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.
Robert L. Wesley, a pioneering architect and beloved mentor, has died at age 88. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Wesley joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in 1964 and became the firm's first Black partner in 1984. Throughout his career, he contributed to significant architectural projects while maintaining a strong commitment to civic engagement and professional mentorship.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to celebrate a series of recent accomplishments by Dr. Jim Collard, Professor of Practice in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design, whose work continues to shape conversations around Indigenous economic development nationally and internationally.
University of Oklahoma Gibbs College of Architecture Dean Hans E. [PA1.1]Butzer returned to one of his most significant works on December 15, joining survivors and past and present board members for the groundbreaking of a $15.8 million expansion of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.
