Over the past year, Dr. Bryce Lowery, associate professor of Regional + City Planning, has been working with a team of University of Oklahoma researchers to study how to best use the $36 million granted to the state of Oklahoma by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to support unhoused and housing-insecure Oklahomans. The team’s plan was recently approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, starting the process of allocating the $36 million in resources to the state of Oklahoma.
Dr. Lowery’s team conducted several surveys, meetings, and interviews to better understand the landscape of housing insecurity in Oklahoma, as the data collected on unhoused individuals often does not reflect reality.
The University of Oklahoma research team suggested that 50 percent of the federal funds be set aside for rural communities as the major population centers – Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Lawton – in the state were given supplemental funding that rural counties did not receive. The team also proposed that the majority of the funding be spent on the construction of new housing for low-income residents. The plan for funding allocation was approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and will be posted on the HUD Community Planning and Development Allocation Plans website.
Another part of Dr. Lowery’s team’s work was the creation of a map of resources available to unhoused and housing insecure Oklahomans. The first draft of this map and other information about the project can be found on the project website.
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.
