News | June 26, 2024
A Biochar Solution for Urban Runoff
Written by Julia Davis for the University of Washington In cities around the globe, stormwater runoff remains largely untreated, collecting everything from heavy metals to pesticides before flowing into our waterways. This environmental challenge requires innovative solutions, and biochar may just be the key. CEE Assistant Professor Jessica Ray and graduate student Amy Quintanilla are…
News | March 19, 2024
A New ‘Holy Grail’ in the Housing Crisis: Statewide Rent Caps
Reported in The New York Times by David W. Chen As housing costs soar, Washington State wants to limit annual rent increases to 7 percent. Oregon and California have passed similar measures. With her husband struggling at times to find work, Ms. Horn has maxed out her credit cards to keep pace with the…
Course | T GIS 414
Advanced Applications of GIS
Applies GIS techniques through case studies of social, economic, and environmental issues in the Puget Sound region. Introduces new techniques in basic programming for GIS, using ArcGIS ModelBuilder, and the advanced use of GPS devices.Scholar
Alexes Harris
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Ali Modarres
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Anaid Yerena
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Anne Taufen
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Another smoky summer could be on Washington’s horizon
Record-breaking rainfall drenched Seattle and Olympia on Sunday. Even with the wet weather and snowpack in the Cascades about 40% deeper than normal for this time of year, western Washington could be in for a smoky summer from forest fires. Much of eastern Washington and most of the western United States are experiencing severe droughts,…
News | August 9, 2024
Are we on the brink of a tax revolt in Washington state?
Reported by Joshua McNichols for KUOW/NPR News Cities all over the region have big property tax levies on the ballot this year. There’s a transportation levy in Seattle, a levy to modernize the fire department in Tacoma, and a levy to pay for public safety and libraries in Everett. Increasingly, elected officials rely on these…
Course | TIBCIN 452
Art, Culture, and History of the Eternal City
Uses Rome as a laboratory to understand the role of art, history, and urbanism in the development of Western culture. Addresses the many facets of the cultural development of Rome and Italy, including geography, history, urban design, art, and architecture. Research-based and includes extensive fieldwork.Course | T HIST 452
Art, Culture, And History Of The Eternal City
Uses Rome as a laboratory to understand the role of art, history, and urbanism in the development of Western culture. Addresses the many facets of the cultural development of Rome and Italy, including geography, history, urban design, art, and architecture. Research-based and includes extensive fieldwork.Scholar
Bára Šafářová
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Barbara Endicott-Popovsky
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Bellevue, Renton Among Top 100 U.S Cities for Livability
Watch as King 5 News brings in Branden Born to shed light on the weighting mechanisms employed by a survey recently published on livability.com which ranked Renton and Bellevue among their top 100 cities for livability. Watch the whole clip on iQmediacorp.com
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Benjamin de Haan
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Betheny Gross
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Brian Coffey
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Can tiny houses help solve affordability crisis? A student who’s building one thinks so
Olivia Tyrnauer adjusts the ladder and carefully begins to climb, balancing on the steps as she carries a large window up to an empty frame. Positioned precariously on one of the top steps, she loops a screw gun out of her belt and pulls a screw from one of the pockets of her tan cargo…
News | April 11, 2017
Challenging the whiteness of American architecture, in the 1960s and today
“This book tells the story of how I got a free Ivy League education.” That’s the arresting opening sentence of Sharon Egretta Sutton‘s “When Ivory Towers Were Black,” an unusual hybrid of memoir, institutional history and broadside against the entrenched whiteness of the architecture profession in this country. The institution in question is Columbia University…
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Christine Stevens
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Christopher Beasley
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Christopher Dunagan
Visit scholar websiteCourse | T URB 316
Cities and Belonging
Addresses inequality in urban spaces through the concept of belonging and ideas about cultural belonging and legitimacy. While the course is traditional in its concern with urban poverty, race, ethnicity, and immigration, it offers a vocabulary of citizenship and rights to investigate urban inequalities and how various populations experience them.Course | T URB 420
Cities and the Constitution
Examines Constitutional rights to freedom of expression in public institutions and public places of cities. Considers rights to freedom of expression as they exist in a variety of forums -- streets and parks, schools, shopping malls, university sporting events, and property surrounding prisons. Analyzes interactions among rights and community interests.News | June 9, 2020
Cities have changed – for rats
After Chicago’s stores and restaurants shut down in March, Rebecca Fyffe, the director of research at a pest-control company, went on one of her usual evening “rat safaris.” Her employer, Landmark Pest Management, services many of the city’s high-end, Michelin-rated restaurants, which had been forced to close hastily, dumping piles of produce. Beside a dumpster…
News | March 23, 2018
City of Bellevue selected as 2018-2019 UW Livable City Year partner
The University of Washington Livable City Year program has selected the City of Bellevue to be the community partner for the 2018-2019 academic year. The year-long partnership connects city staff with students and faculty who will collaborate on projects to advance the Bellevue City Council Vision Priorities, specifically around livability and sustainability. In the upcoming…
News | December 29, 2022
City of Tacoma and UW Tacoma want to start community conversations on homelessness next year
Starting in 2023, the City of Tacoma and UW Tacoma will host community conversations on homelessness. The council approved $20,000 on Dec. 20 from its contingency fund to sponsor the conversations. The conversations will be focused on immediate actions to address homelessness and coming up with solutions to housing and supportive services. John Burkhardt, communications…
Course | T URB 330
City Worlds
Examines world urbanization and the shifting geographies associated with economic restructuring and globalization. Ethnicity, gender, urban form, local governance strategies, and resistance to those strategies are considered. Includes examples from cities in both the developed and developing world.Course | T URB 326
Climate Change within the Urban Context
Provides an understanding of the nexus of urbanization and climate change. Covers international standards, the urban carbon footprint, and mitigation strategies such as urban forests, urban agriculture, green buildings, and sustainable transportation. Also considers justice and climate change adaptation.News | June 5, 2024
Community broadband provides a local solution for a global problem
Written by Esther Jang, Postdoctoral Fellow, Computer Science, University of Washington; Katherine Gillieson, Associate Dean, Master of Design, Emily Carr University; and Michael Lithgow, Associate Professor, Media and Communication Studies, Athabasca University Published in The Conversation. According to a 2023 study by the International Telecommunications Union, approximately 2.6 billion people are unconnected to the internet….
Course | T URB 235
Community Development
Examines theories, polices, and practice of community change and development in American cities. Explores ways to assess community conditions, the contributions of various community institutions, impacts of regional, national, and global political economies, community-oriented development strategies, and methods to evaluate community development initiatives.News | November 26, 2024
Creating multi-sector teams to build cities where everyone thrives.
Research-to-Action Teams 2024-25 In April of 2024 two teams were selected for participation in the second cohort of the Research to Action Collaboratory. For 18 months Urban@UW will work with these teams to provide seed funds, dedicated time to building team cohesion and collaboration skills, and opportunities for peer support, shared resources, and learning. These…
Course | T URB 470
Creating The Urban Narrative
Dissects the axiom "history is written by the winner". Examines how cities' narratives are created, sustained, and reinvented. Focuses on the assumptions and accepted histories of institutions, issues, conflicts, and cultures and their interconnectivity - through exposure to diverse tools used to create urban narratives.Course | T GIS 415
Critical Theory and GIS Practicum
Explores the foundational debates that have impacted the evolution of geospatial software, technique, and methodology.Course | T URB 305
Data And The City
Studies the intersection of data and everyday urban life. Prepares students to understand what is and is not captured in data and how said data come to represent themselves and their communities.News | July 7, 2016
Data Science for Social Good 2016
This summer we are thrilled to be supporting the eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program. Modeled after similar programs at the University of Chicago and Georgia Tech, with elements from eScience’s own Data Science Incubator, sixteen DSSG Student Fellows have been working with academic researchers, data scientists, and public stakeholder groups on…
Scholar
David Boe
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David Hendry
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Davon Woodard
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Diana Pearce
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Did COVID-19 heal nature?
