Description

Neighborhoods: Dutchtown & Shaw Segregation by Design was first offered during Fall 2016 at both SFS and at HSSU, enrolling students from both universities. Inter-university teams of students worked collaboratively to produce service-learning projects under the guidance of mentors from professional and academic backgrounds. Students were asked to evaluate and analyze policy and planning under the framework of Triple Bottom Line Sustainability to determine how segregation is manifested during periods of growth and decline. By placing these debates in a historical and local context, students discovered how policy and decision-making are entrenched in segregation and result in the spatial division of America’s cities. Through a series of lectures and workshops, students were introduced to research, theories, and debates currently being conducted on issues of segregation, city planning, urban policy and sustainability. Students teams created a neighborhood mitigation plan for six different communities in metropolitan St. Louis. The six communities were selected because they each represent a unique expression of segregation resulting from different forces which poses unique challenges and objectives for mitigation. Teams were equally comprised of Washington University architectural students in the Sam Fox School of Design and Urban Affairs students from Harris-Stowe. The plans were structured to reflect the structure of the course and as the course proceeded through each of its four parts, the students drafted that section of the plan. To assist in the writing of the plans, each team was assigned two mentors from various design and policy fields. As result of this expanded knowledge, the students were able to generate meaningful responses for the six selected communities.