urban-universities-and-community-revitalization-efforts-opportunities-for-student-engagement-and-education

The University of Alabama at Birmingham UAB Civil Engineering department through its Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center, SSCRC has a long history of collaboration with the City of

Paper ID #30407

Urban Universities and Community Revitalization Efforts: Opportunities for Student Engagement and Education

Dr Fouad H Fouad, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Dr Fouad H Fouad, Ph.D., P.E., is Professor and Chairman of the Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and the Director of the UAB Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center Dr Fouad is a fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Dr Fouad’s research interest is in the area of infrastructure design, maintenance, and rehabilitation with a focus on sustainable green building design and construction.

Miss Paula Alvarez Pino

Paula Alvarez Pino is the Associate Director of the Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center at University

of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Paula is in charge of monitoring the progress of research, outreach and training activities in the center, as well as to set short and long-term goals to ensure the continuous progress

of the SSCRC Paula collaborates with the City of Birmingham as liaison in several projects related to the built environment and to improving the overall quality of life of the communities Paula plans international research experience programs for undergraduate and graduate students in collaboration with international partners She has helped organize and develop international workshops in the field of sustainability and smart cities Paula has also developed outreach programs that educate the youth about the principles of sustainability Paula received a Bachelors and Master’s of Science in Civil Engineering from UAB, and

is a credentialed professional of Envision Sustainable Infrastructure rating system (ENV SP) Paula has

a research interest in utility distribution poles and the development of an innovative smart pole for smart cities.

Prof Andrew J Sullivan, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Dr Mona N Fouad, University of Alabama at Birmingham

c

Urban Universities and Community Revitalization Efforts:

Opportunities for Student Engagement and Education

Abstract

Urban universities are well positioned to become catalysts for neighborhood revitalization and to drive change in surrounding communities due to their proximity to adjacent neighborhoods and their established relationships with industry and organizations that can support community development Urban universities possess human capital, which includes talented students and faculty who have unique capabilities to generate new knowledge and cutting-edge information for the benefit of their communities

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Civil Engineering department (through its Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center, SSCRC) has a long history of collaboration with the City of Birmingham, local industry, and community partners working together towards the common goal of improving the health and quality of life in our communities The Center enables interdisciplinary collaboration among faculty across the university focusing on understanding and transforming the impacts of urbanization at the scientific, economic, and human levels The main focus of the UAB Civil Engineering department and the SSCRC has been on the built environment and its impact on quality of life

This paper describes the process of how UAB, through the Civil Engineering department and the SSCRC, has developed and established strong partnerships with the city and local industry for the sake of improving our communities These collaborations create mutually beneficial

relationships that provide an opportunity for students to gain experience addressing real-life challenges that impact our community, while the city and its residents benefit from the

university’s technical expertise in meeting those challenges Through such efforts, our students develop strong local professional networks and gain practical experiences that enhance their professional opportunities upon graduation

The role of these collaborations in conducting research and developing innovative solutions to enhance the quality of life in our communities is explained This paper presents case studies of efforts to revitalize communities in our city through research, training, and community

engagement The importance of involving undergraduate and graduate students in all stages of this work, as well as creating career opportunities for them, is emphasized

Background

Urban universities have an increasingly important role in the growth and development of cities and their communities According to the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, in the past quarter century urban universities have recognized the many challenges facing their cities and have increased their engagement efforts to address pressing community issues [1] In the process

of expanding their community engagement, universities are providing opportunities to students

to broaden their education, be involved in real life challenges, and have a positive impact in their community

Urban universities are often their cities’ largest employers and represent significant economic engines [1] UAB is the largest employer in Birmingham and the second largest employer in the State of Alabama, and prides itself on being in the community and of the community Engaging with the community in meaningful and mutually beneficial collaborations that contribute to the public good is part of our university’s strategic plan Also part of the strategic plan, a new

university-wide Grand Challenge initiative was designed to energize the talent on and around our campus to understand and solve complex community problems This research initiative was launched early in 2018 and promotes ambitious multidisciplinary research efforts to solve major urban challenges

The Grand Challenge Initiative at UAB

Alabama struggles with low rankings in a number of public health metrics, and therefore the program selected by the university for the Grand Challenge is focused on improving the health of our communities The long-term goal of the Grand Challenge program is to lift our state out of the bottom 10 in national health rankings by the year 2030 The midterm objective is to improve the quality of life in our local communities by focusing on changes that support active living, good nutrition, and wellness through enhancements to policies, systems, and the built

environment

Based on its established partnerships with the city and its communities, its faculty expertise, and its history of interdisciplinary collaboration, the UAB Civil Engineering department’s

Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center was selected to lead the Grand Challenge Built

Environment Team This team is focused on revitalization efforts that will transform the built environments in our city’s neighborhoods to ones that will promote healthy lifestyles and

behaviors Throughout this effort, the Built Environment Team has looked for ways to

incorporate meaningful student involvement

The Built Environment Team

The built environment refers to human-made spaces and includes all of the physical parts of where we live and work According to the Centers for Disease Control, the built environment comprises homes, buildings, sidewalks, open spaces, parks etc [2] There is strong evidence that the built environment has an impact on health, especially in relation to chronic diseases [3] According to Kent and Thompson, physical inactivity, social isolation, and obesity are three of the major risk factors for many of the chronic diseases facing our society and all can be, to some degree, influenced by the built environment [4]

A person’s level of physical activity is directly influenced by the built environment in which he

or she lives and works For example, a lack of accessible sidewalks, bicycle lanes, trails, and walking paths contribute to sedentary habits [2] These habits lead to poor health outcomes such

as obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer The burden of these chronic diseases can be reduced through the design of built environments that promote and support physical activity, connect communities, and provide access to healthy foods

Enhancing the built environment of a community is a complex challenge that requires a

comprehensive approach and collaboration from multiple partners The Built Environment Team

is a diverse group that includes faculty and students, industry leaders, local civic organizations, and community and government representatives The Team has developed short-term goals to be achieved by 2023 and midterm goals to be achieved by 2025 For the short-term goals, five local communities were selected to launch and test community revitalization efforts The selected communities are in close proximity to UAB’s campus and are central to the city’s strategic plan

In the summer of 2019, the team began to develop a plan to enhance the built environment of these communities Through our work in these five communities, the Built Environment Team will develop and test a community revitalization methodology that can then be implemented across other communities in the state

Student Involvement

Student involvement is a key focus of the Built Environment Team In our previous experience engaging students in community projects, we have observed that students, as well as faculty, have a great interest in being involved in solving challenges close to home By involving

undergraduate and graduate students in this community-based project, we aim to:

• Prepare students for professional practice by engaging them in some of the nation’s most difficult and enduring challenges;

• Develop students’ research capacities and skills;

• Reinforce students’ team work skills and expose them to real-life meetings with the community, industry partners, and government representatives;

• Expose students to applied research projects where they get to implement the skills that they have learned in the classroom;

• Provide students with networking opportunities with industry stakeholders and

community leaders to establish connections that could result in post-graduation

opportunities;

• Create career opportunities for students to remain in the city after graduation and to continue to contribute to the city’s growth;

• Strengthen the ties between the community and our university;

• Leverage UAB’s resources to have a positive impact in the local community

Through the Civil Engineering department, we selected undergraduate and graduate students from the School of Engineering to be part of the Built Environment Team In order to

successfully involve these students and positively influence the community, well-designed research projects, where the research needs of the community are aligned with the students’ knowledge and faculty expertise, are key This requires close coordination between faculty members leading the research and the community leaders and stakeholders

To achieve this coordination and meet our student engagement goals, we hosted several planning meetings with members of the demonstration communities prior to the launch of Built

Environment Team efforts During these meetings we prioritized the needs of the communities, identified faculty and staff across campus with related expertise, defined undergraduate and graduate student projects, and developed a plan with well-defined deliverables

Built Environment Team Case Studies

The Built Environment Team holds biweekly meetings where the students have an opportunity to report on their research and obtain input and guidance from the team members In addition to these biweekly meetings, faculty and staff from the Civil Engineering Department and SSCRC meet regularly with the students to coordinate efforts, track project progress, and ensure the students are progressing in the right direction

For each demonstration community, the students are developing plans to enhance the built

environment into one that promotes activity and healthy lifestyles As an example, in our first two communities, Bush Hills in west Birmingham and Kingston in east Birmingham, the

students performed the following steps:

1 Literature Review: As a first step, the students performed an extensive literature review regarding the built environment, its effect on health, and the many options available to enhance the built environment of a community The students also studied communities across the country that have worked on similar efforts

2 Data Gathering: In order for the students to develop a revitalization plan for their

assigned community, students must have a thorough understanding of the current

conditions of the community and the residents’ needs As part of this step, the students performed the following:

 Review of existing data and development plans The students obtained

demographic, socioeconomic and health data and studied nine different revitalization plans that pertain to our city and its communities These plans include the City of Birmingham Comprehensive Plan, Sidewalk Master Plan, B-Active Plan, and others

 Attended community meetings During the meetings, the students learned about what the citizens of the community need and want Figure 1 and 2 show one of the meetings for the Bush Hills neighborhood Appendix 1 shows the SWOT analysis performed for the same community

 Conducted walk audits The students utilized the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscape (MAPS), which is an audit tool that identifies the strengths and weaknesses of a community During the walk audits the students collected information regarding built environment elements such as sidewalks, crosswalks, blight, lighting etc The collected data during the walk audits was used as basis for the proposed improvement

 Audited community parks and green spaces By utilizing the Community Park Audit Tool (CPAT) the students obtained information about the conditions of the parks in each community and evaluated their potential to promote physical activity Appendix 2 shows an example of the data collected by one of the students utilizing the CPAT tool

 Collected baseline data related to community activity These included pedestrian counts, vehicle counts, collection of speed data, park activity counts, and counts

of transit users These data will be updated in several years so that before/after comparisons can be made

Figure 1 and 2: Bush Hills neighborhood meetings

3 Community Analysis and Goal Prioritization: Based on the literature review and the data collected, the students, in collaboration with the rest of the members of the Built

Environment Team, assembled a list of key community priorities and selected pedestrian corridors hat will serve as the initial foundation of the revitalization efforts Appendix 3 shows a map developed by the Built Environment Team showing the selected pedestrian corridors in the Kingston neighborhood

4 Work Plan: Once the key priorities of the community were selected, the students

developed a work plan, divided into two phases, where they included the short- and term actions that will need to take place for the selected community This plan evolved out of feedback from the Built Environment Team members and external stakeholders The students, with assistance from faculty and industry partners, also developed a cost estimate for each of the proposed revitalization actions Appendix 4 shows the work plan developed for the Kingston neighborhood and Appendix 5 shows some examples of the maps developed for the work plan that includes sidewalks, crosswalks, bus shelters, green spaces, blight, and signage

5 Present Plan to Community Leaders and Industry Stakeholders: The students developed a presentation to deliver the draft plan to the community representatives and industry stakeholders While faculty and staff of the Civil Engineering Department and Built Environment Team members reviewed and edited the final PowerPoint Presentation, the students were responsible for presenting the draft document to the community

representatives and industry stakeholders During these presentations, the students

obtained valuable feedback from the community and industry that was included in their final report Figure 3 shows one of the students presenting the draft product to

representatives of the Bush Hills neighborhood

Figure 3: Student presenting final report to representatives of Bush Hills

6 Final Report: As a final step, the students developed a final report including all the

information collected during the project, the work plan, and the recommendations The students’ final reports were disseminated and used by the Built Environment Team for the implementation phase of the community project

As we continue our work on this project, we are already seeing that participating in this

community-based research initiative adds great value to students’ college education By

providing the students with these unique learning experiences, we are preparing them to interact and succeed in an increasingly interconnected world Combining the learning goals of the

students with the needs of the community is a mutually beneficial model that enhances the

student growth and has a positive impact in the community Students have 1) learned about the role of civil engineers in society and the impacts their designs can have on communities, 2) gained experience in hands-on community-based research projects, and 3) learned about the importance of teamwork and relationships between people

One graduate civil engineering student who was part of the Built Environment Team completed her master’s thesis, “The Role of the Built Environment in Transforming Underserved

Neighborhoods into Smart and Connected Communities,” based on the work that she performed for the Grand Challenge initiative Of the experience, this student said:

Being part of the university Grand Challenge and the Built Environment Team provided a unique experience for me as a student I was given access to important relationships with local organizations, industry leaders, and representatives from the city I was able to quickly connect with residents through community meetings and see a greater value to my research These connections allowed my research to exist and were helpful resources throughout the entire process