The Welsh village of Llandudno went quiet in March as stay-at-home orders began. Then the goats descended from the mountain. A wild herd of Kashmiri goats has lived near Llandudno for almost two centuries, and they sometimes come down from the Great Orme Mountain during inclement weather. But this spring, while the human world hit…
Course | T URB 211
Digital Cities
Examines the impact that information technology has had on the spatial form and socio-economic processes of contemporary metropolitan areas. Covers the information economy; the digital divide; and placemaking applications of mobile technology.News | January 31, 2018
Does the big boss really matter in big-city school districts?
School district superintendents are often nice people, but boring. They rarely have much effect on what happens in classrooms, where the most interesting and productive changes occur. But because the nation’s two largest districts, New York and Los Angeles, are looking for new superintendents, I forced myself to read a trenchant new guide for superintendent…
News | February 18, 2017
Drones Are Turning Civilians Into an Air Force of Citizen Scientists
Last winter, as meteorologists warned of a monster El Niño, researchers at the Nature Conservancy in California prepared to mobilize with a new, distributed surveillance strategy: commercial drones, co-opted from a gung-ho statewide network of citizen scientists. Britta Ricker, geographic information scientist in Urban Studies University of Washington-Tacoma, shares her thoughts about the challenges and…
Scholar
Ed Lazowska
Visit scholar websiteCourse | TEST 221
Environmental History: Water
Examines the historical relationship between water and fire, irrigation, grazing, mining, deforestation, and urbanization upon the regional and global environment. Using case histories based on water, emphasizes the sources and methods historians use to study environmental change over time.Course | TIAS 443
Ethnicity and the Urban Landscape
Focuses on the intersection of ethnicity, architecture, and urbanism in the United States. Explores the concept of ethnic identity and the creation of a sense of place in urban environments. Examines local neighborhoods as a starting point for students' own investigations of ethnicity and the urban landscape.Course | T URB 101
Exploring Cities: An Introduction to Urban Studies
Introduction to the multi-disciplinary field of Urban Studies. Exposes the complexity of everyday life in metropolitan areas. Explores how the various disciplines of sociology, anthropology, geography, economies, and political science have studies and made sense of cities. Special attention given to issues of class, race, and gender.Scholar
Eyhab Al-Masri
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Fern Tiger
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Food for thought: Urban lakes contaminated with arsenic pose consumption risk
After analyzing the human health risks of eating aquatic organisms from arsenic-contaminated urban lakes in the Puget Sound lowlands, UW researchers have a menu of concerns. Specifically, they found that consuming certain aquatic organisms in the lakes elevates cancer risk. “The idea was to focus on organisms that people might eat, so we studied snails,…
News | June 18, 2018
Food insecurity is a growing obstacle for college students
Expanding access to higher education is a core part of the mission at the University of Washington Tacoma, which had its commencement Monday. Many of the campus’ students commute from nearby communities, 58 percent have parents without college degrees, and 73 percent receive financial aid. “We have a lot of first-generation students,” said Christine Stevens, a professor who…
News | June 12, 2018
Four Lessons From the Tacoma Whole Child Initiative
Five years ago, Tacoma launched the Whole Child Initiative, with the goal of supporting the comprehensive development and success of each student. We have seen firsthand that supporting the whole child comes with a new set of challenges. But, with the right partners and a focused plan, this approach can make all the difference for…
Course | T URB 314
Gender and the Urban Landscape
Examines linkages between cultural, physical, and symbolic urban landscapes and gender ideologies, structures, and practices. Major themes from gender and urban studies include domestic/public divisions, sexuality and city spaces, consumption, and urban design. Emphasizes integration of theoretical positions and ideas into students' work.Degree Program
Geospatial Technologies (MS)
The Urban Studies Program offers a Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies degree. Admission is open during autumn quarter only and will be comprised of a 20 student cohort. The degree will provide advanced training in GIS, training students to use and apply geospatial hardware, software, and data in urban and environmental planning scenarios. It…
Visit program websiteCourse | T SUD 444
Green Internationalism And The City
Explores the influence of global ecological politics on urban policy and development as well as the impacts that new forms of urbanization have on global ecological politics. Interrogates key interdisciplinary debates within global political economy, political ecology, and urban studies.Scholar
Greg Miller
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Gregory Lund
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Here’s why an Arizona medical examiner is working to track heat-related deaths
Written by Alejandra Borunda for NPR News Greg Hess deals with death day in, day out. Hess is the medical examiner for Pima County, Ariz., a region along the United States-Mexico border. His office handles some 3,000 deaths each year — quiet deaths, overdoses, gruesome deaths, tragic ones. From April through October every year, Hess…
Course | T HIST 445
History Of Tacoma
Surveys the history and fabric of Washington state's second largest urban center. Topics include early settlements, Tacoma as the Pacific terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, commercial and social currents, ethnic and political struggle as recurring forces, and the development of regional institutions, local governments, and locally based corporations. Emphasizes architecture, urban planning and growth, and the built environment of Tacoma.Course | TCSIIN 438
History of Urbanization and the Environment
Addresses the environmental impact of ancient, medieval, and modern cities. Includes the evolution of urban infrastructure and relations between city and countryside.News | February 1, 2024
History uncovered: UW research finds thousands of past racial restrictions in Kitsap
Reported in The Kitsap Sun By Peiyu Lin It’s not a secret that Kitsap County possesses a history of segregation, where some areas of the peninsula were only allowed to sell or rent to white people in the early and mid-20th century. But a specific geographic distribution of the over 2,300 properties that carry racial…
News | February 7, 2019
Homeowners keep building walls around Puget Sound. Biologists are taking out more
Puget Sound has started getting healthier, at least by one measure: A little less of its shoreline is buried under walls of concrete and rock. Biologists have long pointed to seawalls, bulkheads and other protective structures known as “shoreline armoring” as a major environmental problem for Puget Sound. More than 660 miles, or about 29…
News | February 18, 2020
Homes are selling in Tacoma at fastest rate in nation, Redfin says in new report
Last May, Redfin elevated Tacoma on the nation’s real estate map with a report saying the city was the nation’s hottest market. That distinction was just given again. On Thursday, the real estate company’s blog reported Tacoma was the fastest-selling metro market nationwide in January. Tacoma also ranks high as a competitive market, with 34.2…
News | March 8, 2017
Honoring Women Collaborators at Urban@UW
In honor of International Women’s Day, we are highlighting just some of UW’s brilliant female professors, scholars, and and change-makers with whom Urban@UW is proud to collaborate. Click on their names to explore their work. Leadership: Thaisa Way, Executive Director, Urban@UW; Department of Landscape Architecture Executive Committee: Margaret O’Mara, Department of History Susan P….
News | July 8, 2022
Housing boom around University Village: Will it be a real Seattle neighborhood?
