Lisa Benton-Short - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Lisa Benton-Short

This chapter reviews the cross-cutting strategies and provides a set of recommendations for best ... more This chapter reviews the cross-cutting strategies and provides a set of recommendations for best implementing sustainability in the United States.

Social sciences, May 12, 2020

Lead instructors discuss the structure, opportunities, and pedagogical challenges of an interdisc... more Lead instructors discuss the structure, opportunities, and pedagogical challenges of an interdisciplinary team-taught course on urban sustainability involving seven professors from six departments across four of George Washington University's schools over five years. The teaching team prioritized presenting and exploring diverse perspectives on urban sustainability, seeing a key learning objective of this course in students (1) learning to make links between disciplines; (2) having opportunities to reflect, disagree, share, and develop their own perspectives; and (3) developing a lifelong engagement and openness with ideas and learning. This is challenging for many students. To promote student learning and engagement in the class, we utilize active-learning and cooperative discussion techniques, and see these as times that the class reaches "interdisciplinarity". We employ place-based pedagogical approaches, focusing the class on the case-study (and students' adopted hometown) of Washington D.C., finding that a "layering" of perspectives on a single city helps students see disciplinary similarities and differences more clearly. For those considering a large-team interdisciplinary course, we stress the importance of a lead instructor for coordination-both conceptually and administratively-and adequate institutional support for this unique and challenging endeavor.

Springer eBooks, 2019

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

GeoJournal, May 23, 2007

A relationship between globalization, cities and immigration is increasingly apparent. Whether on... more A relationship between globalization, cities and immigration is increasingly apparent. Whether one is trying to understand Dubai, Toronto, or London, immigrants are culturally, economically, and spatially changing cities in significant ways. This study compares the roster of world cities with that of major urban immigrant destinations. The number of major urban immigrant destinations is growing due to the acceleration of immigration driven by income differentials, social networks and various state and local policies to recruit skilled and unskilled labor and replenish population. This study will present urban-level data on the foreign-born for 145 metropolitan areas of over 1 million people. It will focus on the world's 19 metropolitan areas with over 1 million foreign-born residents. Analysis of the data suggests that there is a range of destination types. Although not all world cities are immigrant gateways, many are. Keywords World Cities Á Immigration Á Globalization Globalization, the growth of cities and the global movement of people are increasingly interrelated processes (Sassen 1998, 2002a; Beaverstock et al. 2000a). It is impossible to understand the processes of globalization without studying cities, as they are the central locations in which global interconnections are forged. We contend it is also vital to study global immigration trends at the urban scale, to better understand how large-scale immigration is creating new and more urban immigrant destinations, often in overlooked settings (Benton-Short et al. 2005). These localities, which we refer to as immigrant gateways, take on different forms, but many are hyper-diverse, globally linked through transnational networks, and in some cases, increasingly segregated spaces. Immigrant cities are growing in number because of globalization and the acceleration of migration driven by income differentials, social networks, and various state policies to recruit skilled and unskilled laborers and to replenish population (Castles and Miller 2003: 7-8). The term gateway is often used to designate a major metropolitan area where large numbers of immigrants have settled (

Routledge eBooks, Jul 4, 2013

Part I Trends 1. The City and Nature: an Introduction 2. The Pre-Industrial City 3. The Industria... more Part I Trends 1. The City and Nature: an Introduction 2. The Pre-Industrial City 3. The Industrial City 4. Global Urban Trends 5. The Post Industrial City 6. The Developing City Part II: Urban Environmental Issues 7. Urban Sites 8. Hazards and Disasters 9. Urban Ecology 10. Water Pollution 11. Air Pollution 12. Cities and Climate 13. Garbage Part III Re-aligning Urban-Nature Relations 14. Sustainability 15. Race, Class and Environmental Justice 16. Practicing Urban Sustainability Postscript

