Engineering + Urban Planning with Dr. Steve Hankey
Summary
TLDRThe speaker discusses their work in urban planning, focusing on creating healthy environments for communities. This includes promoting active lifestyles through biking and walking, protecting against environmental hazards like air quality issues, and promoting mental health. Their journey into urban planning began after working at Zipcar, where they were introduced to urban planning concepts. The speaker appreciates the tangible changes urban planning can bring to communities, particularly through projects like trail systems and parkways. They emphasize the broad scope of urban planning, from housing to equity issues, and the importance of focusing on areas of personal impact.
Takeaways
- π΄ Urban planning aims to create environments where every community can thrive, focusing on promoting healthy lifestyles.
- π The goal is to provide spaces where people can be active, like walking and biking areas, improving overall health.
- π³ Urban planning also addresses protection from environmental hazards, such as improving air quality and reducing exposure to contaminants.
- π§ A newer focus in urban planning is promoting mental health through thoughtful environmental design.
- ποΈ The speaker's introduction to urban planning began after an engineering undergraduate degree, with practical work at Zipcar, which was influenced by urban planners.
- π Working with Zipcar exposed the speaker to various neighborhoods, fostering an interest in urban planning and community impact.
- π The speaker pursued both urban planning and engineering in graduate school, expanding their understanding of the field.
- π· Unlike traditional engineering, urban planning allows for visible change on the ground, especially in community projects like bike and pedestrian paths.
- ποΈ Projects in urban planning, such as trails and parkways, may progress slowly, but they lead to tangible improvements in the urban landscape.
- π Urban planning is a broad field, encompassing housing, environment, equity, and community engagement, requiring a focus on areas where one can make a significant impact.
Q & A
What is the speaker's definition of urban planning?
-The speaker defines urban planning as creating processes and the ability to allow every community to thrive, with a focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle and protecting communities from environmental hazards.
How does the speaker connect urban planning to health?
-The speaker connects urban planning to health by emphasizing the creation of spaces where people can be active (e.g., biking, walking) and are protected from environmental hazards like poor air quality. They also mention promoting mental health as a newer area of focus.
What kind of work has the speaker been involved in related to air quality?
-The speaker mentions working on protecting communities from exposure to air quality issues and other contaminants as part of their urban planning efforts.
How did the speaker become interested in urban planning?
-The speaker became interested in urban planning after working for Zipcar, where they were exposed to urban planning through projects involving placing cars in different neighborhoods. This experience, combined with their background in engineering, led them to study both urban planning and engineering in graduate school.
What did the speaker study in undergraduate and graduate school?
-The speaker studied engineering in their undergraduate years and later pursued both urban planning and engineering in graduate school.
What is one of the aspects the speaker enjoys about urban planning?
-The speaker enjoys seeing tangible changes in the urban environment as a result of their work, such as improved bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, which directly benefits the community.
What types of projects has the speaker worked on?
-The speaker has worked on projects involving bicycle and pedestrian counts, planning trail systems, parkways, and other community-focused urban planning efforts.
How does the speaker feel about the pace of change in urban planning?
-While the speaker acknowledges that change can be slower than desired, they find it rewarding to see gradual improvements in urban environments over time.
What makes urban planning a broad and complex field according to the speaker?
-Urban planning is broad because it encompasses a wide range of issues, including housing, the environment, equity, and community engagement, making it a field with diverse and intersecting areas of focus.
What advice does the speaker offer for those entering the field of urban planning?
-The speaker suggests that individuals entering the field should first explore various topics within urban planning and then focus on the areas where they feel they can make the most impact.
Outlines
π΄ββοΈ Promoting Community Health Through Active Lifestyles and Urban Planning
This paragraph discusses the importance of creating urban environments that promote community health. The speaker emphasizes providing spaces for physical activities like biking and walking, as well as ensuring protection from environmental hazards, such as poor air quality. Mental health is also highlighted as a growing focus. The speaker describes how urban planning can support these initiatives by creating spaces where people can live healthier lives. Their personal journey into urban planning began after their undergraduate studies in engineering, where they joined Zipcar and were exposed to urban planning concepts. This experience led them to pursue further education in both urban planning and engineering.
π³ Impacting Communities through Urban Planning and Engineering
In this section, the speaker reflects on their career in urban planning and the ability to see tangible changes in the community over time. They express appreciation for how urban planning allows them to work directly with communities on projects like bicycle and pedestrian counts, planning trail systems, and parkways. Unlike other fields, urban planning enables professionals to witness real, gradual changes in neighborhoods. The speaker describes their experience working in Minneapolis and other areas, emphasizing the rewarding nature of seeing community transformations, even if progress may sometimes feel slow.
