Beyond the City Limits: Regional Equity As an Emerging Issue

Our thesis is that this linkage depends upon definition and achievement of regional equity fairness in the distribution of, and opportunities for access to, developed urban land

Reprint of article: A Thought for a Growing South by Lewis Mumford, with Commentary by David R. Godschalk

With so much attention focused on planning for the "new South," the sense of a historical perspective is often lost. Carolina Planning is grateful to two of our readers for bringing the following article by Lewis Mumford to our attention, suggesting that after forty years it "may still be worth reading." Mumford, best known for his pioneering works such as The Culture of Cities (1938), wrote "A Thought for the Growing South" in 1949 after spending a year teaching in North Carolina universities. The article was commissioned by George Myers Stephens, publisher of The Southern Packet (who was also the father of two graduates of the Department of City and Regional Planning at UNC-Chapel Hill). We reprint the article here with great pleasure, along with commentary by DCRP professor David R. Godschalk, who explores the relevance of Mumford 's thoughts to the state of the "growing South" of today. We hope that renewed examination of this piece will be thought-provoking to current planning students and practitioners, now in a position to guide the course of development in our region

Turning Points in Planning Education: The UNC Experience

Planning education in the US faced major turning points during the last half of the twentieth century. It went from design to social science-based curricula, developed functional specializations beyond comprehensive planning, introduced computer technology, and responded to globalization. This article reflects on the impacts of these turning points on the Department of City and Regional Planning (DCRP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Progress Report on Charting a Course for Our Coast: Not All Smooth Sailing

This report discusses progress made during the past five years toward implementing the 1994 report of the North Carolina Coastal Futures Committee, as reviewed at the State of the Coast Summit held in Wilmington on October 8, 1999. It compares the recommendations from Charting a Course for Our Coast with accomplishments to date, pointing out some dangerous shoals

Some Thoughts On Planners and the New Dispute Resolution (Commentary)

Dispute resolution techniques have come a long way from the old ad hoc approaches derived from academic psychology experiments. The new methods deserve an important place in the planner's tool kit. In fact, planners trained in the new techniques often are better equipped to resolve development disputes than lawyers or outside mediators

Hazard Reduction Through Development Management in Hurricane-Prone Localities: State of the Art

The state of the art in using development management strategies to reduce hurricane hazards is explored through a 1984 survey of hurricane-prone localities in 19 states. Contrary to some of the hazard mitigation literature, results show not only a high priority for hazard mitigation but also a high reliance on development management approaches, as compared with building, strengthening, and environmental alteration

Top 10 Planning Events in North Carolina, 1946 – 2006

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of City and Regional Planning, this article outlines the top ten planning events, plans, and programs that have occurred in North Carolina in the past 60 years

Carolina Forum: Shifting Urban Policy Targets: Impacts on North Carolina and the South; Planning for Natural Diversity: The N.C. Natural Heritage Program

This edition of Carolina Forum includes the following two reports: SHIFTING URBAN POLICY TARGETS: IMPACTS ON NORTH CAROLINA AND THE SOUTH: According to the press, the states of the Snowbelt are involved In a "new civil war" with the states of the Sunbelt. Governors have become generals, defending their regions. Skirmishes are fought in the North and South; while the major battle goes on in Washington, D.C. Battalions of regional interest groups are marshalled, each firing broadsides of research and policy analysis. Computers are the primary engines of war, supplying ammunition for policy thrusts and counterthrusts. To the victors go the spoils in the form of new federal funding formulas. Is this simply another media event, trying to capture public attention by overplaying political rhetoric? Maybe so, but beneath the rhetoric a significant shift In federal policy Is being engineered which will have lasting consequences for the citizens and public officials of North Carolina and other developing southern states. Under the guise of "targeting" federal funds on urban problem areas, the present administration Is systematically changing the rules for allocation of grants so as to favor older, declining cities, mostly In the Northeast and Midwest, while neglecting newer, growing southern and western areas. PLANNING FOR NATURAL DIVERSITY: THE N.C. NATURAL HERITAGE PROGRAM: For conservationists in North Carolina, it is an exciting time. In recent months, a four million dollar purchase of Currituck Banks sanctuaries has been made possible by the largest conservation gift in the history of American foundations. The preservation of the Green Swamp national natural landmark has been achieved through one of the largest land donations by an American corporation. Fund raising and negotiations are in progress to acquire more of North Carolina's finest natural areas. A strong conservation spirit is gaining force. Conservation in North Carolina is scoring victories through an unusual alliance of environmentalists, business, universities, foundations, and government. Many of the current achievements are spawned by the creation of two young and parallel efforts: the North Carolina Nature Conservancy and the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program

Benefit-Cost Analysis of FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grants

Mitigation ameliorates the impact of natural hazards on communities by reducing loss of life and injury, property and environmental damage, and social and economic disruption. The potential to reduce these losses brings many benefits, but every mitigation activity has a cost that must be considered in our world of limited resources. In principle benefit-cost analysis (BCA) can be used to assess a mitigation activity’s expected net benefits (discounted future benefits less discounted costs), but in practice this often proves difficult. This paper reports on a study that refined BCA methodologies and applied them to a national statistical sample of FEMA mitigation activities over a ten-year period for earthquake, flood, and wind hazards. The results indicate that the overall benefit-cost ratio for FEMA mitigation grants is about 4 to 1, though the ratio varies according to hazard and mitigation type.

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe