Student MAP Conference
Saturday, February 8, 2025
WSU's McGregor Memorial Conference Center
495 Gilmour Mall, Detroit
Student Members: $20 | Late fee of $5 applied on January 28th. | Final day to register online: February 6th (in-person registrations only after)
Parking (for student attendees):
WSU Parking Structure 1 (450 W Palmer Ave, Detroit, MI 48202)
IF LEAVING AFTER 4:30 p.m.: Let them know you are there for the Student MAP Conference and they will let you out the structure.
Roundtable List:
PDF of Roundtable Professionals
Conference Agenda:
Student Presentations:
10:40 a.m. - 11:10 a.m.
A Comparative Case Study of Housing Subsidies Across the United States and Canada
By Emma Davis, Vitra Chodha, Paul Dickey (Wayne State University)
How do the current housing support systems for low-income families, like HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher and public housing impact affordability and economic outcomes for low-income households in the United States, compared to Canada’s low-income housing subsidies? We selected six cities across the United States and Canada - Seattle, Vancouver, Chicago, Toronto, Buffalo, and St. Catharines - and analyzed the historical context of housing in each city, their current housing policies, and how well the policies fulfill the needs of low-income residents. While we were unable to source sufficient data to answer the question conclusively, our research unearthed interesting differences between housing subsidy programs in the US and Canada and we noted that comprehensive portfolios of housing subsidy programs that address both development and affordability are most likely to be effective.
Community Land Trusts = Better Health and Wealth
By Tricia Talley (Wayne State University)
Leveraging the community land trust model for inclusive metropolitan redevelopment aims to enhance both the health and financial well-being of the neighborhood. The open-space community land trust will offer residents access to green spaces, promoting improved physical and mental health. Meanwhile, the housing community land trust will foster financial stability by ensuring access to long-term affordable housing options, creating a balanced and equitable foundation for community growth.
11:20 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
Transit Oriented Development in Norfolk, VA: Sustainable Development or Modern Day Urban Renewal?
By Kristin Caffray (Wayne State University)
The St. Paul’s Transformation Area Choice Neighborhood Initiative in Norfolk, Virginia seeks to transform a flood-prone public housing community built in 1953 during urban renewal, with a mixed-use, mixed-income development. Framed as a green initiative to address flooding through sustainable infrastructure and climate-resilient design, this effort is also presented as a strategy to reduce concentrated poverty, increase opportunity, and connect to the Downtown Norfolk Transit Center. However, few original residents have returned or signed leases in the new development, and residents were displaced to areas inaccessible to frequent transit service. The Norfolk project raises questions about who benefits from these improvements and why similar opportunities were unavailable to residents before the community’s demolition and displacement. This presentation examines parallels between this initiative and past harms of urban renewal, challenging whether some transit-oriented projects support community development or if they are a modern continuation of past planning failures. Recommendations for future TOD are based in reparative planning, participatory planning, and public ownership.
Uncovering the Common Root Cause of Rural Tourism Challenges: A Comparative Analysis of China and the U.S.
By Estella Zhang Qiming (University of Michigan)
Despite the vast differences in cultural, political, and economic contexts between China and the U.S., our interviews with stakeholders in Michigan (U.S.) and Anhui (China) reveal shared challenges in rural tourism——environmental sustainability concerns, limited distinct innovation in tourism offerings, infrastructure deficiencies, and insufficient community engagement and intrinsic motivation. This study identifies the common root cause behind the shared challenges in rural tourism as rooted in policy and governance. The analysis introduces an “Ideal Point” framework, which suggests that neither extreme—whether high or low levels of government intervention—is optimal for fostering sustainable rural tourism. Instead, the best approach lies in achieving a balanced level of intervention, tailored to the specific needs of each nation.
Poster Presentations:
The Accessibility of Public Transit Stops for Transit-Dependent Populations in Detroit
By Rongjia Zhang & Shuyang Shi (University of Michigan)
Our project evaluates the accessibility of public transit stops for transit-dependent populations (zero-car households, people below poverty level, youth and elderly) in Detroit by integrating DDOT bus data with demographic data by census tracts through ArcGIS mapping in two ways. The first way is to overlay demographic feature with weekly total DDOT bus frequency in each census tract. The second way is to overlay bus stop walking buffers with three types of transit-sensitive areas. Finally, we analyze focus areas which should be improved.
Revisualizing “Black Bottom” Detroit MI
By Ella Yokom, Spencer Kwek, Willyne Smith (Eastern Michigan University)
The Student Michigan Association of Planning (SMAP) Conference is an opportunity for planning students at universities throughout the state to learn about new planning research and best practices, get career advice and network with planning professionals.
The 2025 conference will be hosted by the Wayne State University Urban Studies and Planning Department on Saturday, February 8, 2025 in Detroit at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center. The conference program is created by a steering committee of planning students from WSU, MSU, GVSU, EMU, UM and UM-D.
Questions? Contact Andy Larsen at MAP: alarsen@planningmi.org
