January - June 2004

04/26/04 Town of Porter Master Plan Studio Wins National Planning Award

After winning numerous local and state awards, the Town of Porter Studio was awarded the 2004 AICP Student Project Award for Excellence, the highest competitive national award given by the American Institute of Certified Planners. The studio project, “Toward a Smart-Growth Plan for the Town of Porter, New York,” was the product of a Fall 2002 graduate planning studio led by Dr. Ute Lehrer. Previously, the project was awarded two Student Project Awards from divisions of the American Planning Association, including the Best Student Project Award from the Western New York section of the American Planning Association and the Best Student Project from the Upstate New York (statewide except for New York City Metro Area) Chapter of the APA. The national award will be given at the American Planning Association conference in Washington, D.C. in April 2004.

04/26/04 UB President Simpson Visits Department

On March 5, John Simpson, President of the University at Buffalo, visited the School of Architecture of Planning to participate in the opening of the School’s Atelier, an annual showcase of student and faculty work. President Simpson attended the opening of an exhibition of recent work from the Urban Design Project, a major public service and research effort under the direction of Professor Robert G. Shibley. President Simpson also visited with faculty and students from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, learned about students’ coursework, projects, and planning studio work, and viewed exhibits of graduate and undergraduate students’ plans, poster displays, and graphic products.

04/26/04 Three Undergraduate Students Inducted into Tau Sigma Honor Society

The Department of Urban and Regional Planning is proud to announce that three Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Design majors or intended majors have been named to the Tau Sigma Honor Society which recognizes academic excellence among transfer students. The inductees include Steven Nagowski (who transferred from Niagara Community College), Chris Ortloff (who transferred from Cornell University) and Tracy Will (who transferred from Broward Community College).

Michael Kwartler, 2004 Clarkson Visiting Chair in Urban and Regional Planning

The department is pleased to announce that Michael Kwartler is the 2004 Clarkson Visiting Chair in Urban and Regional Planning. Kwartler will visit the department from March 22-26, 2004 and will meet with students, faculty, and practicing professionals in a variety of settings and venues. Kwartler is an architect, planner, urban designer, and educator, and the founding director of the Environmental Simulation Center, a non-profit research laboratory created to develop innovative applications of digital technology to inform complex public land-use issues and debates. The public is warmly invited to Kwartler’s presentation entitled “Managing Complexity and Uncertainty: Just-in-Time Planning” on Wednesday, March 24, at 5:30 P.M. in 301 Crosby Hall, South Campus. Click here for more information

Department Welcomes New M.U.P. Students in January 2004

The Department welcomes an incoming class of 6 graduate students including 4 students from New York State, one student from Tripoli, Lebanon, and one student from Kangawa, Japan. This brings the Department of Urban and Regional Planning graduate roster to nearly 100 students representing 14 states and 12 nations.

Graduate Urban Planning Students Investigate Buffalo’s Warehouse District

Twelve graduate urban planning students are participating in a laboratory-practicum in Spring 2004. The students will summarize conditions in Buffalo’s Ohio Street corridor and Warehouse District (southeast of downtown Buffalo), examine implications for the development of vacant land along the Buffalo River, and provide vision and direction for future investment in, and development of, Ohio Street and adjacent neighborhoods. The laboratory-practicum is sponsored by the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning and directed by Dr. Daniel B. Hess. Click here for more information

Michael Kwartler Selected as 2004 Clarkson Chair

City of Buffalo Planning Internship Partnership Established

In January 2004, ten graduate and undergraduate urban planning students began semester-long internships with the City of Buffalo Office of Strategic Planning. Eight interns are working directly with staff planners and citizen-based planning alliances throughout the city to help draft neighborhood plans. One intern will provide GIS support services to the neighborhood planmaking activities, while one other intern will work with the city’s Development Review section to help prepare staff reports and analyses for the Buffalo Planning Board and Buffalo Historic Preservation Board.

