Erualdo R. González

PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: ENCOUNTERING FREIRE IN THE URBAN BARRIO

ABSTRACT: The community-based approach to health research and intervention is a model of inquiry rooted in Freire’s participatory action research (PAR). We need to show, in concept and practice, what it is about PAR that may be well suited for the types of health issues we encounter in inner-city environments. What type of learning results, how does this respond to particular health issues in the urban context, and what are the particular challenges faced in translating Freire’s model into today’s urban setting? To investigate these questions, we describe a recent PAR project in Southeast Los Angeles, California—an area known to some as “Asthmatown.” One salient finding of the research is that PAR allows the integration of complex and multiple forms of knowledge, and this is a necessary response to the complex and multiplex nature of cumulative impacts. There are challenges to translating the model to the urban setting, however, such as the difficulties of participation in today’s urban milieu. The research leads to some lessons for practitioners, such as the need to build “constant” elements into PAR projects. Lastly, we reflect on implications of this model for institutional reform.

New Urbanism and the Barrio

The last decade has seen a growing turn toward New Urbanism in the redevelopment of urban neighborhoods. In October 2007 the City of Santa Ana released a draft Renaissance Plan to revitalize a transit-oriented district and government center supported by two neighborhoods. The plan exemplifies New Urbanist design principles which promote mixed income residential neighborhoods and respect local culture. Using a case study in two Mexican and working-class immigrant barrios and the adjacent downtown district, we investigate these principles. We describe different community-wide perspectives concerning ‘redevelopment’ and employ a textual analysis of the Renaissance Plan. One salient finding is that local planning codes reflect and support cultural and class beliefs that alienate Latino barrios. Another finding is that it is in the construction of a new science of form that the disciplinary gaze of New Urbanism reshapes places upon cultural-alien and class-alien norms. We conclude by suggesting research on the tensions between ethno-cultural-dominant city councils and ethno-cultural and economically marginalized neighborhoods while exploring how policy and discourse impact urban place.

The grassroots and New Urbanism: a case from a Southern California Latino community

Participation is important to the design of New Urbanist plans. We examine the benefits and challenges of community organizing and action research for the types of needs in lower-income Latino urban areas undergoing New Urbanism. We use the case of Santa Ana, which recently released a plan for the Station District project to revitalize a transit-oriented area supported by a Mexican and working-class urban neighborhood. The Station District is an example of New Urbanism, which promotes transit service and mixed income neighborhoods. We examine how a coalition planned within and outside the public policy process in pursuit of a community benefits agreement (CBA). One noteworthy finding is that organizing and action research allow a deep picture of urban development issues and this is important to respond to local context. There are challenges in obtaining a CBA and sustaining a coalition. We conclude by suggesting research on governance and claims to place.

The Active Living Research 2014 Conference: "niche to norm".

