Transforming Cities and Minds Through the Scholarship of Engagement: Economy, Equity, and Environment

Written by engaged scholars and practitioners, Transforming Cities and Minds is an "instrument-for-action" on the problems faced by U.S. cities that have suffered from decades of disinvestment. The book advocates the concept of reciprocal knowledge: real learning on both sides, campus and city, through a complex network of human relationships.

Across the country from Camden to Oakland, the contributors engaged with community partners--hospitals, churches, community development corporations, community foundations, and other rooted institutions--to help restore old cities to life. Their collaborative thesis project engaged them with one another and university staff; it may offer a new paradigm for graduate education.

Developing a new generation of engaged urban planners to revitalize U.S. cities

Lorlene Hoyt is Director of Programs and Research for the Talloires Network at Tufts University. She currently serves as strategic advisor for Urban Revitalizers, a women- and minority-owned consultancy she co-founded in 1998. Hoyt founded and led MIT@ Lawrence, a city-campus partnership.

CONTENTS

Foreword Dayna Cunningham

Introduction

Lorlene Hoyt

Part I: Engaging Economy

Chapter 1 Strengthening Small Businesses: Strategies for Makin' a Way Where There Is No Way in Camden, New Jersey

Gayle Christiansen

Chapter 2 Leveraging Rooted Institutions: A Strategy for Cooperative Economic Development in Cleveland, Ohio

Nick Iuviene and Lily Song

Part II: Engaging Equity

Chapter 3 Concentrating Investment: A Strategy for Sustainable Development in Kansas City, Missouri

Leila Bozorg

Chapter 4 Network Organizing: A Strategy for Manufacturing Recovery in Lawrence, Massachusetts

Marianna Leavy-Sperounis

Part III: Engaging Environment

Chapter 5 City-Wide Retrofits: A Strategy for Creating Green Jobs in Oakland, California

Benjamin Brandin and Kate Levitt

Chapter 6 Community/Labor/Utility Partnerships: A Social-Movement Organizing Strategy for Energy Efficiency in Massachusetts

Eric Mackres and Lily Song

Reflections

Lorlene Hoyt