The Baldy Center Podcast

Episode 11 features Erkin Özay, assistant professor of Architecture at the University at Buffalo, School of Architecture and Planning. Özay discusses his new book “Urban Renewal and School Reform in Baltimore: Rethinking the 21st Century Public School” (Routledge 2021), and his holistic approach to the relationships among urban development, urban design, and schools.

Keywords: Cultural Studies, Culture and Society, Education Policy, Urban Design, Urban Studies

Urban Renewal and School Reform in Baltimore (Routledge, 2020) examines the role of the contemporary public school as an instrument of urban design. The central case study in this book, Henderson-Hopkins, is a PK-8 campus serving as the civic centerpiece of the East Baltimore Development Initiative. This study reflects on the persistent notions of urban renewal and their effectiveness for addressing the needs of disadvantaged neighborhoods and vulnerable communities. Situating the master plan and school project in the history and contemporary landscape of urban development and education debates, this book provides a detailed account of how Henderson-Hopkins sought to address several reformist objectives, such as improvement of the urban context, pedagogic outcomes, and holistic well-being of students. Bridging facets of urban design, development, and education policy, this book contributes to an expanded agenda for understanding the spatial implications of school-led redevelopment and school reform. Learn more about the book.

Erkin Özay is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University at Buffalo, School of Architecture and Planning. Özay’s research is concerned with institutional and cooperative settings and their ability to serve as mediators against structural inequities affecting the lives of vulnerable urban communities. Özay previously taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, University of Toronto, and Northeastern University. A registered architect in Massachusetts, he also practiced with various international firms including Foster and Partners in London, UK, and Hashim Sarkis Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Learn more.

Twitter: @erkinozay