Comments on the 2014 Active Living Research Conference theme(written by Keshia Pollack)WhenIthinkofthewordniche,phrasessuchasa“specializedplace”or a “distinct segment” come to mind. When it was time to identify thetheme for the 2014 Active Living Research (ALR) Conference, wethought about how some people consider the field of active living aniche area. Because of this, it is not entirely surprisingly that aroundthe world, communities still lack sidewalks, pedestrians and bicyclistsare injured or killed by speeding traffic, and physical inactivity remainsa global pandemic (Kohl et al., 2012). In selecting the theme “niche tonorm,”weaimedtorecognizetheimportanceofadvancingactivelivingfrom an emerging research field with limited impact to well-acceptedfindings that guide every day decision-making across various sectorsto create more active communities. We wanted to encourage dialoguearound how to take evidence-based interventions that promote physi-cal activity mainstream, and we did just that.The Conference included workshops, oral and poster presentations,and keynote addresses documenting how environmental and policychanges that increase physical activity are increasingly more common.We heard presenters discuss complete street ordinances, which havebeen adopted in hundredsof communities. We learnedhow thousandsof schools are implementing evidence-based policies and programs toincrease youth activity and combat the childhood obesity epidemic.Tools such as Walk Score were described as a way to help millions ofhome buyers and renters find walkable neighborhoods. My own workto develop and disseminate Promoting Safety is helping ensure that ef-fortstocreateenvironmentsthatfacilitateopportunitiesforphysicalac-tivityconsiderthefactthattransportation-relatedinjuriesareoneoftheleading causes of death for Americans ( U.S. Centers for Disease Controland Prevention, 2014). By partnering with architects, planners, trans-portation engineers, and colleagues from parks and recreation, weshowed how injury prevention and public health professionals canhelpensurethatnewandrenovatedspacesmaximizebothactivelivingand safety (Pollack et al., 2014–in this issue). These examples are just afewthatillustratehowworkingacrosssilosandengagingvariousstake-holders can help move active living from niche to norm.To build on the momentum from the 2014 ALR Annual Conference,there are many other exciting initiatives that those of us in the field ofactive living can leverage to continue to take physical activity interven-tions mainstream. For instance, physical activity environments and re-lated policies are controlled by non-health sectors, including urbanplanning, transportation, parks and recreation, education, architecture,and corporations, among others, so active living and public health ex-perts need to have inputinto decision-makingthateffects our environ-ments (Sallis et al., 1998, 2006). There is emerging evidence regardingthe benefits of using tools such as Health Impact Assessments (HIA) tointegrate health considerations and evidence into non-health sectors(Dannenberg et al., 2013). Across the United States, HIAs have opti-mizedhealthoutcomesandminimizedadverseimpacts,andidentified,for example, ways to promote opportunities for physical activity whenupdating comprehensive plans or zoning policies (Health ImpactProject, 2014). HIAs provide opportunities to deepen relationshipswith non-health sectors responsible for making decisions about envi-ronments and policies that affect physical activity, and evidence isemerging as to their roles in supporting health-promoting decisionsand changing the way communities are designed (Health ImpactProject, 2014).Wecansuccessfullytakeactivelivingfromtheperipherytothecore,from niche to norm, by continuing to strengthen and foster interdisci-plinary collaborations, and by reaching out to individuals in sectorswhereactivelivingisnottheircentralfocus.Thereisaneedtoestablishlong-term and collaborativeapproachestotranslate what worksandtodisseminateit widely.Manyof us in the fieldhavebeguntodothis,andas we showed at the 2014 ALR Conference, we have a great foundationupon which to build and implement policies and environments thatpromote population-wide increases in physical activity.The 2014 Active Living Research Conference (written by JamesF. Sallis)Each ALR Conference attempts to perceptibly advance research andits translation to practice and policy. Our goal is to use research tomake meaningful contributions to improving environments and poli-cies that support active living, healthy weights, and a culture of health.In 2014 there was clear movement in taking active living from “nicheto norm” in public health and advocacy organizations, among govern-ment officials, and to a global stage.Research was the major focus of the Conference, with 98 researchpresentations and posters. ALR attracts significant and innovative re-search, and some of the best studies are published in this supplementto Preventive Medicine. The 2014 Conference was the second in whichpracticeandpolicysubmissionswereinvited,and44suchpresentationswereintermixedwithresearchpresentations.Thegoalofthedualfocusistofacilitatecommunication of researchtothosewhocanuseitandtoinform researchers about needs of practitioners and policymakers tostimulate future research.The public health presence at ALR2014 was strong, with keynotepresentation from Jonathan Fielding, Director and Health Officer forthe Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and an overviewof the Institute of Medicines report, “Evaluating Obesity Prevention Ef-forts,” from Lawrence Green of the University of California, San

Emerging issues in planning: ethno-racial intersections

Race and ethnicity take centre stage in today’s emerging issues within the planning academy and profession. The escalating social outrage over the senseless killings of young men of colour by policemen in several cities of the USA in 2014–2015 and the widespread perception of systemic failure of the judicial system to deliver justice have caused sustained street protest in many cities across the country as we had not seen in years. Issues such as the enormous economic disparity between the majority African American areas in Ferguson and the rest of Saint Louis; vigilantism policing in gated communities in Florida; the racial profiling of stop-and-frisk practices in New York City; historic rates of immigration deportations and the lack of racial representation in police forces and government of communities under rapid demographic change are but a few of the intensifying issues that evidence the ethno-racial intersections of emerging issues in planning. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Superstorm Sandy in New York City put in evidence both the greater risk vulnerabilities that afflict communities of colour in metropolitan areas and the unequal attention and funds granted to their formal post-disaster emergency recovery and reconstruction efforts (Pastor et al. 2006, Irazábal and Neville 2007, Lowe 2009, Lowe and Bates 2012). At half a century after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is appropriate to acknowledge that significant progress has been made for racial equality in this country, but much remains to be done and examined. The 53rd Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning’s (ACSP) Annual 2012 Conference allowed us to explore how current planning and policy research, theory, pedagogy, and practice confront race and ethnicity questions. This special issue stems from a roundtable held at that conference on the topic of Emerging Issues in Planning: Ethno-Racial Intersections. We organised the roundtable as part of the broader work by the Planners of Color Interest Group (POCIG) of ACSP. POCIG’s mission is to advance the interests and concerns of people and communities of colour within the planning academy and profession. With the roundtable and now this special issue, we specifically contribute to address a goal of POCIG’s 2011–2016 Strategic Plan, which is to “increase publications by scholars of color and on issues of concern to communities of color in scholarly books and journals” (Planners of Color Interest Group 2011, p. 8).

Sorting through Differences: The Problem of Planning as Reimagination

Communities are sorted through differencing, the social construction of distinction. This, in turn, enables what we term social rendering: erasure of existing community and reimagination of an alternative one. This practice is founded upon an evolutionary notion of development as ecological succession, involving the intersectionality of race, class, and other markers. Such social genotyping leads to a genitocracy built around systems of differences. We examine the effect of present-day redevelopment practice on the Southern California community of Santa Ana. We illustrate how the processes of differencing and rendering undermine the sociocultural fabric of authentic community life.

Revisiting the Politics of Planning and Action in Latino Urban America

In Latino Urbanism: The Politics of Planning, Policy, and Redevelopment, editors David R. Diaz and Rodolfo D. Torres offer a range of scholarship examining the way socioeconomic and political change and urban policy interventions influence the nature and functioning of cities with large Latino populations. They argue that the volume blends traditional critical urbanism perspectives with varied theoretical perspectives on political and policy interventions. The volume has three themes: (1) the limits of popular community development models in neighborhood and commercial spaces, (2) urban living experiences and the role of market-driven and racialized public policy, and (3) community organizations and change. Scholars with varied disciplinary backgrounds provide a mix of contemporary and historical case studies and essays. One group of readings examines the extent to which popular urban design principles are culturally and class appropriate and novel to Latino urban areas. Diaz argues that “barrio urbanism” (Diaz, 2005), a term he coined to refer to common lifeways in Mexican immigrant and Chicana/o barrios in the Southwest, requires acknowledgment in the mainstream planning literature. Barrio urbanism has been shown to involve normative planning and urban health ideals such as walking, socializing, using public transportation, and other environmental sustainable practices. Much of the analysis is historical, dating from the 1880s to the 1960s–1990s, but the historical is bridged with the contemporary in a critique of the New Urbanism movement of the early 1990s. The Congress for the New Urbanism, mostly architects, urban designers, planners, and developers committed to “traditional” American master-planned neighborhoods with minimal sprawl, initiated the movement in 1993, promoting and implementing an approach it says is common in white and economically prosperous neighborhoods such as Princeton, New Jersey (Duany, Plater-Zyberk, and Speck, 2000; Saab, 2001). The New Urbanism emphasizes urban design to create dense, mixed-used, and pedestrianfriendly housing and commercial zones. Diaz argues that many of the model’s principles, such as those focused on pedestrian-health-promoting and environmentally friendly outcomes, are not new to ordinary barrio life and culture. The mainstream and critical urbanism literature often overlooks this argument. He also argues that the private sector and city officials tend to support New Urbanism projects that help gentrify city centers and are economically out of reach for working families. The New Urbanism is a model “perpetuating an old [planning] tradition by deepening the divide between