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By Kenneth M. Reardon Shortly after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the Gulf Coast , Cornell’s Department of City and Regional Planning received a request for planning assistance from the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). The leaders of ACORN were concerned about the long-term recovery prospects for the city’s eastside neighborhoods, which […]
By Anna Livia Brand While Katrina has faded from major news coverage, at least half of New Orleans residents are still displaced. The struggles for their right to return to New Orleans highlight powerful issues of social and spatial justice. Post-disaster conditions in New Orleans are amplified by serious pre-disaster social and economic inequalities. Taken […]
By Bill Quigley Each morning, Debra South Jones drives 120 miles into New Orleans to cook and serve over 300 hot free meals each day to people in New Orleans East, where she lived until Katrina took her home. Ms. Jones and several volunteers also distribute groceries to 18,000 families a month through their group, […]
By Sujatha Fernandes The radical trajectory of President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela has been a highly controversial topic among Latin Americanists, democratization experts, policymakers and activists. Some lament what they see as Chávez’s disregard for the rule of law and the breakdown of the party system. They compare him to other neopopulist leaders who bypassed […]
Twenty-First Century Urban Renewal in Philadelphia: The Neighborhood Transformation Initiative and its Critics Domenic Vitiello 7th Generation – Planning the “Next Great American City:” Public Policy and Social Justice in Philadelphia and Camden Domenic Vitiello Keeping the Community in Community Gardening: Aqui Estamos y no nos Vamos Michael Nairn Immigrant Rights and Community Building in […]
By Jonathan Thompson Progressive cities in the United States and elsewhere have been most commonly understood as dealing with neighborhood mobilization, citizen empowerment and other forms of grassroots political involvement. Using the language of “the grassroots” in the U.S. and “civil society” for overseas cases, commentators have focused on the movement bases of progressive administrations. […]
By Pierre Clavel This collection of articles from Cornell students were stimulated by resources in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC), Cornell University Library. In 2005, the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell offered a short (six weeks) course on “ Progressive Cities and Neighborhood Planning” in the guise of a […]
By Michael Nairn On June 14, 2006, the New York Times ran an article entitled “Antidevelopment Protesters Are Arrested at Farm Site in Los Angeles.” Featuring the arrest of actress, Daryl Hannah, the article describes the eviction of 350 families, “mostly Latino squatters” from the 14-acre South Central Farm, the largest community garden in the country. They […]
By Domenic Vitiello Author note: This article was initiated in collaboration with Rosemary Cubas. It is dedicated to her memory. Philadelphia is home to one of the most ambitious urban renewal programs in the United States . Mayor John Street ‘s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI) began in 2001 with the goal of demolishing some 14,000 […]

FEATURES Resource Rights and Wrongs Nikhil Aziz 7th Generation – Israel’s War for Water Marie Kennedy Water is Life! Cochabamba, Bolivia against Privatization Don Leonard Urban Water Management in Mexico David Barkin A Bottom-Up Planning Model for a Safe and Accessible Water Supply in Malawi K. Tyler Miller Water Planning for the Future Jonathan Leavitt […]
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Progressive City: Radical Alternatives is an online publication dedicated to ideas and practices that advance racial, economic, and social justice in cities. We feature stories on inclusive urban planning practices, grassroots organizing, and civic action. Our contributors and readers are activists, reporters, practitioners, academics, and community members. Learn more about Progressive City and learn how to submit articles..
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