Environment And Planning D: Society And Space, Jun 1, 2007

, at his second inauguration, President George W Bush took the oath of office and delivered a spe... more , at his second inauguration, President George W Bush took the oath of office and delivered a speech forcefully enunciating principles of extending democracy, freedom, and liberty throughout the world. This event took place amidst bollards, barriers, sentry boxes, more than 13 000 soldiers and police officers, and miles of security fences. (1) The irony was not hard to miss.``Washington D.C.'', observed conservative commentator George Will, resembled a``banana republic''. (2) Responses to the potential of terrorism, whether domestic or international, have had a profound impact on this city, and in particular on the highly visible public space of the National Mall. Intense surveillance and hypersecurity have changed both the physical and symbolic landscape of the city.``In a city that symbolizes freedom, barriers abound'', noted Washington newspaper columnist Jan Cienski (2002). Indeed,``Barricades and bollards have become the newest accessory on the country's psychic frontier ... .You might call it the architecture of paranoia'' (Brown, 1985 as quoted in Coaffee, 2004, page 202). In this paper I explore the paradox of democracy and hypersecurity in a post-September 11 world in one urban public space, the National Mall. Since September 11, security has been accepted as part of the war on terrorism. The authorities in charge of the National Mall have not always encouraged thoughtful and genuine public debate before accepting plans to make security fortifications. Indeed, security appears to have preempted concerns about access to public space in Washington, DC, despite growing public debate and the reality that such fortifications are ambiguous at best. This is of significant concern given that the National Mall is such a valued public space with important symbolic and spatial connections to national identity. The`security agenda' has, at the moment, captured hegemonic status and so is rewriting the meaning of the Mall in a way that tells us about power relationships in national political discourse (see Johnson, 1994; 1995). In addition, security measures may physically impede the Mall's public space, thus inconveniencing public access to memorials and other spaces or, more problematically, inhibiting the types of radical political protest such as civil rights protests, antiwar marches, and protests from marginalized voices that have historically played an important role in redefining American citizenship (Low, 2000, page 183).

Rowman & Littlefield eBooks, 2014

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Cities of North America Lisa Benton-Short Chapter 2: Changing Appro... more Chapter 1: An Introduction to Cities of North America Lisa Benton-Short Chapter 2: Changing Approaches to Urban Geography Katie Wells Chapter 3: An Urban History Robert Lewis Chapter 4: Border Cities Lindsey Sutton Part I: Urban Economies Chapter 5: Urban Economic Restructuring David Wilson and Matthew Anderson Chapter 6: Globalization and the City Yeong-Hyun Kim Part II: Urban Governance Chapter 7: Urban Governance Thomas J. Vicino Chapter 8: Planning and Politics Amanda Huron Part III: Urban Social/Cultural Challenges Chapter 9: Urban Inequities Deborah G. Martin Chapter 10: Urban Demographics and Identities Nathaniel M. Lewis Chapter 11: Suburban Challenges Bernadette Hanlon Part IV: The Urban Environment Chapter 12: Cities and Pollution Lisa Benton-Short and Christopher DeSousa Chapter 13: Cities and Hazards John P. Tiefenbacher Chapter 14: Urban Sustainability Geoff Buckley

In recent years and for a variety of reasons, cities have taken the lead in sustainability effort... more In recent years and for a variety of reasons, cities have taken the lead in sustainability efforts in the United States. 1 As federal leadership in the creation of environmental policies has faltered, there has been growing support for local initiatives, often referred to as a "new localism" in environmental policies. 2 The city scale can be a beneficial starting point for local activism and community involvement around sustainability. 3 Local policy is important for many reasons, including that cities have tremendous control over significant tools for change such as land use, public education, and economic development. 4 Cities also already undertake a myriad of planning exercises. It is not uncommon for a city to have 20 or more separate plans, often very detailed and focused on specific key areas such as open space and recreation, land use, climate action, resilience, hazard mitigation, urban forestry, water, historic preservation, or for specific neighborhood projects. Figure 1.1 captures the numerous plans for the city of Arlington, Virginia. Notably, these plans are generally undertaken and managed by just one or two city agencies. However, we argue that sustainability plans serve a different purpose and are unique in several key ways. Municipal sustainability plans are comprehensive visions, goals, and priorities for sustainability set forth by a government or other civic organizations. They typically are created with community input and the involvement of multiple departments. Such

Rowman & Littlefield eBooks, Dec 30, 2011

Advances in Developing Human Resources, Aug 25, 2015

The Problem With the rapid increase of urban populations, managing urban sustainability has becom... more The Problem With the rapid increase of urban populations, managing urban sustainability has become one of the most important development challenges of the 21st century. As cities plan for a sustainable future, human resource development (HRD) professionals have the potential to facilitate collaboration across multiple organizations and at various scales (neighborhood, ward, city, metropolitan area) and to foster culture change that embraces ecological protection, economic development, and social equity. Although the role of HRD in crises management as a result of major environmental disasters is discussed in the literature, the field of HRD is in its infancy in examining its role and approaches in greening the society and addressing urban environmental challenges proactively. The Solution This conceptual article examines sustainability and urban sustainability and their linkage with HRD, discusses the emergent roles of HRD in crisis management, presents opportunities and challenges for Green HRD as a proactive process, and concludes with a call for the moral imperative for HRD in urban sustainability in implementing long-term change processes with a social justice and equity agenda. The Stakeholders This article informs local government agencies, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, community groups, and their HRD leaders involved in urban sustainability planning and implementation on approaches to building new adaptive capacity and fostering culture change through collaborative learning and leadership interventions.