Most of Seattle’s growing urban neighborhoods surround light-rail stations, but at least one is sprouting around an upscale, open-air shopping center. There are more than 2,300 new apartments recently completed, currently under construction or planned in the blocks that encircle University Village, a sprawling collection of stores, restaurants, plazas and parking lots located northeast of…
Course | T URB 480
Housing in the United States
Examines the principles, concepts, and tools central to housing in the United States. Acquire a broad knowledge base of state and federal housing markets, policies/programs. Identify appropriate policies to suit multiple urban contexts. Develop an understanding of at least one innovative approach to address the need for affordable housing.News | April 4, 2024
How do wildfires affect mental health? A new UW study examines the connection
Originally reported in the Seattle Times by Taylor Blatchford Checking air quality and staying indoors when smoke inundates the Seattle area has become second nature during Washington’s wildfire season in recent years. But new research highlights how wildfires can affect a less visible aspect of well-being: mental health. A University of Washington study published in…
News | August 30, 2018
How racism kept black Tacomans from buying houses for decades
Honorably discharged after serving in the Korean War, the young man looked to settle down in Tacoma with his wife. If only they could convince someone to show them a home. If they got to a house first, the real estate agent would leave upon seeing them. They learned to park down the street and…
News | July 29, 2024
How Tiny Homes Could Help Solve America’s Homelessness Crisis
Reported by Giulia Carbonaro for Newsweek Shelter villages of tiny homes have popped up across the U.S. in recent years, as the small structures have started to be seen by many advocates as a promising solution to solve homelessness. Perhaps unsurprisingly at a time when mortgage rates are still hovering around the 7-percent mark and…
Course | T URB 205
Images of the City
Examines how the city is portrayed through various media and how those portrayals affect society's perception of urban places. Discusses imagery from films, literature, television, newspapers, and magazines. Considers images linked to such elements as crime, ethnic enclaves, downtown areas, and suburbia.Course | T URB 250
Immigration, Race, And American Cities
Discusses the history of immigration and peopling of the U.S., focusing primarily on issues related to race, class, ethnicity, and gender in American cities since the nineteenth century.Course | T GIS 312
Intermediate GIS
Examines GIS techniques that range from spatial analysis using vector and raster data models, to the analysis of three dimensional surfaces in urban space.Course | T URB 399
International Urban Studies
Urban Studies courses taken through UWT foreign study program.Course | T URB 110
Introduction to Digital Urban Data Analysis
Provides a methodological foundation to digital research and data analysis technologies to build a unique set of urban analytical tools.Course | T GEOG 101
Introduction To Geography
Broad introduction to the field of geography within the context of globalization. Topics include the relationship between humans and their environment, the role of culture in landscape change, economic development, geopolitics, and urban systems.Course | T GIS 502
Introduction to Geospatial Technology
Provides an introduction and overview of the role that geospatial technologies play in contemporary urban and environmental planning scenarios. Focuses on the applications and techniques that are core elements of the graduate program in Geospatial Technologies.Course | T UDE 210
Introduction To Urban Design History And Theory
Provides an historical overview of urban design practice and its political economy, allowing students to learn about the intellectual trajectory of the discipline, both within and outside the structures of power.Course | T URB 220
Introduction to Urban Planning
Introduction to the planning process. Presents and discusses the major planning sub-fields. Topics include housing, transportation, recreation, environmental planning, and preservation planning. Examines techniques associated with growth controls and land use management. Introductory course for students with planning emphasis.Course | T URB 200/350
Introduction to Urban Research
Introduction to research methods pertinent to the study of urban issues, society and culture. Emphasizes the logic of the scientific method, understanding the interrelated stages of the research process, understanding and critiquing quantitative and qualitative research literature, and learning strategies for gathering and analyzing data.Scholar
J. Mark Pendras
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James Harrington
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Janine Jones
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Jeff Hou
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Jennifer Atkinson
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Jessi Quizar
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Jim Thatcher
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Joe Lott
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John Vallier
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Join Urban@UW in creating innovative solutions for city dwellers, today and into the future.
Support Urban@UW Urban@UW extends the understanding of cities—from people, buildings, infrastructure, and energy to economics, policy, culture, art, and nature—beyond individual topics to dynamically interdependent systems, so that we can holistically design and steward vibrant and welcoming cities in which future generations will thrive. Urban@UW works with scholars, policymakers, and community stakeholders to develop cross-disciplinary…
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Julie Angeley
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Karen Fisher
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Karina Walters
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Katie Headrick Taylor
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Kelly Edwards
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Ken-Yu Lin
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Kevin Haggerty
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King County hoping to close heat disparity gap in low-income areas
Earlier this year, King County announced it is developing a heat strategy plan to better handle extreme heat waves. But data shows certain neighborhoods — particularly lower income areas — tend to get much hotter. Those behind the heat strategy say they’re hoping to close that heat disparity gap. The hottest areas are in south…
News | January 23, 2020
Land banking in the heart of Tacoma
There is a city block in the heart of Tacoma some people believe is not being put to its best use, stifling economic growth and blunting vitality. Four buildings and three parking lots now occupy 11 parcels along Tacoma Avenue, not far from the City-County Building. Six of the parcels have been tied up since 2005,…
Course | T URB 322
Land Use Planning
Examines the land use planning process at the local level with a focus on the contemporary United States. Review of theories of land use change, arguments for and against planning intervention, and the role of the land use planner in the local land development arena.Scholar
Larry Knopp
Visit scholar websiteCourse | T LAX 356
Latinx Urban Communities
Introduces Latinx urbanism, an interdisciplinary area of inquiry seeking to understand the impact of Latinx people on U.S. cities and metropolitan areas. Drawing from urban studies, cultural studies, rhetorical studies, and cultural geography, examines historical and contemporary issues affecting Latinx populations, as well the ways Latinx people are at the center of urban life in the U.S.News | April 26, 2024
Leave the imported shrimp, take the local bivalves: sustainable seafood choices
Reported by Kim Malcolm and John O’Brien for KUOW, a NPR news station. Seafood and the Pacific Northwest go hand in hand. Maybe you’re one of those people out fishing, clamming, and crabbing during the season. But if you’re more of a shopper, your options aren’t all local and sustainable. Jessica Gephart is an assistant professor…
Course | TCMP 571
Legal Urbanism
Explores the relationship between law and the city, examining how "law" situates cities and urban residents in the US and shapes behaviors and environments in cities. Considers how legal structures enable or inhibit urban social justice and how they might be used to advance socially just and sustainable urban conditions.Scholar
Lillian J. Ratliff
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Lisa Hoffman
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Livable City Year releases RFP, invites cities to partner for 2017-8 academic year
The University of Washington’s Livable City Year initiative is now accepting proposals from cities, counties, special districts and regional partnerships to partner with during the 2017-2018 academic year. UW Livable City Year (UW LCY) connects University of Washington faculty and students with a municipal partner for a full academic year to work on projects fostering…
News | August 25, 2020
Livable City Year research leads to publication on university–community partnerships
Anne Taufen, associate professor of Urban Studies at UW Tacoma, and Anneka Olson, graduate of UW Tacoma’s Community Planning MA program, recently published an article examining the Livable City Year program, a university-community partnership at the University of Washington. This work was partially supported through Urban@UW. “Especially in this time of polarization, with problems like…
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Lizabeth (Betsy) Wilson
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Looking inward for pollution In his latest research, Dr. Dan Jaffe looks to the kitchen as a source for indoor pollution in the home.
