SCARP Symposium: Metropolis - Growing Just or Just Growing?

By Chloe Fox

On February 4th, 2011, SCARP hosted its third annual student-led symposium, Metropolis: Growing Just or Just Growing? This year’s daylong symposium examined the complex relationship between growth and justice in the city through the lens of the planning profession. The symposium featured keynote addresses from Susan Fainstein, Professor of Urban Planning at Harvard University and author of The Just City, and SCARP Adjunct Professor and Senior Partner with 42nd Street Consulting, Nathan Edelson, as well as nine panel discussions focusing on topics ranging from mega-event planning to transportation and housing to public health and First Nations planning.

  This year’s symposium was an undeniable success. The event registered 190 participants including practicing professionals, faculty and students from SCARP and other UBC departments as well as Simon Fraser University, Portland State University and various other academic institutions. Penny Gurstein, Director of SCARP, congratulated the students on organizing this year’s symposium suggesting that the event has become “the high point of SCARP’s academic year”.

 “The keynote speakers were provocative and challenging, the expertly moderated sessions explored cutting-edge topics in planning, and the diverse participants from academia, and the private, non-profit and public sectors allowed for the kind of dialogue essential to exploring the fundamentals of planning” Gurstein added.

 The success of this year’s symposium could not have occurred without the dedication and commitment of the organizing committee: Master’s students Alisha Mody, Chris Gallop and Maggie Wang, and PhD student Victoria Barr; the numerous volunteers who assisted them; as well as the moderators, panel organizers and presenters, including SCARP faculty members John Friedmann, Jinhua Zhao, Larry Frank, William Rees, and Master’s students Theresa Fresco, Yaheli Shtull and Timothy Shah.

"It was a lot of hard work so I was happy it was a success in the end” said organizing committee member Chris Gallop when asked to comment on the success of the symposium.

Gallop also credited the panel organizers for inviting a variety of interesting speakers representing a wide range of opinions.

 “I think an important aspect of this symposium was that, while bringing like-minded individuals together, it also brought a diverse set of opinions and backgrounds together around the topics of growth and justice in planning.”

 Looking forward to next year’s symposium, Gallop advises striking a balance between over and under programming the day, allowing ample time for discussion and ensuring a wide variety of interests and opinions are represented in each room.

If you are interested in in getting involved in the 2012 symposium, please contact SCARP Director, Penny Gurstein at penny.gurstein(at)ubc.ca