Dr. C. Aujean Lee, an assistant professor of Regional + City Planning (RCPL), recently presented for the University of Texas as Austin’s School of Architecture’s lecture series City Forum. During her talk, “Subcontracting Neighborhood Planning and Impacts on Grassroots Organizing: A Case Study of Oklahoma City,” Dr. Lee shared the work she had been doing with RCPL Director Dr. John Harris about neighborhood planning processes that are conducted through nonprofits.
Nonprofit entities are often key in local community development, whether working with or against municipal governments in neighborhood planning. Dr. Lee and Dr. Harris’s research focuses on a unique case of a local government that largely contracts neighborhood planning processes to a nonprofit in Oklahoma City. Their study was published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.
Using thirty-nine interviews with municipal staff, nonprofit employees, and stakeholders, Dr. Lee and Dr. Harris examined the benefits and consequences of this contracting relationship on participatory processes. Their research found that the unique arrangement between the City of Oklahoma City and the nonprofit, Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma, expands the ability of residents and organized neighborhoods to impact planning decisions and processes. The arrangement allows for a meaningful connection between grassroots organizations’ priorities and policy makers.
Dr. Lee and Dr. Harris’s research also found that nonprofits in neighborhood planning face constraints due to contract benchmarks. The nonprofits’ relational approach to planning and community organizing are often at odds with the priorities of city planning departments.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture announces John Harris as Associate Dean for Research ad interim, effective Aug. 25, 2026, until the permanent position is filled.
Gibbs College is pleased to announce the 2026 Gibbs College Faculty & Staff Awards recipients. These individuals were recognized by Dean Butzer during the Gibbs College Back to School Meeting and will be honored during the Celebration Banquet in October. They were nominated by their colleagues via an open nomination process.
Telesis, the Gibbs College of Architecture’s student journal, has been awarded a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts to support its next two issues, “Pause” (Volume IX) and “React” (Volume X).