Urban Sustainability in the US, 2018

This chapter examines the role of urban green space in its many dimensions. Green space is connec... more This chapter examines the role of urban green space in its many dimensions. Green space is connected to climate, water, and energy. We explore the many terms and definitions associated with green spaces within the plans which included open spaces, street trees and community gardens, and other variations. We examine how cities are investing in the creation, expansion, or improvement of parks, green spaces, and open spaces. We then turn to efforts to expand the urban forest and tree canopy coverage through tree planting programs. We then examine the rise of community gardens and urban agriculture and how cities are supporting these bottom-up efforts. We discovered that while green space presents multiple benefits to communities, benefits of green space were most frequently framed as environmental rather than economic or social benefits.

Urban Sustainability in the US, 2018

A fresh and dependable supply of water is critical to sustaining life and supporting healthy comm... more A fresh and dependable supply of water is critical to sustaining life and supporting healthy communities, economies, and environments. In every US city, there are two main and often related water challenges: (1) supplying sufficient quantities of high-quality water to residents and consumers and (2) assuring that water quality in nearby waterbodies, like rivers and lakes, is not overly impacted by wastewater and stormwater runoff. This chapter examines both supply and quality issues and how cities are planning for and implementing more sustainable water systems. Water Supply In 2014, more than 100,000 residents of Flint, Michigan, were potentially exposed to high levels of lead in their drinking water. 1 As many as 12,000 of those were children who are particularly susceptible to the detrimental effects of lead. 2 The crisis emerged after the city switched its drinking water supply from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River. 3 This water was improperly treated, causing lead from aging pipes to leach into the public water supply. The Flint water crisis was a failure of governance and technology that had serious health implications. It also highlighted the fact that drinking water safety is a much wider problem, affecting other cities as well.

Urban Sustainability in the US, 2018

Urban Sustainability in the US, 2018

This chapter reviews the cross-cutting strategies and provides a set of recommendations for best ... more This chapter reviews the cross-cutting strategies and provides a set of recommendations for best implementing sustainability in the United States.

Social sciences, May 12, 2020

Lead instructors discuss the structure, opportunities, and pedagogical challenges of an interdisc... more Lead instructors discuss the structure, opportunities, and pedagogical challenges of an interdisciplinary team-taught course on urban sustainability involving seven professors from six departments across four of George Washington University's schools over five years. The teaching team prioritized presenting and exploring diverse perspectives on urban sustainability, seeing a key learning objective of this course in students (1) learning to make links between disciplines; (2) having opportunities to reflect, disagree, share, and develop their own perspectives; and (3) developing a lifelong engagement and openness with ideas and learning. This is challenging for many students. To promote student learning and engagement in the class, we utilize active-learning and cooperative discussion techniques, and see these as times that the class reaches "interdisciplinarity". We employ place-based pedagogical approaches, focusing the class on the case-study (and students' adopted hometown) of Washington D.C., finding that a "layering" of perspectives on a single city helps students see disciplinary similarities and differences more clearly. For those considering a large-team interdisciplinary course, we stress the importance of a lead instructor for coordination-both conceptually and administratively-and adequate institutional support for this unique and challenging endeavor.

