No Images? Click here The Faculty Voice: Prof. Eric J. Heikkila— LOCALLY MOTIVATED; GLOBALLY INFORMED —It is difficult to imagine a better place to explore the nexus between the global and the local in urban planning than Los Angeles. At USC’s Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis, this nexus is a recurring theme that permeates so much of what we do in terms of teaching, research, and professional practice. Our being situated at the heart of one of the world’s greatest cosmopolitan agglomerations certainly helps. Indeed, in many ways LA is a microcosm of the world, offering a global perspective at our very doorsteps. Urban planning is ultimately about place-making, and that in turn is about people. Different people; different places. For urban planners to be effective in such settings, we must be able to bridge these fascinating and endlessly diverse perspectives. Our aim is to prepare the next generation of thought leaders in planning with this essential skill. One important way we do this is through our International Laboratories, a flagship offering at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. These classes are modeled as overseas consulting-type projects, with bona fide clients and terms of reference. One objective, of course, is to train participants how to translate classroom knowledge into professional practice. The Where and How of Our International Labs We typically offer three international labs each year. Our labs have, recently, examined senior living communities in China, public-private partnerships in Italy, and water policy in Brazil. This year, our students will propose methods and governance structures for regional air quality management in Beijing in a lab led by Professor Marlon Boarnet, the chair of our Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis. The chair of our Public Policy and Real Estate Department, Professor Antonio Bento, is leading a Lab that will advise the government of Rio de Janeiro on the use of big data in environmental policy and planning. Meanwhile, the Lab that I teach this year in Italy will explore how big data can be used to facilitate a more person-centric approach to emergency management. Our students spend a semester at USC preparing themselves, gathering background information, and learning to work with each other in teams. The students in the Lab classes come from a broad cross-section of our masters degrees – planners work next to students from public policy, public administration, and at times with students in our non-profit, real estate, and health administration degree programs. This introduces our planning students to the inter-disciplinarity that they will see in their professional practice. The students are in the host country for two weeks, meeting experts, studying, and preparing a final report – in English and (where practical) in the native language of the host country – that is delivered to the client during a presentation of results on the last day of the visit. The goal is to both educate our students and provide feedback that adds value to clients that include governments, universities, and international NGO’s. International Labs and the Importance of Place From a globalized perspective, the Labs deepen our understanding of how professional practice itself must be situated within its local context. This portends an interesting dynamic, because professionalism implies standards which in turn are suggestive of standardization. Whether we are speaking of the accounting profession, or medical professionals, or of planning practitioners, we expect to see their conduct of professional practice to meet agreed upon standards that are not subject to the whim of circumstance. Yet, at the same time, planners understand that place matters, and that diverse practices are appropriate to diverse communities and places. This is true from one neighborhood in Los Angeles to another, but it is much more evident when we compare across distant international boundaries, where languages, cultures, histories and socio-economic circumstances may bespeak different mindsets. I use the somewhat archaic term “bespeak” above intentionally, because language is so intrinsic to this aspect of planning. Most obviously, the use of language is itself a more complicated matter for someone traveling abroad than it typically would be at home. We are fortunate at USC to have our classes enriched by the presence of many students from abroad, not all of whom speak English with native fluency or confidence. It is fascinating for me to watch how the dynamic changes when we bring our students abroad. For example, when we bring our Labs to China, our once shy Chinese students suddenly flourish and become vital centerpieces to the entire undertaking. Often they are the only ones who understand what everyone else is saying. At the same time, U.S.-born students who may have been accustomed to a world where English reigns supreme might find themselves struggling (as I do) to follow conversations taking place in foreign tongues. Of course it is not just language itself that is place-sensitive. Working to make sense of “them” can help us understand ourselves better. It can help us to unpack the implicit assumptions that we use as the basis for our own personal and professional orientations. Global Connectedness The language metaphor applies more deeply to the substance of urban planning itself. There is a rich literature affirming that cities are communicative entities. They convey collective meaning. They are also grammatical structures through which and within which countless individuals articulate their lives. This is a topic I have addressed most directly in a paper I wrote many years ago on “Beijing: Lost in Translation?” Perhaps not surprisingly, French linguistics and kindred spirits have often been on the forefront of such explorations. From the time of de Saussure, the distinction between langue and parole has been a fundamental precursor to more contemporary notions in modern sociology of structure and agency. From there, it is not a stretch to link back to the exciting work that is being done by some urban planning scholars on the application of (structure and) agent based models to explore the emergent complexity of cities. Another aspect of all this that I enjoy so much is the very personal sense of global connectedness that grows over time from such interactions. Having had so many students and colleagues from abroad (I, too, am a non-native of the U.S.), and having had the privilege and opportunity to work overseas, news stories from abroad seem so much more personal to me. I do believe this helps to expand what might otherwise be a more limited sense of humanity and empathy for me. When an earthquake hits Italy, or a typhoon strikes China, or a terrorist attack unfolds in Bangladesh, I immediately think of individual persons in those contexts. Urban planning is about place, and ours is a global place. For almost thirty years, our USC Price International Labs have connected our scholarship and our students to the broader world. Eric J. Heikkila is a Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis, and he also serves as Director of the Office for Global Engagement for the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. |