unless you are involved in defense contracting, most people are much more conscious of SV's commercial market side?

an initial list of source materials (i.e., a bibliography, including journal articles, newspaper articles, books, web pages, government documents, etc.)

Note: this provides the opportunity to:

  • see how others have tried to answer your question (including sources and methods)
  • develop a sense of the terminology (e.g., technical language) used on this topic.
  • see whether there is sufficient literature/data/evidence to do your project. [sometimes you may ask a great question, but there is just not enough information to answer it, or it may require you to do primary research -- e.g., a survey or field work -- that is beyond the scope of this class project.)

selected publications (scholarly, journalistic and business/trade texts on Silicon Valley firms and defense contracting) include:

  • Heinrich, T. (2002). Cold War Armory: Military Contracting in Silicon Valley. Enterprise & Society, 3(2), 247-284. doi:10.1093/es/3.2.247
  • Harrison, B. (1994). Concentrated Economic Power and Silicon Valley. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 26(2), 307-328. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.umich.edu/10.1068/a260307
  • Adams, S. (2017). Arc of Empire: The Federal Telegraph Company, the U.S. Navy, and the Beginnings of Silicon Valley. Business History Review, 91(2), 329-359. doi:10.1017/S0007680517000630
  • Seligman, L. (2018). Why the military must learn to love silicon valley. Foreign Policy, 230, 50–53. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26535817
  • Harper, Jon. “Acquisition Process Undermining Silicon Valley Outreach Efforts.” National Defense, vol. 100, no. 751, 2016, pp. 23–25. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/27021429.
  • Hulsink, Willem and Manuel, Dick and Bouwman, H., Clustering in ICT: From Route 128 to Silicon Valley, from Dec to Google, from Hardware to Content (October 30, 2007). ERIM Report Series Reference No. ERS-2007-064-ORG, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn-com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/abstract=1032751
  • Roberto J. González. 2023. Militarising Big Tech: The rise of Silicon Valley’s digital defence industry. Transnational Institute.
  • Lucas Maaser, Stephanie Verlaan. When the Pentagon Comes to Silicon Valley: Pulling back the veil on Big Tech’s missing moral compass. Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. June.
  • Jon Harper. 2022. Silicon Valley Takes on the ‘Valley of Death’. National Defense, Jan 26.

other sources include:

  • government documents, including DoD reports on annual defense spending and contract awards.
  • Computer History Museum resources (Mountain View)
  • Secret History of Silicon Valley (resource page): https://steveblank.com/secret-history/

 
Briefly list any concerns you may have about doing this project (e.g., the scale and scope, finding materials, language issues -- e.g., researching an international city where most materials are not in a language you know). There are potentially lots of concerns:
• some important data might not be publicly available. (e.g., proprietary)
• Is defense contract data listed by individual establishment/plant or firm-wide? (The latter would be a challenge if a tech firm has locations both in and outside SV, and so it would be hard to determine what share is spent in SV).
• How easily can one differentiate between defense versus commercial markets (and thus buyers) of SV products? Will I be able to get a precise breakdown of defense vs. commercial revenues?
• In my research question (above), I am interested in both finding out the size of defense contracts to Silicon Valley and also the contemporary impact of defense contracting on the development trajectory of Silicon Valley and its technologies. The former is a quantitative question (as long as I can get the data). But the latter is a more interpretive, analytical if not institutional question. How much will I be able to say about this question?
• I may be asking too huge a question for one semester! I may need to scale back my project: e.g., look at one aspect of this question, or one firm or technology, etc. Or I may be better able to answer the historical question about past defense contracting in SV (e.g., up through, say, 1990 or 2010) but not be able to take this analysis up to the present day. [editor’s note: that’s fine to be historical]

 

FINAL TEXT FORMAT

DEADLINES

Relationship to previous class assignments:

Please avoid substantial duplication with tasks you covered in previous assignments (e.g., sustainability and climate action plans in Assignment 3; sustainability measures in Assignment 4; etc). That said, if you identified some interesting questions, conflicts, case studies or programs in an earlier assignment, you could use this Assignment 5 to explore such issues in greater depth or in new dimensions. The goal is to complement -- not duplicate -- past work you have done in this and other courses. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me or set up an office hour appointment.


Elements

Here is a list of possible elements; include those that you deem relevant. Note: these will vary depending on whether you are looking at Option A or B. These elements are merely suggestive:

Possible Topics

Below is a selected list of topics -- some done by students in the past, others merely imagined -- that suggests the broad range of possible topics for either the individual paper or group project. This is just a partial list of suggestions -- you may of course think of many other possible cases.

If you are not sure of whether a topic or case would be a good fit for the project, don't hesitate to ask me.

6. Last Class: Lessons learned (Apr 23)

This last session will provide an opportunity to link common themes from the class sessions and develop a set of principles for sustainable urbanism.

TASK: Each student is to prepare a concise, insightful distillation of lessons / principles about sustainable urbanism/planning for sustainability. You are to prepare several items:

This task has TWO PARTS:
(a) a brief (2) minute oral presentation that concisely highlights your central points. Include a slide to be shared with the class on this google class file.
[NOTE:  one slide will do, but if you find it easier to present your materials on two slides, that is also an option.] Consider various formats, including diagrams, maps, tables, illustrations, a numbered list. Use supplementary text where appropriate to elaborate specific ideas/points.

(b) A one-page (single-spaced) narrative that concisely explores these ideas. Note: Format is flexible. You could write a text narrative alone, or combine with graphics, conceptual maps, etc. [to be uploaded to Canvas]