Reimagining Urban Planning: Urban Planning and its Relationship to Land (August 8, 2024)

Reimagining Planning is a monthly series of public webinars that focuses on the edge of innovation in urban planning and policy. Traditionally Urban Planning has had a long legacy of harming communities of color, developing and implementing racist policies, and destruction of the built environment. This series openly critiques this current iteration of urban planning in the hopes of proposing new theories, strategies, and concepts that help us arrive at an iteration of the field where we all belong. We are interested in helping foster meaningful conversations among urban planners hungry for more and to engage with new audiences that have always been curious about urban planning but may not know what exactly do urban planners do.

It can be assumed that the planning profession trains urban planners to facilitate the transaction of land, through mechanisms such as zoning, land use, real estate, and community development. Yet we have to ask ourselves: who benefits from these transactions versus who do these transactions impact the most, and at what cost? This webinar will explore different alternatives to our understanding of land, and examples of the ways in which we can problematize our relationship to the land within current systemic structures.

This installment of the webinar series brought together:

Rasheedah Phillips, Director of Housing, leads PolicyLink’s national advocacy to support the growing tenants’ rights, housing, and land use movements in partnership with grassroots partners, movement leaders, industry, and government leaders. Rasheedah has led various housing policy campaigns that resulted in significant legislative changes, including the Renter’s Access Act, one of the strongest laws in the nation to address blanket ban eviction polices having a disparate impact on renters of color. Rasheedah previously served as the Senior Advocate Resources & Training Attorney at Shriver Center on Poverty Law. Rasheedah’s leadership has been nationally recognized and is also an interdisciplinary afrofuturist artist and global cultural produce

Kaitlyn Quackenbush’s personal mission is to thoughtfully and humbly contribute to community-led collective movements that build staying power and realize a more just and equal California.Her experience includes leading impactful policy development, building robust community-based programs organized around social equity, and cultivating durable trusting partnerships with a diverse array of stakeholders. As Senior Director at Coro Northern California, Kaitlyn manages the Partnership for the Bay’s Future (PBF) fellowship. Kaitlyn is proud to have introduced the City of Richmond’s first ever Equitable Public Land Policy informing the lease, sale, and development of affordable housing on city-owned land with a preference for permanently affordable housing and community ownership.​​​​​

James Huynh is the coalitions coordinator for Richmond LAND, an emerging land trust focused in Richmond and West Contra Costa County and has been leading in engaging residents in the process of bringing public land into community hands. He is focused on thinking through how resident power can translate into collective ownership and removing land from the speculative market.

Ojan Mobedshahi is the Finance Director and a co-founder of the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EB PREC), a democratic, BIPOC-led cooperative that takes real estate off the speculative market to create permanently affordable, community-controlled land and housing. He graduated from Pitzer College with a B.A. in economics and a minor in Spanish, and is currently getting his Masters in Real Estate Development and Design at UC Berkeley to increase his capacity to take on larger and more complex projects with and for the community. Ojan lives in a “tiny house” with his partner and daughter, and shepherds a small flock of sheep who manage grasslands for soil health and fire maintenance in the hills of Contra Costa County​​​​​

Paul Bell has dedicated over eight years to community planning and development, with a focus on creating equitable and sustainable communities. His work delves into the cultural and spiritual aspects of community, seeking to hold space for everyone to recognize themselves in their communities. Paul maintains a vision of community building that focuses on the capacity of people, honouring the spirit of place, and works towards a sustainable future. His work in the private sector, public sector, and in territorial planning has enabled him to amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard, ensuring that the planning process remains open, accessible, and equitable. Paul is a Registered Professional Planner and serves on the Canadian Institute of Planners Board of Directors.