Monthly Archives: November 2022

Embedded Planning Is Worth The Struggle

Infographic by Columbia GSAPP students

Honored to close out the 2022 Lectures in Planning Series at Columbia GSAPP with:

“Embedded Planning Is Worth The Struggle”

Tuesday, November 29, 2022 @ 1:15pm NY / 4:15pm LA. We will be live streaming. For details, check out the event page: https://www.arch.columbia.edu/events/2735-jonathan-pacheco-bell

Session description:

Planning is political. Decisions about the built environment inherently impact people’s lives. Everything planners do involves a struggle over “who gets what, when, where, how, and why?” Planners respond to this debate but many of our practices have resulted in unjust planning. In this time of increasing interrogation of planning’s legacies of inequity, planners are moving with intention to be better partners. And as part of repair and healing, planners are seeking more ways to build meaningful community partnerships. No longer is technocratic rational planning the default. But while the pivot to participatory methods helped democratize the planning process, professional practice still prefers project-based, one-off, transactional engagement.

Orthodox planning must evolve.

A better way is possible.

Los Angeles-based urban planner Jonathan Pacheco Bell urges practitioners to consider Embedded Planning praxis. Developed by Bell on the ground in South Central LA, Embedded Planning is a way to fundamentally restructure community engagement and practice. Embedded Planning means planning from the street, not from a desk. Embedded Planners work in the spaces and places of community members, building bridges with marginalized communities harmed by inequitable planning. Embedded Planning is a praxis that puts theory into action to better this world. Since Bell declared Embedded Planning exists in 2018, it has grown into an international movement among emerging planners. In this talk, Bell will show how Embedded Planning is being used to transform engagement into lasting community partnerships rooted in trust.

Community members have embraced Embedded Planning because they feel seen and included. Yet despite this praxis bringing ignored voices to the table, Bell encountered blatant hostility from planning figureheads who judged Embedded Planning as “too political.” Through storytelling and personal reflection, Bell will illustrate the struggle to carry out Embedded Planning in the face of power. Attendees will learn the challenges and benefits of this unorthodox approach and understand why this praxis is the future of planning.

Embedded Planning at Columbia University

Mark Your Calendars, 11-29-22

“Embedded Planning is Worth The Struggle”

Columbia University, Lectures in Planning Series, in-person & online

By: Jonathan Pacheco Bell, MAUP+MLIS @c1typlann3r

Session excerpt:

In this time of increasing interrogation of planning’s legacies of inequity, planners are moving with intention to be better partners. And as part of repair and healing, planners are seeking more ways to build meaningful community #partnerships. No longer is technocratic rational planning the default.

But while the pivot to participatory methods helped democratize the planning process, professional practice still prefers project-based, one-off, transactional engagement.

Orthodox planning must evolve.

A better way is possible.

Los Angeles-based urban planner Jonathan Pacheco Bell urges practitioners to consider Embedded Planning praxis. Developed by Bell on the ground in South Central LA, Embedded Planning is a way to fundamentally restructure community engagement and practice. Embedded Planning means planning from the street, not from a desk. Embedded Planners work in the spaces and places of community members, building bridges with marginalized communities harmed by inequitable planning. Embedded Planning is a #praxis that puts theory into action to better this world.

Since Bell declared Embedded Planning exists in 2018, it has grown into an international movement among emerging planners. In this talk, Bell will show how #EmbeddedPlanning is being used to transform engagement into lasting community partnerships rooted in trust.

Community members have embraced Embedded Planning because they feel seen and included. Yet despite this praxis bringing ignored voices to the table, Bell encountered blatant #hostility from planning figureheads who judged Embedded Planning as “too political.” Through storytelling and personal reflection, Bell will illustrate the struggle to carry out Embedded Planning in the face of power. Attendees will learn the challenges and benefits of this unorthodox approach and understand why this praxis is the future of planning.

[… is that Kenny Uong on the cover?!]

I Joined Mastodon

Twitter has gone to hell. I want no part of it.

On Election Night 2022, I joined Mastodon. Launched in 2016, Mastodon is an open source alternative to Twitter. Sign ups spiked in the last several weeks. I see why.

I remember a time before what we were calling The Information Superhighway. I remember the thrill of the nascent world wide web. Mastodon feels like I’m back in those early internet days. No ads. No trolls. No tech bro degradation. While it’s been only a couple days, the ethos is conversation. Nobody trying to go viral. No pendejos. It’s what Twitter used to be.

Much has been said about how confusing Mastodon is compared to Twitter — and any other social network. It’s not that complicated though. I figured out how to join in 15 minutes. Time will vary for every user. Yes there’s a learning curving, as there is with any new tool. It’s worth it. This runs counter to today’s insta-gratification culture but patience is key. Patient follow through.

Mastodon is a decentralized network of communities, known in techspeak as “instances.” They’re organized around a topic, region, interest, or theme. You register your account on an instance of choice. Some require a waiting period to join. Others are instantaneous. After joining, you have access to other instances in the network. You can follow and engage folks on yours and other instances. You don’t log into Mastodon so much as you log into your account on your instance/community, and from there you can access everything on Mastodon.

I joined the instance Mapstodon.space. Yes it’s a play on words! The geographer-focused community is a “gathering space for GIS, mapping, geospatial and cartography professionals and enthusiasts.” It was this thread on #GeographyTwitter that helped me figure out this place. As an urban planner, I feel at home here.

You can find me at @mapstondon.space/@c1typlann3r