Regional and City Planning professor, Dr. Ladan Mozaffarian, has recently published an article in the prestigious Journal of Planning Literature. The article, titled “How Remote Working and Placelessness Affect Future Planning for Innovation Districts: A Systematic Review of the Literature,” examines the impacts of telework and the gig economy on planning for innovation districts. It highlights solutions to mitigate the negative effects on cities and their urban vitality.
Innovation Districts (IDs) have emerged as essential place-based strategies for economic development within urban planning and land-use policy. While existing literature covers the types of IDs and the built environment features that define them, there is a gap in understanding the role of the built environment in the context of increasing remote work and placelessness. By conducting a systematic review of the literature, this research explores how future planning for Innovation Districts will be impacted and how to tackle the challenge of rising placelessness in urban areas.
This article is part of Mozaffarian’s ongoing research on Innovation Districts and their planning and policy implications. For this project, Mozaffarian collaborated with faculty from San Jose State University (SJSU) and the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA).
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.
Gibbs Construction Science and Architecture students recently traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to compete in the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 8 Student Competition. The team partnered with Czech Technical University and secured third place in the Design-Build category.
Gibbs College is pleased to present the exhibition Vollendorf in Oklahoma: The Architecture of Dean Bryant Vollendorf during the Spring 2026 semester. It will be on display in Gould Hall, on the OU-Norman Campus, from February 16, 2026 - March 13, 2026.
