Past Event

Shop Talk with Janet Smith

How has the transformation of public housing affected Chicago’s communities? What kinds of community-driven strategies should we enlist to preserve affordable housing?

Janet Smith, Associate Professor in UIC’s Urban Planning and Policy Program and co-director of the Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement, will discuss these questions and more.  Join us in Chicago’s Austin community as we grapple with hard issues and build bridges between the university and the community.

IRRPP will provide a limited number of free books to discussion participants.

More about Janet Smith

Janet Smith is an associate professor in UIC’s Urban Planning and Policy Program, as well as the co-director of the Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement, a research center that focuses on working to improve the conditions and lives of people in the Chicago metropolitan area. Janet’s teaching, research, and community service focuses on equity issues in local housing planning and policy implementation. Her recent research includes the transformation of public housing in Chicago and US; housing and health outcomes; expanding housing opportunities for people with disabilities; and implementing community driven strategies to preserve affordable housing. Previous funded research includes a homeless needs assessment for the Chicago region; a process study of relocating Chicago Housing Authority tenants; and the Regional Rental Market Analysis, a critical study of the supply and demand for affordable housing in the Chicago area that has helped build a regional dialogue on affordable housing. She has published two books: Where are Poor People to Live? Transforming Public Housing Communities and Diminishing High-Rise Public Housing.

This series is presented in partnership with The Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)  and The Public Square.

If you need a sign interpreter or require other arrangements to fully participate, please call 312.422.5580. For parking locations near the facility, please visit ChicagoParkingMap.com.