Springer eBooks, 2019

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

GeoJournal, May 23, 2007

A relationship between globalization, cities and immigration is increasingly apparent. Whether on... more A relationship between globalization, cities and immigration is increasingly apparent. Whether one is trying to understand Dubai, Toronto, or London, immigrants are culturally, economically, and spatially changing cities in significant ways. This study compares the roster of world cities with that of major urban immigrant destinations. The number of major urban immigrant destinations is growing due to the acceleration of immigration driven by income differentials, social networks and various state and local policies to recruit skilled and unskilled labor and replenish population. This study will present urban-level data on the foreign-born for 145 metropolitan areas of over 1 million people. It will focus on the world's 19 metropolitan areas with over 1 million foreign-born residents. Analysis of the data suggests that there is a range of destination types. Although not all world cities are immigrant gateways, many are. Keywords World Cities Á Immigration Á Globalization Globalization, the growth of cities and the global movement of people are increasingly interrelated processes (Sassen 1998, 2002a; Beaverstock et al. 2000a). It is impossible to understand the processes of globalization without studying cities, as they are the central locations in which global interconnections are forged. We contend it is also vital to study global immigration trends at the urban scale, to better understand how large-scale immigration is creating new and more urban immigrant destinations, often in overlooked settings (Benton-Short et al. 2005). These localities, which we refer to as immigrant gateways, take on different forms, but many are hyper-diverse, globally linked through transnational networks, and in some cases, increasingly segregated spaces. Immigrant cities are growing in number because of globalization and the acceleration of migration driven by income differentials, social networks, and various state policies to recruit skilled and unskilled laborers and to replenish population (Castles and Miller 2003: 7-8). The term gateway is often used to designate a major metropolitan area where large numbers of immigrants have settled (

Routledge eBooks, Jul 4, 2013

Part I Trends 1. The City and Nature: an Introduction 2. The Pre-Industrial City 3. The Industria... more Part I Trends 1. The City and Nature: an Introduction 2. The Pre-Industrial City 3. The Industrial City 4. Global Urban Trends 5. The Post Industrial City 6. The Developing City Part II: Urban Environmental Issues 7. Urban Sites 8. Hazards and Disasters 9. Urban Ecology 10. Water Pollution 11. Air Pollution 12. Cities and Climate 13. Garbage Part III Re-aligning Urban-Nature Relations 14. Sustainability 15. Race, Class and Environmental Justice 16. Practicing Urban Sustainability Postscript

Environment And Planning D: Society And Space, Jun 1, 2007

, at his second inauguration, President George W Bush took the oath of office and delivered a spe... more , at his second inauguration, President George W Bush took the oath of office and delivered a speech forcefully enunciating principles of extending democracy, freedom, and liberty throughout the world. This event took place amidst bollards, barriers, sentry boxes, more than 13 000 soldiers and police officers, and miles of security fences. (1) The irony was not hard to miss.``Washington D.C.'', observed conservative commentator George Will, resembled a``banana republic''. (2) Responses to the potential of terrorism, whether domestic or international, have had a profound impact on this city, and in particular on the highly visible public space of the National Mall. Intense surveillance and hypersecurity have changed both the physical and symbolic landscape of the city.``In a city that symbolizes freedom, barriers abound'', noted Washington newspaper columnist Jan Cienski (2002). Indeed,``Barricades and bollards have become the newest accessory on the country's psychic frontier ... .You might call it the architecture of paranoia'' (Brown, 1985 as quoted in Coaffee, 2004, page 202). In this paper I explore the paradox of democracy and hypersecurity in a post-September 11 world in one urban public space, the National Mall. Since September 11, security has been accepted as part of the war on terrorism. The authorities in charge of the National Mall have not always encouraged thoughtful and genuine public debate before accepting plans to make security fortifications. Indeed, security appears to have preempted concerns about access to public space in Washington, DC, despite growing public debate and the reality that such fortifications are ambiguous at best. This is of significant concern given that the National Mall is such a valued public space with important symbolic and spatial connections to national identity. The`security agenda' has, at the moment, captured hegemonic status and so is rewriting the meaning of the Mall in a way that tells us about power relationships in national political discourse (see Johnson, 1994; 1995). In addition, security measures may physically impede the Mall's public space, thus inconveniencing public access to memorials and other spaces or, more problematically, inhibiting the types of radical political protest such as civil rights protests, antiwar marches, and protests from marginalized voices that have historically played an important role in redefining American citizenship (Low, 2000, page 183).

Rowman & Littlefield eBooks, 2014

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Cities of North America Lisa Benton-Short Chapter 2: Changing Appro... more Chapter 1: An Introduction to Cities of North America Lisa Benton-Short Chapter 2: Changing Approaches to Urban Geography Katie Wells Chapter 3: An Urban History Robert Lewis Chapter 4: Border Cities Lindsey Sutton Part I: Urban Economies Chapter 5: Urban Economic Restructuring David Wilson and Matthew Anderson Chapter 6: Globalization and the City Yeong-Hyun Kim Part II: Urban Governance Chapter 7: Urban Governance Thomas J. Vicino Chapter 8: Planning and Politics Amanda Huron Part III: Urban Social/Cultural Challenges Chapter 9: Urban Inequities Deborah G. Martin Chapter 10: Urban Demographics and Identities Nathaniel M. Lewis Chapter 11: Suburban Challenges Bernadette Hanlon Part IV: The Urban Environment Chapter 12: Cities and Pollution Lisa Benton-Short and Christopher DeSousa Chapter 13: Cities and Hazards John P. Tiefenbacher Chapter 14: Urban Sustainability Geoff Buckley