ποΈ The Broad Scope and Challenges of Urban Planning
Here, the speaker elaborates on the broad and multifaceted nature of urban planning, which includes addressing a wide range of issues such as housing, the environment, equity, and community engagement. While the broad scope of urban planning can be challenging, the speaker advises focusing on the areas where individuals can make the most impact. They recommend that by the end of one's time in the field, it's important to reflect on personal values and determine where to concentrate efforts in order to create meaningful change.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Urban Planning
π‘Health
π‘Biking and Walking
π‘Air Quality
π‘Mental Health
π‘Community Engagement
π‘Equity
π‘Engineering
π‘Environmental Hazards
π‘Visible Change
Highlights
Urban planning focuses on creating processes and abilities to allow every community to thrive, particularly in the area of health.
Key areas of focus in urban planning for health include providing spaces for biking and walking and protecting people from environmental hazards.
Improving air quality and mental health are growing areas of emphasis within urban planning.
The speaker chose urban planning after an undergraduate degree in engineering and working at Zipcar, which was managed by urban planners.
Working at Zipcar involved understanding different neighborhoods and helped the speaker become more aware of urban planning issues.
The speaker pursued both urban planning and engineering in graduate school to broaden their expertise beyond just engineering.
One attractive aspect of urban planning is the ability to see tangible change over time in communities, unlike other fields.
Urban planning projects often involve working with communities on initiatives like bicycle and pedestrian counts, trail systems, and parkways.
The speaker has seen real-world changes in Minneapolis and other areas through these community-based projects.
Urban planning encompasses a broad range of topics, including housing, the environment, equity issues, and community engagement.
One challenge in urban planning is its wide scope, which includes anything you can imagine in an urban environment.
The speaker encourages individuals to explore a variety of urban planning topics before honing in on a specific area where they can make the most impact.
Urban planning allows practitioners to make an impact in the world by shaping the physical and social environments of cities.
The speaker highlights the satisfaction of seeing slow but meaningful progress in community projects.
Despite the broad nature of the field, urban planning offers the opportunity to engage with diverse challenges and solutions in city environments.
Transcripts
[Music]
by definition would be you know creating
the the processes and the ability to
allow every community to thrive a lot of
the work we do is on health you know and
instead of providing spaces and places
where people can have a healthy
lifestyle so for me that means you know
providing places where people can be
active so biking and walking you know in
a sort of frequent manner being
protected against environmental hazards
we do a lot of work with air quality so
protecting against you know exposure to
air quality and other contaminants you
know a newer area is having promoting
mental health so I guess sort of having
for health in a lot of different domains
but creating you know places in the
urban environment where people can be
healthy so I got I choose to urban
planning after I was an undergraduate
so my undergraduate was in engineering I
took a job with a company called Zipcar
out of college so car was run by a bunch
of urban planners you know or many urban
planners so I got really introduced to
the topic a lot of the work we were
doing was sort of you know locating zip
cars you know in different neighborhoods
and sort of learning about those
neighborhoods that kind of opened my
eyes up to it and when I decided to go
back to graduate school I you know
studied both urban planning and
engineering and so that's sort of you
know opened my eyes to sort of not only
the engineering side I guess which I was
you know trained in at the beginning but
also to to all the topics that are
within urban planning one thing I really
liked about it as opposed to sort of
some of the engineering things I had
worked on is that you get to see a lot
more change on the ground through a lot
of the projects that we've been working
on you know for me both in Minneapolis
and then then here as well you know a
lot of those projects have been working
with the community on bicycle and
pedestrian counts and planning for trail
systems and parkways and those sorts of
things and so you know over the years
you actually get to see the ground
change you know unlike a lot of fields
you know we're sort of out there working
with people and you actually get to see
the changes little by little which could
be maybe not as quick as you want a lot
of times but for me it's cool to see
that that happened one of the cool
things about it and I think one of the
tough things to tackle is that it's
really broad urban planning encompasses
anything you can imagine in a city or an
urban environment in so that could be
you know housing or the environment
or equity issues or community engagement
you know lots and lots of things and so
yeah I think it's useful to sort of
first try and take as much of that as
you can but then decide sure to where
you want to make your impact to try and
hone in by the end of your time here on
I'm sort of what what's important to you
and where you think you can make an
impact in the world and that's what's up
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