Bryce Lowery, associate professor of Regional and City Planning in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design, recently testified before the Oklahoma State Senate Judiciary Committee. Lowery was asked to testify as part of an interim study on housing in Oklahoma. The study, “Housing for All Oklahomans: Availability, Safety, Stability,” was convened by Senator Chuck Hall (OK-20) and Senator Julia Kirt (OK-30) and included testimony from experts about ways the state can improve housing security.
Lowery presented results from his recent study of housing insecurity in Oklahoma, “Oklahoma HOME-ARP Allocation Plan.” In summer 2022, Lowery and a team of OU researchers began working with the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency to determine how to best deploy approximately $36 million to support unhoused and housing-insecure Oklahomans. The team collected data, conducted interviews, mapped resources and hosted community meetings to determine the best focus for this funding.
At the housing panel, Lowery shared data about the cost burden working Oklahomans face when trying to rent and the impact it has on the Oklahoma economy. He also explained how factors such as transportation, childcare and health care costs, and housing quality and location can negatively impact individuals and families looking for housing.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture professor and Institute for Quality Communities Director Dr. Amber N. Wiley’s book, Model Schools in the Model City: Race, Planning, and Education in the Nation’s Capital, has received two major honors from the Urban History Association.
Research initiated by Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture alumna Naila Hasan during her master’s studies at the University of Oklahoma has continued through faculty collaboration and resulted in a peer-reviewed publication in HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce Esther Thorp, Tyler Boydstun and Chukwuma Nwokoye as the winners of the 2026 Construction Innovation Translation Hub (CIThub) Student Ideas Competition.