News | February 10, 2022
‘We have to adapt’: US Pacific north-west weighs plans to cope with extreme weather
First came the heavy snow in late December that blanketed Seattle and the surrounding area. Then the torrential rain and flooding hit in early January. One by one, four of the region’s main mountain passes were deemed impassable, and a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 south of Seattle was closed. It was the first time…
Scholar
Aseem Prakash
Visit scholar websiteCourse | POL S 481
Big City Politics
Contemporary big city politics, focusing on Seattle and the largest twenty-five cities. Social, economic, and political trends that have shaped characteristics of large American cities. Distribution and use of economic and political power among parties and groups. Future of large cities and politics of change.News | March 9, 2018
Cities, scientists unite in battle against climate change at U.N. summit
Climate scientists and city planners are to start charting a global roadmap on how cities can best battle climate change, when they gather at a U.N.-backed summit in Canada’s Edmonton on Monday. The three day gathering marks the first time cities rather than nations are offered a seat at the table of the Intergovernmental Panel…
News | April 18, 2019
Climate change as a social justice issue in Seattle
This story was written by Urban@UW communications assistant Shahd Al Baz, as part of her research with our program. Social justice paradigms hold that structural barriers to economic development drive, and are driven by, environmental and spatial conditions. We need look no further than Seattle to see this, where patterns of environmental degradation intersect with…
Course | POL S 383
Environmental Politics and Policy in the United States
Interrelation between technological and environmental change and policy formation. Consideration of political behavior related to these phenomena and the capacity of urban public organizations to predict change and to formulate policies that can take future states into account.Course | HSTCMP 249 / POL S 249 / SOC 266
Introduction to Labor Studies
Conceptual and theoretical issues in the study of labor and work. Role of labor in national and international politics. Formation of labor movements. Historical and contemporary role of labor in the modern world.Scholar
Megan Ming Francis
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Nancy Rivenburgh
Visit scholar websiteNews | May 14, 2021
Opinion: The lack of EV charging stations could limit EV growth
Originally written by Nives Dolšak, professor at the University of Washington School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and Aseem Prakash, professor at the University of Washington Department of Political Science. Transportation contributes to about 28% of U.S. carbon emissions. To cut emissions by 50% by 2030, this sector will need to be rapidly decarbonized. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are…
Course | POL S 587
Politics of Urban Reform
Interpretations of urban reformers at turn of this century and during 1960s and 1970s. Historical and political science literature on the subject.News | July 9, 2020
Racial justice is an urban issue: A curated list of resources from UW BIPOC scholars
Racial injustice is not a new issue. Segregation and discrimination on the basis of race has long been tied to the built environments across the country, from redlining and restrictive covenants in the mid-1900s, to white flight and suburbanization after World War II, to the current trends of gentrification and displacement in cities throughout the…
Scholar
Rebecca U. Thorpe
Visit scholar websiteNews | June 30, 2020
Seattle’s activist-occupied zone is just the latest in a long history of movements and protests
The six blocks of occupied Seattle streets now known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or “CHOP”, have become a focal point of the nationwide anti-racist protests, eliciting both encouragement and concern. But for this Pacific Northwest city, it is far from the first time in the radical spotlight. Seattle has a long and storied history of…
News | May 20, 2022
The extraordinary heat wave in India and Pakistan, explained
Nearly one in eight people on Earth are enduring a relentless, lethal heat wave that is stretching into its third week. Triple-digit temperatures are continuing to bake swaths of India and Pakistan, a region home to 1.5 billion people. Extreme heat has also scorched Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in recent weeks. For India, this past April was…
News | November 18, 2019
The law that’s helping fuel Delhi’s deadly air pollution
Another cloud of choking smoke and dust is set to descend upon the 20 million residents of Delhi this week, with forecasters warning that air pollution is likely to reach “severe” or “emergency” levels on Wednesday. The dangerous, dirty air is arising from a mix of weather conditions, urban emissions, and rural smoke converging over India’s capital…
News | June 29, 2021
Urban areas of King County feel heat waves the most, study finds
Areas of King County with more paved landscapes and less tree canopy are feeling the heat more intensely than less urbanized areas, according to a new study from King County and the city of Seattle. More urbanized areas were as much as 20 degrees hotter due to an abundance of hard surfaces like parking lots, rooftops and…
News | August 18, 2020
Urban heatwaves are worse for low-income neighborhoods
Temperatures this summer have hit record levels across major cities, such as New York, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, London, Athens, Baghdad, and Qatar. Yesterday, an excessive heat warning was issued for South Central and Southwest Arizona and Southeast California. Climate change is leading to increased severity and frequency of heat waves, sea-level rise, and flooding due to heavy rainfall. These events tend to hurt some groups…
Course | POL S 381
Urban Politics and Policy in the United States
Introduces actors, institutions, processes, and policies of substate governments in the United States. Provides and intensive comparative examination of historical and contemporary politics and policy-making. Promotes understanding of city government and its role within the larger context of state and national governments.News | October 20, 2017
Urban@UW compiles Faculty Highlights Report for research, teaching and engagement on homelessness
As part of its recently launched Homelessess Research Initiative, Urban@UW has collaborated with faculty and staff across all three UW campuses to compile a broad-ranging selection of powerful and robust projects addressing homelessness from a research lens. Check out the Faculty Highlights Report to learn more about these efforts and the people behind them.