Planning Forum Volume 18 Explores International Planning Issues from both the Global North and South

Produced by graduate and doctoral students in the School of Architecture’s Community & Regional Planning program, Planning Forum is a student-run journal that publishes peer-reviewed scholarly articles and less-conventional critical explorations. The publication’s mission is to serve as a platform for emerging voices and new perspectives on the most pressing issues in the field of planning.
After a brief hiatus, the student-produced journal returned during the 2020-21 academic year with Planning Forum Volume 18, edited by Ph.D. students Aabiya Noman Baqai and Haijing Liu. Planning Forum Volume 18 highlights a range of international planning issues from both the Global North and South, and features articles about planning in countries ranging from Ghana and Bangladesh, to Colombia and Canada. Contributors include academics and practitioners from around the world, including some recent Community & Regional Planning alumni, who each contribute an original argument based on their research, scholarship, and work.
Planning Forum Volume 18 features four traditional, peer-reviewed scholarly articles; three non-traditional opinion-based pieces that allow authors to share budding ideas; an abstract from the “Best Project Report” by Community & Regional Planning graduate student Sari Albornoz, which explores how buyout floodplain land can be used to ensure racial equity in Austin; and a list of project reports, theses and dissertations by Community & Regional Planning students from the 2020-21 academic year.
"We're really excited about relaunching Planning Forum this year. We started this work last summer, and to see it come full circle has been rewarding,” Baqai said. “We hope the UTSOA and planning community at large will find this volume interesting and informative, and that the wide array of international perspectives will provide new insights to our readers."
The editorial board for the 2020-21 issue of Planning Forum includes Adam Ogusky, Jessica Jones, Jiana Guo, Mashrur Rahman, Rashmi Gajare, Yang Li, and Yefu Chen. The issue was designed by School of Architecture M. Arch student Hayden Hood. Faculty advisors: Dr. Elizabeth Mueller, Dr. Sandra Rosenbloom, and Dr. Jake Wegmann.
Contributions include:
- “Deciphering the Drivers of Informal Urbanization by Ghana’s Urban Poor Through the Lens of the Push-Pull Theory” by Gideon Abagna Azunre, Richard Azerigyik, and Pearl Puwurayire
- “Redefining Invisible Borders to Create Spaces of Shared Citizenship and Social Control: Designing the Public Escalators in Medellín Colombia” by Evan Todtz
- “Performance Evaluation of Public Transportation System: Analyzing the Case of Dhaka, Bangladesh” by Rakibul Ahasan
- “Starring the Treasures and Trauma in Home-Based Enterprises: Towards a Rethink by Urban Planners” by Nkeiru Ezeadichie
- “Missing Middle Math: Making “Missing Middle” Housing Work” by Jason Syvixay and Sean Bohle
- “Twelfth Ride: A Saturday Morning Driving for Uber in Cincinnati” by Mickey Edwards
- “The Invention of Abandonment and the Rescue of a Neighborhood: A Tiny Glance to Franklin’s Sanitas Building in Santiago Chile” by Gabriel Espinoza