Rachel Weber releases “From Boom to Bubble” book

11-12-15 webernews

GCI Fellow and Professor of Urban Planning and Policy Rachel Weber’s newest book, From Boom to Bubble: How Finance Built the New Chicago, was recently published. Joel Rast, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, says “Weber gives us a compelling book that cements her reputation as one of the top urban planners in the field of urban political economy. Her sophisticated and nuanced understanding of complex systems like global finance and real estate markets is conveyed easily and accessibly to those both inside and outside of academia. From Boom to Bubble is a major contribution, one that will most certainly be widely read and discussed for years to come.”

UAW members voting on Ford contract that would bring $1.1B to Chicago area

Robert Bruno, professor and director of the Labor Education Program, talked about UAW members voting on a national labor deal with Ford in a Chicago Tribune article.

But the promise of new product lines at both factories is a big boost for the region, according to Bob Bruno, professor of labor and employment issues at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Especially in Chicago where the Lincoln MKS sedan is being phased out.

“Having a new line is always considered the lifeblood of any factory,” Bruno said. Ford’s decision reflects its belief that “Chicago facilities are high performers,” he said. Ford is at the forefront of a less adversarial relationship with the UAW and is reaping the benefits, he said.

Full Story from Chicago Tribune »

International Exchange, Community Visioning and The Public Good

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Dear GCI followers,

We want to thank all of you who were able to join us on November 3 for City Cité: A Transatlantic Exchange.  We held the event at the Jane Addams Hull-House and were welcomed by its Director, Jennifer Scott. It was a wonderful day and the weather was nice enough for us to hold lunch outside.  The exchange between the French delegation of scholars, activists, and policy makers and the U.S. participants was rich, addressing issues and strategies in urban regions on both sides of the Atlantic. Thomas Sugrue, our keynote speaker, spoke about the French economist, Thomas Piketty, whose 700 pages treatise analyzes how the dynamics of capital accumulation generate inequality but does not address questions of race.

While the French, Sugrue stated, are comfortable speaking about inequalities based on class, they do not speak much of inequities based on race.  In the United States, he argued, we are less comfortable speaking of class but, in comparison to the French, are more willing to address racial inequalities. These differences, Sugrue pointed out, suggest what the French and the United States Americans could learn from each other.  Indeed, the day was filled with learning. Day 2, City Cité was held at the University of Chicago.  It was a pleasure to join forces with U of C and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy to host this transatlantic exchange. As soon as we have the video footage, we will post it and make it available to you.  We will also be posting some photos very soon.

Great Cities is a welcoming place for international visitors. For the fifth year in a row, a delegation of civic leaders from Russia visited Great Cities Institute to learn about the activities at GCI, The College of Urban Planning and Urban Affairs (CUPPA), and UIC. The visit is organized and supported by Open World Leadership Center (Library of Congress), American Council of Civil Society in Russia, Inc., Moscow School of Civic Education and UIC Great Cities Institute. The Moscow School of Civic Education, a non-governmental organization, was established in 1993 “to promote the development of civil society in Russia.” The delegation will be in the Chicago area for the week. Besides cultural tours and eating the wonderful Chicago cuisines, the group is meeting with various individuals and organizations. Monday, November 9, 2015 they spent the day with us at GCI. Numerous speakers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs spoke about the work being done at UIC to engage directly with communities and policy makers in the region.  We thank Megan McKenna, GCI Senior Research Specialist, for her work organizing this visit.

Commercial Avenue vision meeting in South Chicago.

Commercial Avenue vision meeting in South Chicago.

Besides our international partnerships, Great Cities Institute is busy with its community –based planning projects.  This past week, we were so happy to continue our work with the South Chicago Chamber of Commerce and residents in what one resident called “a most constructive first idea-generating public meeting about the revitalization of South Chicago’s commercial corridor.”  During this invigorating community visioning session, residents shared their ideas for a revitalized commercial corridor.  In our next step, we will work with residents to express their ideas spatially.  On the basis of community ideas, we will provide a draft commercial revitalization plan for their review. The final plan will include implementation strategies to assist residents in realizing their dreams for the corridor.

