Bringing local voices into community revitalization: engaged communication research in Urban planning |
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| Authors: | George Villanueva Carmen Gonzalez Minhee Son Evelyn Moreno Wenlin Liu Sandra Ball-Rokeach |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Communication, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USAgvillanueva1@luc.edu;3. Department of Communication, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA;4. Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA;5. Jack J.?Valenti School of Communication, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA |
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| Abstract: | The need to better engage low-income communities affected by revitalization of the built environment has been well documented in urban planning. Guided by communication infrastructure theory (CIT), this study presents a research project that made concerted efforts at engaging neighborhoods of Northeast Los Angeles that are experiencing rapid gentrification. The project was a partnership with a multi-sector collaborative working on the revitalization of the L.A. River and its surrounding communities. This paper specifically demonstrates how CIT's social ecological orientation was applied to seek input on L.A. River and community revitalization from storytelling networks made up of residents, small businesses, and local media. We also examine the impact of this engaged research on the organizational partners of the collaborative, and their views on community engagement in revitalization. Lastly, we discuss how the lessons learned broadly speak to future opportunities and challenges that aim for communicative planning approaches to urban revitalization. |
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| Keywords: | Communication infrastructure theory engaged scholarship Urban planning and development communicative planning community engagement |
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