1st Edition

Diálogos: Placemaking in Latino Communities

Edited By Michael Rios, Leonardo Vazquez Copyright 2012
    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    236 Pages
    by Routledge

    Latinos are one of the largest and fastest growing social groups in the United States, and their increased presence is profoundly shaping the character of urban, suburban, and rural places. This is a response to these developments and is the first book written for readers seeking to learn about, engage and plan with Latino communities. It considers how placemaking in marginalized communities sheds light on, and can inform, community-building practices of professionals and place dwellers alike.

    Diálogos: Placemaking in Latino Communities will help readers better understand the conflicts and challenges inherent in placemaking, and to make effective and sustainable choices for practice in an increasingly multi-ethnic world. The essays explore three aspects of place: the appropriation and territorialization of the built environment, the claiming of rights through collective action, and a sense of belonging through civic participation. The authors illustrate their ideas through case studies and explain the implications of their work for placemaking practice.

    A consistent theme about planning and design practice in Latino communities emerges throughout the book: placemaking happens with or without professional planners and designers. All of the essays in Diálogos demonstrate the need to not only imagine, build, and make places with local communities, but also to re-imagine how we practice democracy inclusive of cross-cultural exchange, understanding, and respect. This will require educators, students, and working professionals to incorporate the knowledge and skills of cultural competency into their everyday practices.

    Forward Ray Suarez  Introduction: Place as Space, Action, and Identity Michael Rios, Leonardo Vazquez and Lucrezia Miranda  Part 1: Placemaking: Conflict, Challenge and Change  1. Historical Overview of Latinos and Planning in the Southwest: 1900 to Present Clara Irazábal and Ramzi Farhat  2. Planning in the Face of Anti-Immigrant Sentiment: Latino Immigrants and Land Use Conflicts in Orange County, California Stacy Anne Harwood  3. Transnational Placemaking in Small-Town America Gerardo Sandoval Part 2: Space: Urban Design and the Built Environment  4. Using Culture as a Competitive Advantage: Attracting Cultural Tourism in Latino Neighborhoods Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris  5. Public Space Attachments for Latino and Immigrant Communities: A Case Study of MacArthur Park Kelly Main  6. Latinos and Incremental Construction: A Case Study of Texas Colonias Cecilia Giusti and Miriam Olivares Part 3: Action: Collective Organizing and Claims-Making  7. Placemaking in New York City: From Puerto Rican to Pan-Latino Tom Angotti 8. Planning Against Displacement: A Decade of Progressive Community-based Planning in San Francisco’s Mission District Fernando Marti, Chris Selig, Lupe Arreola, Antonio Diaz, Amie Fishman, and Nick Pagoulatos  9. Finding a Place Called "Home": Homemaking as Placemaking for Guatemalan Immigrants in South Florida  Kasama Polakit and Yexsy Schomberg Part 4: Identity: Inclusion, Voice and Capacity Building 10. Planning for Possible Futures: The Role of Scenario Planning in Cross-Cultural Deliberation Marisa A. Zapata  11. Through the Viewfinder: Using Multimedia Techniques to Engage Latino Youth in Community Planning Debra Flanders Cushing, Emily Wexler Love, and Willem van Vliet  12. 17th and South Jackson: Relocating Casa Latina and Navigating Cultural Crossroads in Seattle Pam Emerson and Jeffrey Hou  Epilogue Leonardo Vazquez and Michael Rios

    Biography

    Michael Rios is Chair of the Community Development Graduate Group and Associate Professor of Urban Design and Community Planning at the University of California, Davis. His research and practice focus on marginality and urbanism. He received his PhD in Geography from the Pennsylvania State University, and MArch and MCP from the University of California, Berkeley.

    Leonardo Vazquez is a founder and director of Arts Build Communities at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He was also a founder and director of the Professional Development Institute and the Leading Institute at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. He is a community and local economic development planner with expertise in cultural competency, leadership development, and strategic communications. He was a founding member of the Latinos and Planning division of the American Planning Association, and its first chairperson. Most recently, he was chosen as the winner of the APA's 2012 National Planning Leadership Award for Advancing Diversity and Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff.

    "Diálogos is in the vanguard of encouraging culturally competent conversations, offering an added dimension to understanding Latino culture and placemaking in the United States".Lydia R. Otero, Buildings & Landscapes, Associate Professor, University of Arizona, USA

    "Urban planners, community organizations, urban designers, and planning educators dealing with Latino issues should read this book as it provides case studies with several examples of the challenges of planning with Latino populations and provides solutions to some of these issues. The editors have succeeded in presenting diverse viewpoints by including case studies from various places in the United States that range from incremental housing to displacement to incorporating Latino youth in the planning process." - Aparna Thatte, Jornal of Planning Education and Research