Town of Porter Master Plan Studio Wins APA Planning Awards

“Toward a Smart-Growth Plan for the Town of Porter, New York,” the product of a Fall 2002 graduate planning studio led by Dr. Ute Lehrer, was recently awarded two Student Project Awards from divisions of the American Planning Association. In June 2003 the project won the Best Student Project Award from the Western New York section of the American Planning Association. In August 2003, the project won similar top honors for Best Student Project from the Upstate New York (statewide except for New York City Metro Area) Chapter of the APA.

Department Hosts International Scholar from Azerbaijan

Together with the UB Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning is co-hosting in spring semester 2004 Mr. Mehman Karimov, a Contemporary Issues Visiting Fellow sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Karimov is currently Program Manager for Community Development at Save the Children in his hometown of Mingechevir, Azerbaijan. He has also worked for Children’s Aid and Oxfam in Azerbaijan, and holds a MBA from Mingechevir Polytechnic Institute. While at UB, Mr. Karimov will be studying “The Role of Local Government and Community-Based Organizations in Development.”

Dr. Cole Returns from Sabbatical in Aruba

During a two-year sabbatical that ended in Spring 2003, Dr. Sam Cole developed the strategic framework for Aruba’s Tourism Master Plan, which garnered support from consultants in the US, Canada, and Commonwealth Caribbean and widespread coverage throughout Aruba’s press. Cole, serving as the advisor to Aruba’s Minister of Tourism and the National Tourism Council, will continue to revise the Master Plan as well as establish a Tourism Policy Institute for the island in 2004.

Dr. Page Returns from Vietnam

Dr. G. William Page has returned to the United States completing his sabbatical year research on environmental resource management in development nations. In Fall 2003, Dr. Page was a Fulbright Fellow at the Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where he researched the use of water resources in that growing nation and taught environmental planning and policy at the university.

Dr. Foster Visits the United Kingdom in March ‘04

In March 2004, Associate Professor and Chair Dr. Kathryn A. Foster will present her research on special-purpose governments at an international conference on “Governance and Performance: Organizational Status, Management Capacity, and Public Service Performance,” sponsored by the School of Public Policy at the University of Birmingham, UK. Dr. Foster continues her research on models of governance in the private, nonprofit, and academic sectors to explore their insights and lessons for U.S. metropolitan regions. The project began with analysis of the origins, structure, institutions, and selected policies of the European Union.

Dr. Silverman Publishes Works on Community Development

Newly arrived Associate Professor and Senior Research Associate at the Center for Urban Studies, Dr. Robert Silverman, is editor of the forthcoming book Community-Based Organizations: The Intersection of Social Capital and Local Context in Contemporary Urban Society (Wayne State University Press, 2004). Dr. Silverman also published articles in recent editions of Urban Studies and National Civic Review, and is web moderator for the Cyberhood.

Dr. Raja Visits the United Nations

Dr. Samina Raja will be speaking at the 48th session of the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women to be held in March 2004. Dr. Raja will represent the Institute of Objective Studies, a New Delhi research organization interested in protecting the rights of minorities. The focus of the session is the role of men and boys in achieving gender equality and gaining women’s equal participation in conflict resolution and peace-building.

Faculty-Student Team Investigates Transit-Oriented Development

Dr. Daniel Hess, along with undergraduate Environmental Design student Peter A. Lombardi, presented their research at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C. in January 2004. Their work, “Supportive Policies and Inner-City Barriers to Transit-Oriented Development” explored the challenges in implementing transit-oriented development in older, slow-growth cities.

UB Planning Students Conduct Studio Work, Fall 2003

During the Fall 2003 semester, more than sixty undergraduate and graduate students from the University at Buffalo’s Urban and Regional Planning program are participating in planning studio-workshops. Three separate projects are focused on (1) strengthening the relationship between UB’s south campus and its surrounding neighborhoods, (2) developing a food system plan for Buffalo’s West Side, and (3) creating a heritage tourism plan to help revitalize upstate New York. Click here for more information.

UB School of Architecture and Planning