Excerpted from the University of Washington- Bothell website. For more than 30 years, Dr. Dan Jaffe has spent his career researching outdoor air pollution and its many sources — from wildfires to fossil fuels. In recent years, however, his curiosity has shifted inward as he looks to answer the question: “How clean is our indoor…
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Luther Adams
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Making cities more equitable: Meet Davon Woodard
It’s fair to say Davon Woodard is downright passionate about urban spaces—particularly making them more equitable and livable for the diverse communities that inhabit them. “Everyone has a right to a home (city) which is reflective of and respectful of their lived experiences,” he wrote. “My work is guided by that principle.” Davon is an…
Scholar
Manka Varghese
Visit scholar websiteCourse | T GIS 311
Maps and GIS
Introduction to map interpretation and basic spatial analysis through the use of geographic information systems (GIS). Emphasizes developing, through hands-on experience, a fundamental understanding of GIS and the technical expertise necessary for applying GIS in a variety of scenarios such as environmental science, urban planning, nursing, social work, and business.Scholar
Marge Plecki
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Marieka M. Klawitter
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Mary D. Fan
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Matthew Kelley
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Medieval Technology
Examines the nuts and bolts of medieval technology and urban life while exploring larger themes of the gendering of labor, the rebirth of cities, the uneasy relationship to Islamic civilization, and the destruction of the natural world.Scholar
Meredith I. Honig
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Michael Knapp
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Michelle Garner
Visit scholar websiteCourse | TCXG 379
Modern Architecture
Examines twentieth-century architecture and its origins. Focuses on issues concerning style, technology, urbanism, regionalism, function, and reform to address the diverse forces that have shaped modern architecture.News | July 2, 2020
Monsanto will pay $95 million in PCB settlement with Washington state
The state of Washington will receive tens of millions of dollars in a settlement against Monsanto over its manufacture of toxic chemicals that were deposited decades ago in Washington soil and water and continue to wreak environmental damage today. State Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office in 2016 sued the company over its production of polychlorinated…
News | January 31, 2016
Monthly Wrap up January 2016
It’s been a great start to 2016. UW Alumni association and History Department put together a woderful history lecture series: Excavating Seattle’s histories: Peoples, politics, and place check out details and videos here> The CBE also hosted a number of great speakers and events including SUSTAINING JAPAN: 3.11 FIVE YEARS ON lecture and panel discussion…
News | July 19, 2024
More Than 1 Trillion Microbes Live Inside the Average Tree Trunk
Reported by Erik Stokstad for Science The wood inside the average tree might seem barren, but it’s home to an incredibly diverse array of life. More than 1 trillion fungi, bacteria, and other microbes live inside the average trunk, according to the most comprehensive survey yet conducted, comprising unique communities specialized to various tree species….
News | March 29, 2024
Muslims observing Ramadan at Tacoma ICE center aren’t receiving timely meals, immigration advocates say
Originally published by KUOW Written by Diana Opong The month of Ramadan is a time of holy celebration, but some Muslim people held at the privately run Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma say they aren’t being given clean clothes daily, nor timely meals before and after fasting. Naeem, a 52-year-old man being held at…
News | June 4, 2018
Mussels In Waters Off Seattle Test Positive For Opioids
Mussels from three of 18 locations near Seattle and Bremerton in Washington’s Puget Sound tested positive for the opioid oxycodone, according to the Puget Sound Institute at the University of Washington Tacoma. The mussels were contaminated because sewage from opioid consumers ended up in the sound after being treated at wastewater plants, scientists explained. “What we eat and…
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Nancy Beadie
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Need anti-withdrawal meds? In King County, call this 24/7 hotline
Reported by Eilis O’Neil for KUOW and NPR News People addicted to opioids in King County can call a new hotline and get a prescription right away for a drug that can help. Buprenorphine reduces symptoms of withdrawal and can help people stay off fentanyl and other opioids. Buprenorphine “does cut overdose risk by 50%,…
News | March 15, 2024
Neighborhood Poverty May Impact Women’s Ovarian Reserves
Reported by Lori Solomon at Health Day News FRIDAY, March 15, 2024 — Living in a neighborhood with greater poverty in adulthood is tied to lower ovarian reserve, according to a study published online March 5 in Menopause. Anwesha Pan, from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues aimed to examine the association between…
News | February 1, 2024
New nonpartisan AI nonprofit TrueMedia, led by Oren Etzioni, is making a political deepfake detector
Published in GeekWire By Todd Bishop A new nonprofit, nonpartisan technology organization called TrueMedia is developing an AI-powered tool to detect deepfake videos, photos, and audio, aiming to combat political disinformation in the leadup to the 2024 elections. Founded and led by Oren Etzioni, University of Washington professor and former CEO of the Allen Institute…
News | February 12, 2016
New! Urban Map Gallery
We’ve created a new urban map gallery to explore how other people and organizations are studying and visualizing data. The gallery features seven cities facing different social, economic, and geographic issues. This curation is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather provide insight and inspiration. Maps included track everything from sound to subway…
News | March 29, 2024
Office-to-residential conversion is a trendy idea for downtown resurgence — but has big challenges
Originally published in Geekwire Written by Chuck Wolfe, longtime affiliate associate professor in College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. Office-to-residential conversions are frequent fodder in discussions of the post-pandemic city, downtown regeneration, and hopes to contain rising housing costs. Remote work is here to stay, especially in hybrid form in the tech-centric…
News | July 16, 2020
Opportunities to engage UW faculty and students to address COVID-19
In recognition of the intense needs of local governments around COVID-19 response and recovery, the LCY program has compiled a list of existing UW courses whose faculty and students are seeking to assist local communities in COVID-related projects. Most projects can start in Autumn 2020 — some as early as Summer 2020. The list of…
Course | T URB 430
Pacific Rim Cities
Examines links between urbanization and globalization on the Pacific Rim and connections between events and social/economic processes in places that seem distinct (e.g., China, Canada, Mexico, Philippines). Case studies and discussion topics include questions of class formation, political change, migration patterns, and gender/family dynamics.News | August 20, 2024
Permeable pavement could help cities be more resilient to flooding
Reported by Stéphane Blais for La Presse Canadienne and the Toronto Sun. Pilot projects are being developed across Quebec to make parking lots, bike paths or portions of streets more resilient to climate change. To make cities more resilient to flooding caused by climate change, researchers are developing more permeable pavements to allow water to…
Scholar
Pierpaolo Mudu
Visit scholar websiteCourse | T URB 479
Planning and Development in the Puget Sound Region
Examines the problems and prospects associated with rapid growth in the Seattle-Tacoma urban region. Includes site visits and discussions with public officials, planners and developers. Topics/sites vary and include such issues as growth management, sprawl, transportation, sustainable development, land use, and environmental protection.Course | TCMP 572
Planning For Equity
Provides an overview of the equity planning tradition in urban affairs and community planning. Introduces participatory process, democratic deliberation, and inclusive management. Emphasizes planning skills for recognizing, empowering, and resourcing groups and individuals with historical, economic, and operational disadvantages in processes of urban development and decision-making.Course | T URB 450
Planning for Sustainability
Examines the growing impact of global sustainability on local spatial planning systems, especially in the US, UK, Europe and South Africa. Specific topics include the philosophies, theories, goals, techniques, and institutional politics of sustainability planning.Course | TCMP 521
Planning Theory And Practice
Explores how community planners and other actors engage theories of planning procedures and preferred urban forms to guide urban development and social change. Considers how leading scholars in the field have theorized the potential and challenges of planning.Course | TSMG 440
Political Geography: Territory, State and Society
Introduction to political geography from the perspective of political economy and the politics of difference. Discusses both critical approaches to human geography and geographical interpretations of the state. Emphasizes spatial dimensions of capitalist development as mediated by urban, national and global politics.Course | T GEOG 440
Political Geography: Territory, State And Society
Introduction to political geography from the perspective of political economy and the politics of difference. Discusses both critical approaches to human geography and geographical interpretations of the state. Emphasizes spatial dimensions of capitalist development as mediated by urban, national and global politics.Course | TCMP 573
Power And Decentralization
Presents theoretical frameworks for analyzing political power in collaborative networks. Introduces analytic methods for understanding and anticipating how power operated in decentralized governance, including the ways in which community groups and urban stakeholders can identify key coalitions, political frames, and entry points in processes of urban development and resource allocation.News | May 4, 2016
Quick Recap: A Busy April!
