Dr. C. Aujean Lee, an assistant professor of Regional and City Planning, and Dr. John C. Harris, the Director of the Regional and City Planning program, recently had their article published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research. This peer-reviewed academic journal is the official journal of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and is the leading forum for planning educators and scholars to share their research.
The article, "Outsourcing Neighborhood Planning Processes? A Case Study of a Nonprofit in the City of Oklahoma City," examines how the City of Oklahoma City contracts out neighborhood planning processes to a local nonprofit organization. Using interviews, Lee and Harris examined the benefits and consequences of this contracting relationship on participatory processes. The findings reveal that the nonprofit enhances resident engagement but faces constraints on these interactions due to contract benchmarks.
Read the full article.
The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture is proud to announce that Model Schools in the Model City, authored by Director of the Institute for Quality Communities, Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., has been named one of ten finalists for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize for Best New Book in African American History and Culture.
This semester, students in the LA 5535 Studio: Ecological Planning and Design, led by Prof. Afsana Sharmin, took on an ambitious hypothetical project to redesign key parts of the OU campus. Their mission: to tackle the critical real-world challenge of stormwater management through innovative green design.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