Working on this research project was an incredible experience, especially as a Birmingham native I was able to learn more about my city, both the problems and the potential, and about the role that civil engineers and urban planners have in improving the quality of life for residents This research gave me hands-on educational experience, applying what I have learned in class to my community Learning about sustainable development through classes and research with the Civil Engineering Department has prepared me for future work as a civil servant in Birmingham or beyond The Civil Engineering Department helped to foster

my passion for improving development on a global scale and allowed me to have a small part

in development projects for my community

I would encourage any student interested in sustainable development, globally and

locally, or urban planning to take advantage of the Civil Engineering Department and

their interesting work throughout the city Students can assist with research, site visits

and analysis, data collection, brainstorming, and much more with the help of the faculty and staff of the department I am confident that the skills I was able to use throughout this

research will be very useful in my future and I am excited to take everything that I have

learned about development and engineering into my career

Formalizing the Approach

Due to the success of the program and in order to formalize our efforts and be able to offer

similar experiences for future engineering students, we decided to create a 3-credit hour civil engineering elective course (CE 490/590) in the Spring Semester of 2020 titled “Infrastructure Design for Sustainable Urban Communities” There are currently eight undergraduate students learning from and building on the experiences and lessons learned from the work done in the first demonstration communities The student reports developed for the first two demonstration communities are being used in the course as case studies Figure 4 shows a meeting of the CE 490/590 class in the Spring 2020 term

Figure 4: CE 490/590 Class, Spring 2020

The course provides the opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to participate in hands-on engineering research in a project related to their community Students perform research

on topics related to the sustainable design of the built-environment, particularly as it relates to community health Students are assigned a topic, perform a detailed literature review, and work with mentors from the Civil Engineering Department to develop research objectives, collect data and prepare designs to meet those objectives, and prepare detailed reports

By the end of this course, students will have demonstrated the ability to:

• Perform a comprehensive literature review

• Develop research objectives and a research plan

• Work with mentors to collect data related to their topic

• Analyze and summarize data

• Prepare designs for elements of a sustainable built environment

• Write a professional report/paper summarizing their research

• Present their findings to faculty and key community leaders and industry representatives

• Prepare an abstract on their research and submit it to a journal or conference

• Work within a team to meet project objectives

• Work in a professional setting and collaborate with the Built Environment Team

The students in the Spring 2020 term are working in teams to tackle two separate but related projects The first team is focusing on the design of a prototype home that is affordable for low-income residents but also incorporates elements of sustainability Sustainable housing in this country has typically been confined to higher cost homes, but low-income residents could benefit significantly from healthier structures and lower utility bills The students are preparing a

detailed design for the house as well as cost estimates for construction and long-term

maintenance

The second team is focusing on community assessment activities in the North Titusville

neighborhood of Birmingham, similar to what has been previously done in other demonstration communities selected by the Built Environment Team They are evaluating tools to inventory the built environment and proposing changes to improve community activity and health They will prepare a list of recommended projects and construction cost estimates to address community needs

Each student is required to provide regular progress updates to their research mentors and to the Built Environment Team Updates may be brief but must include a discussion of work

accomplished during the reporting period, work planned for the next reporting period, and

identification of any issues that need clarification or resolution

The course culminates with the students presenting their final report to the Built Environment Team, key community leaders, industry stakeholders, as well as to the School of Engineering faculty and staff Future course offerings will tackle similar community challenges

Conclusion

Urban universities are embedded in their communities and can be key drivers to enhance the

overall quality of life in their cities Collaborative, community-based projects to improve the

built environment can serve as a laboratory for student engagement, providing valuable

experience in a practical, real-world setting The UAB Civil Engineering department has made a

particular effort to involve undergraduate and graduate engineering students in community-based

initiatives with the goal of enhancing engineering education while improving the communities

surrounding the university

Such efforts need not be ad hoc Because of the successful involvement of engineering students

in community-based initiatives, the UAB Civil Engineering department has developed a 3-credit

hour elective course where students can be part of this unique learning experience Such courses

provide an opportunity to make such learning experiences more formalized, providing a structure

and regularity that can enhance the partnerships and facilitate the longer-term planning needed to

make such projects successful

As this paper shows, there is a substantial opportunity for growth and improvement in

engineering education by exposing students to real life challenges and by involving them in

interdisciplinary teams formed by academia, industry, and government representatives

References

[1] D Friedman, D Perry and C Menendez, “The Foundational Role of Universities

as Anchor Institutions in Urban Development” A Report of National Data and Survey Findings, Coalition of Urban Serving Institutions, Washington D.C., 2013

[2] “Built Environment and Health Initiative”, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015

[3] W Perdue, L Stone, L Gostin, “The Built Environment and Its Relationship to the Public’s Health: The Legal Framework” American Public Health Association,

September 2003

[4] J Kent and S Thompson, “Health and the Built Environment: Exploring

Foundations for a New Interdisciplinary Profession”, Journal of Environmental and Public Health, Volume 2012