April saw a lot of wonderful developments here at the University of Washington, here’s a quick recap: Our first Office Hours interview with John Vidale (more coming of these soon!) UW researchers continued to explore the effects of a $15/hr minimum wage. PBS premiered their 10 Parks that Changed America program featuring our own Thaisa…
Course | T SOC 265
Race and Ethnicity in the United States
Introduces issues of race and ethnicity in the United States, particularly the social construction of race, and its effects on policies throughout history. Examines social movements (from the mid-1800s - present) and explores how ideas of racial justice and equality are articulated in relation to economic, political, and cultural contexts.Course | T URB 312
Race and Poverty in Urban America
Examines current research, policy, and debate surrounding race and poverty in urban America. Includes affirmative action, the changing family, cultural identity, the inner-city crisis, interracial relationships, residential segregation, and the working and non-working poor.Scholar
Rachel Endo
Visit scholar websiteNews | February 19, 2016
Reading List for Dr. Mario Small’s Visit 2/25
In anticipation of next week’s lecture with Harvard’s Dr. Mario Luis Small we thought you might enjoy a few readings to get a feel for what exactly he is all about. No Two Ghettos Are Alike – This short piece by Dr. Small shares it’s name with Thursday’s lecture, and explores some of the complex…
News | December 20, 2016
Reflections on Urban Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Change
On November 7th and 8th Urban@UW, in collaboration with the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group (CIG), hosted a symposium to begin transdisciplinary conversation on the multifaceted dynamics and consequences of Urban Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Change (UEJ). Below are some reflections from this event, and a sample of the resources we’ll…
News | September 16, 2024
Register Today for Urban@UW’s presentation at Climate Week NYC
Urban@UW is heading to the big apple for Climate Week NYC, the largest international conference of business leaders, political change makers, scientists, and civil society representatives working for climate action. Rachel Berney, Faculty Director, and Kate Landis, Program Manager, will present “Call Me, Maybe? University-Community Partnerships for a Greener Tomorrow” on Monday, 9/23, from 5-7PM….
Scholar
Rubén Casas
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Sally Clark
Visit scholar websiteNews | April 8, 2024
Seattle Civic Poet Shin Yu Pai launches new public poetry project on April 1
Originally reported in Northwest Asian Weekly by Kai Curry. National Poetry Month takes place every year in April. Its purpose is to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry nationwide. This year, Seattle residents will have the privilege and pleasure of discovering, installed throughout various parts of the city, poems by local poets on topics of…
News | April 26, 2024
Seattle’s troubled past and present suggest a new approach to mental health
Written by Will James, Sydney Brownstone, and Esme Jimenez as part of the series “Lost Patients” for KUOW, an NPR Station. Edward Moore, a 32-year-old sailor, was discovered, near freezing and living in a tattered tent on the shore near current day Seattle in 1854. At the time, Washington was still a territory and Seattle…
Scholar
Seung-Jin Lee
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Sharon E. Sutton
Visit scholar websiteNews | February 1, 2024
Should social media pay for addicting kids? Seattle schools lawsuit gains steam
Reported by KUOW Written by Sami West A year into Seattle Public Schools’ lawsuit against social media companies, the case is gaining traction. More than 50 school districts in Washington state — and dozens more across the country — have joined Seattle’s lawsuit. Seattle became the first district to sue social media platforms last January,…
Course | T SOC 335
Social Class And Inequality
Examines the problem of persistent urban poverty in the United States. Explores the differential risk of poverty experienced by racial and ethnic groups and by women and children in the context of the major theories of class stratification. Also discusses the factors that lead to extreme-poverty neighborhoods, how these environments affect the life chances of residents, survival strategies of the poor, and public policy implications.Course | T SUD 425
Social Justice and Urban Sustainability
Examines sustainable urban development from a social justice perspective. Draws from key theories and practices to explore how and why to incorporate social justice into sustainable urban development politics and policies and the challenges facing such efforts.News | January 8, 2021
Spanaway tops list of toughest places in the U.S. to buy a home
When Eric Seiler started looking to buy a house near Spanaway at the height of this year’s coronavirus lockdowns, he thought he might find a buyers’ market. Instead, Seiler and his fiancée started on a home search that involved making at least 15 offers on homes, only to be beat out by other buyers. “There…
News | July 16, 2024
SPARK Grant Recipients Win Big with a Social Justice Jacket
Reported by Kate Landis for Urban@UW What if a denim jacket could tell the stories of people impacted by housing inequality across the country? Resistive Threads, a project that was awarded a Urban@UW SPARK grant in 2023, was recently awarded a Honorable Mention at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) conference,…
News | November 16, 2021
Spark Grants foster research on community-centered environmental infrastructure, supporting collaborations amidst pandemic
Over the past year, two teams of researchers from the University of Washington tackled a host of urban challenges in our region with the support of Urban@UW’s Research Spark Grants. In August 2020 grants of up to $20,000 were awarded to amplify collaborative research-to-practice with a focus on today’s urban issues. Two UW teams of…
Course | T URB 225
Statistics for Urban Analysis
Introduces basic methods of both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis, and applies them to topics common to the field of urban planning and community development. Develops a critical perspective on how such methods relate to public discourse and urban policy-making.Scholar
Stephen Page
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Steve Muench
Visit scholar websiteNews | June 26, 2015
Strong Communities Successful Kids by Kevin Haggerty
Presented at the June 1st Urban@UW Launch
News | February 16, 2024
Student Housing Has a New Mantra: Bigger Is Better
Written by Kevin Williams for The New York Times Off-campus complexes are getting larger, with some being home to more than 1,500 students, and being built on prime parcels of land as close to campus as possible. When the Standard, an off-campus student housing complex, opened in the fall in Bloomington, Ind., welcoming its first…
Course | T URB 380
Study Abroad: Comparative International Perspectives on Cities and the Environment
Interdisciplinary approach to integrating urban and environmental issues in two or more world cities. Topics may include coastal development, transportation, parks, marine conservation, indigenous cultures, environmental planning, gentrification, urban governance, and watershed management.Degree Program
Sustainable Urban Development (BA)
Accomplishing sustainable urban development is a crucial challenge for the twenty-first century. The University of Washington Tacoma is at the forefront of engaging and educating undergraduate students on this topic. The Sustainable Urban Development degree provides students with a critical and rigorous training in ecological, political, economic, and social aspects of urban development processes.