In recent years and for a variety of reasons, cities have taken the lead in sustainability effort... more In recent years and for a variety of reasons, cities have taken the lead in sustainability efforts in the United States. 1 As federal leadership in the creation of environmental policies has faltered, there has been growing support for local initiatives, often referred to as a "new localism" in environmental policies. 2 The city scale can be a beneficial starting point for local activism and community involvement around sustainability. 3 Local policy is important for many reasons, including that cities have tremendous control over significant tools for change such as land use, public education, and economic development. 4 Cities also already undertake a myriad of planning exercises. It is not uncommon for a city to have 20 or more separate plans, often very detailed and focused on specific key areas such as open space and recreation, land use, climate action, resilience, hazard mitigation, urban forestry, water, historic preservation, or for specific neighborhood projects. Figure 1.1 captures the numerous plans for the city of Arlington, Virginia. Notably, these plans are generally undertaken and managed by just one or two city agencies. However, we argue that sustainability plans serve a different purpose and are unique in several key ways. Municipal sustainability plans are comprehensive visions, goals, and priorities for sustainability set forth by a government or other civic organizations. They typically are created with community input and the involvement of multiple departments. Such

Rowman & Littlefield eBooks, Dec 30, 2011

Advances in Developing Human Resources, Aug 25, 2015

The Problem With the rapid increase of urban populations, managing urban sustainability has becom... more The Problem With the rapid increase of urban populations, managing urban sustainability has become one of the most important development challenges of the 21st century. As cities plan for a sustainable future, human resource development (HRD) professionals have the potential to facilitate collaboration across multiple organizations and at various scales (neighborhood, ward, city, metropolitan area) and to foster culture change that embraces ecological protection, economic development, and social equity. Although the role of HRD in crises management as a result of major environmental disasters is discussed in the literature, the field of HRD is in its infancy in examining its role and approaches in greening the society and addressing urban environmental challenges proactively. The Solution This conceptual article examines sustainability and urban sustainability and their linkage with HRD, discusses the emergent roles of HRD in crisis management, presents opportunities and challenges for Green HRD as a proactive process, and concludes with a call for the moral imperative for HRD in urban sustainability in implementing long-term change processes with a social justice and equity agenda. The Stakeholders This article informs local government agencies, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, community groups, and their HRD leaders involved in urban sustainability planning and implementation on approaches to building new adaptive capacity and fostering culture change through collaborative learning and leadership interventions.

Urban Sustainability in the US, 2018

This chapter examines the role of urban green space in its many dimensions. Green space is connec... more This chapter examines the role of urban green space in its many dimensions. Green space is connected to climate, water, and energy. We explore the many terms and definitions associated with green spaces within the plans which included open spaces, street trees and community gardens, and other variations. We examine how cities are investing in the creation, expansion, or improvement of parks, green spaces, and open spaces. We then turn to efforts to expand the urban forest and tree canopy coverage through tree planting programs. We then examine the rise of community gardens and urban agriculture and how cities are supporting these bottom-up efforts. We discovered that while green space presents multiple benefits to communities, benefits of green space were most frequently framed as environmental rather than economic or social benefits.

Urban Sustainability in the US, 2018

A fresh and dependable supply of water is critical to sustaining life and supporting healthy comm... more A fresh and dependable supply of water is critical to sustaining life and supporting healthy communities, economies, and environments. In every US city, there are two main and often related water challenges: (1) supplying sufficient quantities of high-quality water to residents and consumers and (2) assuring that water quality in nearby waterbodies, like rivers and lakes, is not overly impacted by wastewater and stormwater runoff. This chapter examines both supply and quality issues and how cities are planning for and implementing more sustainable water systems. Water Supply In 2014, more than 100,000 residents of Flint, Michigan, were potentially exposed to high levels of lead in their drinking water. 1 As many as 12,000 of those were children who are particularly susceptible to the detrimental effects of lead. 2 The crisis emerged after the city switched its drinking water supply from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River. 3 This water was improperly treated, causing lead from aging pipes to leach into the public water supply. The Flint water crisis was a failure of governance and technology that had serious health implications. It also highlighted the fact that drinking water safety is a much wider problem, affecting other cities as well.

Urban Sustainability in the US, 2018

Urban Sustainability in the US, 2018