Charting Renewal

This online panel presentation and public discussion about housing, redevelopment, social justice and the replacement of I-81 will be held virtually from 5:30 to 7 p.m. April 1.

The replacement of the I-81 viaduct in Syracuse provides new housing and economic opportunities for the neighborhoods adjacent to the highway. This symposium, “Charting Renewal,” will focus on urban design and issues of social and economic justice. This conversation will consider critical questions as the city confronts what comes next: What makes a good community? What is the relationship between public space and private development? How does good design contribute to the success of neighborhoods and the people who live there? What can we learn from successful housing models elsewhere?

This is the first of three planned events addressing housing issues in Syracuse and will create a dialogue among and between residents, local leaders and national experts on the history and impact of other urban revitalization projects.

Panelists will include: Lanessa Chaplin, Esq., project counsel for the New York Civil Liberties Union; Lizabeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies, Department of History, Harvard University; Lawrence Vale, associate dean and Ford Professor of Urban Design and Planning, MIT, and John Washington, organizer and political educator, People’s Action. The discussion will be moderated by Kishi Ducre, associate dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and associate professor, Department of African American Studies, Syracuse University.