Visit program websiteCourse | T URB 323
Sustainable Urban Development Policies
Examines how public policy mechanisms are used to support and accomplish sustainability through the interweaving of social equity, economic prosperity, and environmental protection. Encourages the development of both critical and constructive perspectives on policies of sustainability.News | February 20, 2021
Systemic racism affects wildlife, too: A Q&A with an urban ecologist
What makes the country mouse different from the city mouse? Christopher Schell is a wildlife ecologist who has been curious about this dynamic his entire career. Though he specializes in coyotes instead of mice, the question remains the same. Schell, an assistant professor at the University of Washington Tacoma, is also part of a growing…
News | August 17, 2020
Systemic racism has consequences for all life in cities
Social inequalities, specifically racism and classism, are impacting the biodiversity, evolutionary shifts, and ecological health of plants and animals in our cities. That’s the main finding of a review paper led by the University of Washington, with co-authors at the University of California, Berkeley, and University of Michigan, which examined more than 170 published studies and analyzed…
News | July 27, 2021
Tacoma has been singing about itself from the start. Here’s why Grit City music matters
With some 20,000 people in the newly opened stands of Tacoma’s Stadium Bowl, the city’s elementary students broke into song — and a number specifically written for the occasion. The chorus was prideful and catchy — at least by 1910 standards — describing the City of Destiny as “Tacoma, The Rose of the West,” which…
Scholar
Tadayoshi Kohno
Visit scholar websiteCourse | T URB 360
The African American Urban Experience
Places African Americans at the center of the American urban condition from the colonial era to the 21st century. Interdisciplinary study of U.S. urban history, contemporary social, cultural and policy research and comparative perspectives on race and ethnicity to illuminate the growth and evolution of African American urban communities.Course | T URB 440
The City and Nature
Examines connections between urban and environmental conditions by investigating the social and material production of urban nature. Challenges conceptual barriers between nature and the city that have evolved over time and considers new strategies for achieving both environmental sustainability and social justice in the city.Course | T SUD 240
The City and Nature
Examines connections between urban and environmental conditions by investigating the social and material production of urban nature. Challenges conceptual barriers between nature and the city that have evolved over time and considers new strategies for achieving both environmental sustainability and social justice in the city.News | May 21, 2020
The coronavirus is hitting Pierce County’s communities of color hard, health data shows
People of color are being hit hard by the coronavirus in Pierce County. New data from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department show native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, Hispanics and blacks are suffering from COVID-19 at rates far above their percentages of the county population. “We are very concerned about the significant disparities we are…
News | February 27, 2020
The Debate Over Single Family Housing
Nearly a century into the story of single-family zoning, feelings and ideas around it are starting to shift. The City of Minneapolis and the State of Oregon both recently passed laws that loosen single-family regulations. California has proposed similar measures: some have failed (such as one encouraging denser development near transit), others have succeeded (such…
Course | T URB 321
The History of Planning Theory and Practice
An examination of planning theory and practice with an emphasis on twentieth-century theorists and advocates. Examines the impacts of planning theories and movements on planning practice and urban form in Europe and America.Course | T URB 301
The Urban Condition
An overview of the city as a place of residence, commerce, and industry. Consideration is given to urban form and function. Social, economic, and political factors affecting urban life and development are discussed. Issues related to social justice and equity are emphasized.News | July 18, 2017
There’s a map for that
If you own a cell phone or a mobile device you’re likely creating data that could be mapped. “When you add a Yelp review or geotag a tweet you’re actually volunteering geographic information, you are mapping,” said UW Tacoma Assistant Professor Britta Ricker. Most of us use maps to determine our location, to find out…
Course | TCSIIN 342
Third-World Cities
Studies growth of selected Third World cities and the spatial, ethnic and class divisions within them. Introduces their historical legacy, previous ties to colonial rules, and pressures to remain centers of capitalist production. Examines urban "bias" and subsequent concentration of economic, political, and cultural power in terms of political and survival struggles.News | October 29, 2024
This Atlanta neighborhood hired a case manager to address rising homelessness − and it’s improving health and safety for everyone
Reported by Ishita Chordia, Ph.D. Candidate in Information Science, University of Washington Homelessness has surged across the United States in recent years, rising 19% from 2016 though 2023. The main cause is a severe shortage of affordable housing. Rising homelessness has renewed debates about use of public space and how encampments affect public safety. The…
Scholar
Thomas Diehm
Visit scholar websiteNews | December 8, 2020
Tire dust killing coho salmon returning to Puget Sound, new research shows
First they circle. Then they gasp at the surface of the water. Soon they can’t swim. Then they die. For decades now, scientists have known something was killing beautiful, adult coho salmon as soon as they hit Seattle’s urban waters, ready to spawn. They had escaped the orcas, the fishermen, traveled thousands of miles, only…
News | March 19, 2024
To report or not report ‘suspicious people’ near campus
Originally reported in The Daily by Shira Sur It took three encounters with a person threatening bypassers near the West Campus dorms for first-year student Hannah Whitemarsh to call 911. Whitemarsh’s call to UWPD, which was made in mid-October of 2023, was transferred to the Seattle Police Department (SPD). After she was asked whether the…
News | March 31, 2016
Towards a Speculative Politics for African Cities with Edgar Pieterse – 4/12
Join us April 12 at Kane Hall (Room 120) for Visiting Scholar Edgar Pieterse, Please Register for this Public Event Towards a Speculative Politics for African Cities The available frames to understand and reimagine contemporary urban politics in the African context come down two divergent pathways: 1) build the institutional infrastructure to enact the deliberative…
News | February 16, 2024
Transit workers fight drugs on buses and trains
Written by Joseph Gallivan for Axios Oregon Transit companies are pushing to make it a Class A misdemeanor to use drugs on buses and trains in Oregon. TriMet, the Oregon Transit Association, and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 testified yesterday to support amending Senate Bill 1553. The amendment would add the use of illicit drugs…
News | March 1, 2018
Tri-campus survey aims to identify student struggles with housing, food costs
In a region as expensive as the Puget Sound, making ends meet affects college students, too. Rent, utilities and food can run into the hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a month – and for students without the means, it’s a daunting and sometimes compromising challenge. Urban@UW is trying to learn more about the situations…
Course | T URB 432
Understanding Metropolitan Regions
Explores patterns and policy problems associated with managing large U.S. metropolitan regions, especially shifting city-suburb relationships and major development challenges. Includes discussion of demographic change, socioeconomic trends, public policies, and political programs link cities and suburbs at multiple scales of governance.News | March 13, 2024
University of Washington study finds cities must prioritize youth mental health
Excerpted from KOIN/Channel Six in Portland Written by Michaela Bourgeois Researchers at the University of Washington conducted an international survey that found cities need to focus on youth mental health as younger generations flock to urban areas. Starting in April 2020, researchers worked with the nonprofit citiesRISE to survey over 500 people in 53 countries…
Course | T URB 324
Urban And Regional Economics
Uses economic frameworks to introduce the determinants of regional economic growth or decline, location of economic activities within urban areas, operation of urban labor markets, and implications of income inequality on urban form and urban growth. Students gain familiarity with major sources of subnational economic and demographic data.News | June 2, 2020
Urban carnivores appear to be more nocturnal as region slows due to coronavirus
The slowdown of daily life under stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus has many of us feeling more connected to nature. We hear more birdsong in the mornings. The air seems cleaner. Perhaps we’re seeing more wildlife in the parks as we take walks in our neighborhoods. But the change of pace hasn’t necessarily benefitted…
