DIY Do’s and Don’ts: Limitations to Building University-Community Partnerships with Low Resource Communities of Color

ABSTRACT

Communities are becoming more diverse and urban planning programs must train students to work with a range of constituents. Little is known about the role of university-community partnerships involved in tactical urbanism as a method to revitalize low resource communities of color. This paper describes the planning process in a partnership between Florida State University and its surrounding community. We highlight the role of faculty and students in facilitating a studio project in Frenchtown implementing tactical urbanism. It also provides the voices of residents, City officials, and non-profit organizations. We conclude with recommendations to improve university-community partnerships through long-term engagement in surrounding communities.

KEYWORDS:

• University-community partnerships
• tactical urbanism
• community engagement
• community development
• studio

Acknowledgement

We want to thank two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts. The authors are also grateful and would like to thank the individuals and Frenchtown community who took the time to share their stories with the research team.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.