On Friday, November 6, as part of our Public GOOD Initiative with the National Public Housing Museum (NPHM) and in conjunction with the Architecture Biennial, we co-hosted a forum on the “Future of Public Housing.” We might have entitled, the event, “Public Housing as a Public Good.” Other co-sponsors included The Institute for Public Architecture (IPA) and the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University.  The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum hosted the event. Several participants came from New York City, including Rasmia Kirmani Frye, Director of Public/Private Partnerships, New York City Housing Authority, and Nadine Maleh, Executive Director, Institute for Public Architecture, who moderated the discussion. I provided opening comments on affronts to the “public” and the importance of the concept of the public good. Stay tuned for more programming from GCI and NPHM on our pubic good initiative.

Sincerely,
Teresa Córdova
Director

Kirk’s opposition to power plant rule is political issue at home

Dick Simpson, former GCI scholar and professor of political science, is quoted in an Environment & Energy article on U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk’s opposition to the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce carbon pollution from power plants.

Dick Simpson, a political science professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago, said the announced votes on the CRA resolutions may be intended to balance the immigration vote, which was politically important.

“To be completely anti-immigration like some of the Republican Party is would be a dangerous position here,” said Simpson, a former Chicago alderman.

Kirk’s task, he said, is to keep “the conservative wing from putting anybody up to challenge him and getting the independent and some Democratic votes that he will need in the [general election] Senate race.”

Full Story from Environment & Energy »

2015 Global Health and Wellbeing Research Seed Grant Winners

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2015 Global Health and Wellbeing Research Seed Grant Program.

Sandra Magana (Applied Health Sciences); Parents taking action Colombia
This study pilots a parent educational intervention, Parents Take Action, designed for Latino parents of children with autism in the US, with parents in Bogata, Columbia in collaboration with the Universidad Nacional de Colombia – Bogota.

Janet Lin (Emergency Medicine); Scaling up community disaster risk reduction in Haiti
This study uses an open innovation paradigm model to build the capacity of YMCA d’Haiti as an incubator environment for the growth and dissemination of disaster risk reduction activities.

Jessica Herrick (Medicine); Neurocysticercosis: A natural human model of epileptogenesis
This study with the National Institute of Neurological Sciences (NINS) in Lima, Peru. aims to identify candidate biomarkers that may predict the development of epilepsy in patients with NCC and to establish the methodology for these analyses will be essential for future epileptogenesis studies.

Miiri Kotchke (Bioengineering); Mixed methods approach for design of neonatal warming suit to prevent hypothermia in low-resource settings
This study enhances the cross-disciplinary collaboration in mixed-method research for medical device design with global health applications through examining the use of the neonatal warming suit in rural India to address the high prevalence of hypothermia.

Director Córdova receives National Museum of Mexican Art Sor Juana Award

GCI Director Teresa Córdova was one of six women honored at a reception on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at the National Museum of Mexican Art, where she received the Sor Juana Women of Achievement Award for her work in university programs. The award recognizes and honors women worldwide for their
 outstanding civic, social, artistic and lifetime contributions. The other awardees are:

Elba Aranda – Suh, Social Services and Education
Maria Gaspar, Arts and Art Activism
Clara Lopez, Social Services
Esther Quintero Guzman, University Programs
Elvia Y. Torres, Community Engagement and Mexico Advocate

Full Announcement »

Chicago still spending borrowed money on landscaping, lawsuits

Mayor Rahm Emanuel presides over the City Council meeting in Chicago on Oct. 21, 2015. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Mayor Rahm Emanuel presides over the City Council meeting in Chicago on Oct. 21, 2015. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

The Chicago Tribune quoted Michael Pagano, GCI Fellow and Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, on the “opportunity cost” of the City of Chicago’s use of taxable debt to finance long-term projects.

“What that (the use of taxable debt) tells me is that the city has few unused resources — meaning reserves — but that it also has needs that it has to address right away,” said Michael Pagano, dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

“Over the next 20 years, the additional payment you’re going to be making means that money is not going to be available to do other things. So there’s an opportunity cost.”

Full Story from the Chicago Tribune »