Course | T URB 201 / 401
Urban Change and Development
Examines relationships that shape the development of cities under conditions of globalization. Overview of key terms and concepts, examples of changing urban social and economic conditions, and analysis of connections among global processes, urban experiences, and the production of urban space in the United States.News | December 12, 2018
Urban Ecologist/Superhero
UW Tacoma Assistant Professor Christopher Schell is a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as evidenced by the Black Panther coffee cup and Black Panther bobble head on his desk. Schell is a scientist, not a superhero; but if he were to assume a secret identity he might be dubbed, “Coyote.” Schell is an urban…
Course | T URB 445 / T SUD 445
Urban Ecology
Multidisciplinary approach to the study of dynamic interactions among human and ecological systems in urban settings. Covers processes of urbanization and urbanization's impacts on the earth's ecology. Specific themes include how socioeconomic factors and human preferences drive urban patterns and how these patterns affect ecological processes and cause ecological change.Course | T SUD 445
Urban Ecology
Multidisciplinary approach to the study of dynamic interactions among human and ecological systems in urban settings. Covers processes of urbanization and urbanization's impacts on the earth's ecology. Specific themes include how socioeconomic factors and human preferences drive urban patterns and how these patterns affect ecological processes and cause ecological change.News | January 25, 2020
Urban Ecology and Social Justice
Christopher Schell will tell you he’s a black nerd. He’ll tell you he was up at 3 a.m. the night before a conference because his infant son would not sleep. He’ll tell you the students who work in his lab at the University of Washington, Tacoma are paid rather than expected to volunteer. He’ll tell…
Course | T URB 379
Urban Field Experience
Urban field course based in a metropolitan area. Examines urban problems, issues, and developments through site visits, presentations by local experts, and student research and reports.Course | T GEOG 321
Urban Geography
Examines the spatial organization of cities in relation to the economic, social, cultural, and political forces that shape them. Includes such topics as the evolution of cities, perceptions of urban space, gentrification, race and housing, homelessness, social exclusion, urban redevelopment, suburbanization, and planning. Emphasizes U.S. cities.Course | T URB 345
Urban Governance
Examines the structure and workings of urban government and non-governmental agencies and organizations. Considers the responsibilities and challenges of governmental and non-governmental organizations along with their impact on the physical and social development of the city.Course | T URB 460
Urban Issues in the Developing World
Examines challenges associated with urban development and societal change in developing countries. Examines topics such as mega cities, squatter housing, and informal labor. Adopts a geographical perspective and focuses on local governance issues.Course | TSMUS 417
Urban Problems and Policies
Develops and applies economic analyses to an understanding of the dynamics and underlying structure of urban economies and urban problems. Draws examples from the local economy and local problems.Course | TECON 418
Urban Problems and Policies
Develops and applies economic analyses to an understanding of the dynamics and underlying structure of urban economies and urban problems. Draws examples from the local economy and local problems.News | November 22, 2022
Urban Scholar Highlight: Rubén Casas
This is the first in a series of interviews from Urban@UW highlighting the research of urban scholars at the University of Washington. Earlier this month, Urban@UW spoke to Rubén Casas, Assistant Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Urban Studies at the University of Washington…
News | August 28, 2017
Urban Scholar Highlight: Scott Allard
Scott W. Allard is a Professor of Public Affairs at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Allard is also on the executive committee of the West Coast Poverty Center and Urban@UW, and an affiliate of the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology. We sat down with him to discuss his work at…
Course | T URB 340
Urban Social Change
Examines issues that directly affect the strength and vulnerabilities of urban communities and organizations and institution within those communities. Uses case studies to consider how creative participatory approaches can and do influence change.Course | T URB 210
Urban Society and Culture
An examination of the social structures of cities. Discusses issues related to class, race, ethnicity, and gender. Considers the impact of societal differences on urban form, residential patterns, and labor markets.News | February 22, 2022
Urban stormwater presents pollution challenge
Wastewater and industrial effluent generally come from specific locations. But runoff, which is primarily carried by stormwater, is what environmental engineers call nonpoint source pollution—in other words, it flows in from all over the place. “It’s pollution coming from a whole bunch of small sources that individually create maybe a larger-than-expected issue because none of…
Degree Program
Urban Studies (Cert, BA, MA, MS)
The Urban Studies Program offers a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies with formal options in Global Urbanism and Community Development & Planning. The degree starts with an introduction into the discipline of urban studies with course topics on exploring cities, world development, and urban studies “in practice”. The formal options deliver focused theory and…
Visit program websiteCourse | T URB 492
Urban Studies Seminar
Interdisciplinary approach to the study of urban issues and problems. Designed for an in-depth analysis of selected issues. Focuses on one aspect of the city (e.g., gentrification, housing, segregation, sprawl).Course | T URB 325
Urban Transportation: Problems and Prospects
Provides an overview of urban transportation, it challenges and prospects. Examines historical and contemporary issues such as the relationship of mobility to the urban form, environmental concerns, climate change impacts, and the challenges of sustainable urban transportation.News | April 3, 2024
Urban@UW announces second cycle of Research to Action Collaboratory projects
Urban@UW is excited to announce the project teams selected for the second Research to Action Collaboratory (RAC) cohort. Throughout the next 18 months, Urban@UW will work with these teams to provide seed funds, dedicate time to building team cohesion and collaboration skills, and foster opportunities for peer support, shared resources, and learning. These two project…
News | March 1, 2022
Urban@UW anti-displacement workshop generates connections, ideas, and opportunities for further partnership.
On January 25th and 26th, Urban@UW hosted a virtual workshop that brought together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and community partners to elevate key perspectives and facilitate cross-boundary discussions and action around the capacity for people to stay in place and stay in the community in the face of displacement. The workshop built on discussions initiated by…
News | June 9, 2022
Urban@UW brings together scholars, authors and artists for a roundtable conversation on environmental justice
On May 16th, 2022, Urban@UW’s Urban Environmental Justice (UEJ) Initative hosted a virtual roundtable entitled, “Place and Politics in the Pursuit of Environmental Justice”, examining the ways a changing climate and extreme weather events are giving shape to local places, communities, and politics. With a recognition that today’s urban challenges are embedded with critical inequities…
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.
News | November 26, 2024
Urban@UW is working toward a future where cities are hubs of innovation, inclusivity, & sustainability.
Research-to-Action Teams 2023-2024 In April of 2023 the teams selected for the inaugural cohort of the Research to Action Collaboratory (RAC) were announced. These groups combine the research capabilities of University of Washington scholars with frontline leaders embedded in their communities and government officials who can codify change. The Research-to-Action Collaboratory provides the teams with…
News | September 5, 2024
Urban@UW Presenting at New York Climate Week
Urban@UW Director Rachel Berney and Program Manager Kate Landis will present on the Research-to Action Collaboratory later this month at New York Climate Week, as part of the New York Climate Exchange. “We are thrilled to be one of the very few university centers invited to participate in New York Climate Week. This well- publicized…
News | October 2, 2024
Urban@UW Presents at Climate Week NYC
Last week Urban@UW’s Director Rachel Berney and Program Manager Kate Landis presented on the Research to Action Collaboratory at Climate Week NYC, as a guest of the New York Climate Exchange. Leaders from all sectors met on Governors Island, just south of Manhattan, to discuss climate adaptations, potential partnerships, and new technology in carbon reduction….
News | August 18, 2020
Urban@UW Research Spark Grants awardees announced
Urban@UW is excited to announce the awardees for our Research Spark Grants program. The two proposals selected address urgent urban challenges in our region, with a strong focus on community engagement and vulnerable populations. Co-creating an Adaptive Community-Science Network: Supporting Tribal and Grassroots Action through the Puget Creek Watershed Assessment Urban communities in the…
News | April 19, 2022
Urban@UW to host roundtable on place and politics in the pursuit of environmental justice
Urban@UW’s Urban Environmental Justice Initiative is hosting a virtual roundtable examining the ways a changing climate and extreme weather events are giving shape to local places, communities, and politics. Moderated by the UEJ Initiative Faculty Lead, Rubén Casas, participants include Kenneth Walker, author of Climate Politics on the Border: Environmental Justice Rhetorics (2022) and Nik Janos, co-editor of Urban Cascadia and the Pursuit of…
News | November 26, 2024
Urban@UW unites research, community insight, and policy to drive innovation for resilient and equitable cities.
Inclusive Data-Driven Innovation for the Future of Cities Urban@UW extends the understanding of cities—from people, buildings, infrastructure, and energy to economics, policy, culture, art, and nature—beyond individual topics to dynamically interdependent systems, so that we can holistically design and steward vibrant and welcoming cities in which future generations will thrive. In partnership with the College…
News | November 1, 2024
Urban@UW’s Research to Action Teams Gather for a Fall Workshop
What do Microforests, the historic University of Tacoma campus, refugee resettlement, greenwater recycling, everything bagels and tasty Thai food have in common? They all played a part in October’s Research to Action teams retreat, led by Urban@UW. Urban@UW brings together multidisciplinary academics and embedded community leaders to solve complex urban challenges through the Research to…
News | November 26, 2024
Urban@UW’s Research to Action Collaboratory provides funding, facilitation, & tools to empower cross-disciplinary teams to solve urban problems
About the RAC The Research to Action Collaboratory serves as a catalyst for research teams, building their transformational collaborative capacity to address today’s most pressing urban challenges. The RAC combines financial support, thought partnership, and skill-building to increase the capacity of scholars, community stakeholders, and the UW for impactful, collaborative research. Today’s most pressing problems—from…
News | June 26, 2015
Urbanity and Indigeneity with respect to Education by Megan Bang
Presented at the June 1st Urban@UW Launch
News | October 27, 2015
UW initiative aims to tackle city, region’s most pressing urban issues
When Thaisa Way put a call out last spring to see if University of Washington faculty members working on urban issues wanted to join forces, she wasn’t sure what the response would be. “There were a lot of people who said, ‘You’re not going to get anyone to show up,‘” said Way, a UW associate…
News | September 14, 2015
UW Partners with Seattle for Smart Cities Initiative
UW Today is reporting that, as part of a new White House Smart Cities Initiative called The MetroLab Network, the University of Washington has partnered with the City of Seattle in joining “a new national network of university-city partnerships that will work on ‘smart city’ solutions.” “Great universities can’t succeed without great cities,” said UW…
News | September 1, 2020
UW researchers explore how urbanization changes Earth’s ecosystems in new paper
UW researchers Marina Alberti, Urban Design & Planning; Simone Des Roches, Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences; and Christopher Schell, Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at UW Tacoma have published a new report titled “The Complexity of Urban Eco-evolutionary Dynamics”, examining how urbanization affects ecological and evolutionary processes over time, and how these changes affect nature’s contribution to people….
News | October 1, 2015
UW School of Social Work taps technology to help curb suicide and improve child welfare
Edwina “Eddie” Uehara, a University of Washington professor and Ballmer Endowed Dean in Social Work, is eager to facilitate cultural exchanges. Not exchanges of people from different countries or ethnicities, but from disciplines that can be worlds apart: computer technology and social work. “It really is this moment,” said Uehara, “when all of us are…
News | May 13, 2019
UW students face food, housing insecurity, survey shows
Preliminary data from a survey of food and housing insecurity at the University of Washington’s three campuses shows that an estimated 190 students may lack a stable place to live, and about one-quarter of students have worried recently about having enough to eat. Results of the online survey, conducted by UW faculty in 2018, are…
News | February 15, 2018
UW, Seattle & King county join forces for new academic health department
The University of Washington Schools of Public Health and of Nursing have formalized an alliance with Public Health – Seattle & King County that seeks to encourage collaboration and resource sharing through a new academic health department. The three-year partnership will provide a foundation for increased training and other opportunities for students, faculty, researchers and…
News | March 15, 2024
UW’s College of Built Environments Professor Faces an Electrifying Challenge
Reported by Jen Moss for the University of Washington’ College of Built Environments King County Metro (Metro), which serves a daily average of over 250,000 riders across more than 203 square miles of the county, has an emissions challenge. Their zero-carbon emissions target, set by the King County Council, must be met by 2035. This…
Scholar
Victoria Lawson
Visit scholar websiteNews | October 7, 2024
WA Gen Z voters excited, but turnout still a toss-up
Reported by Paris Jackson for Cascade/PBS There’s a surge in interest among young voters, those considered Generation Z, this election cycle. They’re outspoken, savvy and civically engaged. Gen Z’ers are those born between 1997 and 2012, according to Pew Research. They’re touted as the generation that grew up with the internet as an integral part…
News | November 9, 2021
WA’s frontline communities face the brunt of climate change
Urban@UW colleague Rubén Casas shares his perspective on challenges and opportunities for mobilizing vulnerable communities in the face of climate change in this op-ed written for Crosscut. — In my last column, I called for a centralized, coordinated solutions center to help us meet the challenges of climate change — a kind of “help desk” for…
News | September 11, 2019
Wartime history found in secret compartment on Beacon Hill
A Beacon Hill couple recently discovered a secret compartment in the basement ceiling of their 1920s house. Hidden inside the compartment was an intriguing collection of World War II and early-Cold War documents that reveal the activities of the Seattle chapter of a mostly-forgotten national organization, as well some other more provocative political activities from…
News | May 7, 2021
What can our cities do for us? Columnist Rubén Casas has ideas
Originally written by Rubén Casas, Assistant Professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of Washington Tacoma, for Crosscut. Of the many insightful things Italo Calvino wrote about a city, the one that sticks with me the most is this one: “You take delight not in a city’s seven or seventy wonders, but in the answer…
News | January 23, 2024
What Happened to Seattle’s Relationship with Boeing?
The aftermath of the Alaska blowout reveals that the connection is slowly unraveling. From Seattle Met Written by Benjamin Cassidy IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH of the fuselage blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this month, Margaret O’Mara noticed something that would’ve once been unthinkable in Seattle. The University of Washington history professor observed that locals…
News | December 24, 2020
What is a Community Land Trust? And could one help with Tacoma’s homelessness crisis?
When Tacoma Housing Now took over vacant Gault Middle School in November to shelter unhoused people, the action came with a list of demands. The most prominent of them insisted on making Gault, which has sat vacant for a decade, part of a Community Land Trust, also called a CLT. In Tacoma, CLTs aren’t a new idea….
News | December 6, 2021
What it’s going to take for Tacoma to become an ‘anti-racist city’
Urban@UW colleague Rubén Casas shares his perspective on the city of Tacoma’s goal of becoming an ‘anti-racist city’ in his Crosscut article. — Mayor Victoria Woodards wants to make Tacoma “an anti-racist city.” The question is, can she do it? And if so, how should it look in practice? This was a central theme of her…
News | August 2, 2024
Wildfire Smoke Exposure Linked With Higher Dementia Risk
Reported by Dennis Thompson for HealthDay THURSDAY, Aug. 1, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The wildfires thats are increasing with climate change could harm the future brain health of humanity, a new study suggests. Wildfire smoke appears to increase people’s risk of a dementia diagnosis even more than other types of air pollution, researchers reported this…
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