UAR Remixed

In this episode, we’re speaking with Daniel Wortel-London, author of The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, 1865-1981. In this book, Dr. Wortel-London chronicles how periodic economic crises have shaped New York City’s modern history — and how alternative strategies for sustainable, democratic growth are possible.

The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, 1865–1981, by Daniel Wortel-London. University of Chicago Press, 2025. 

Daniel Wortel-London, Visiting Assistant Professor, History, Bard College

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We interview Dr. Shani Evans, author of We Belong Here: Gentrification, White Spacemaking, and a Black Sense of Place, published in 2025 by University of Chicago Press. In We Belong Here, Shani Evans explores the dynamics of gentrification from the inside through a case study of Northeast Portland, OR, a historically black neighborhood. Drawing on a rich inventory of ethnographic fieldwork, this book unsettles some of the economistic determinants around gentrification scholarship and foregrounds the significance of race and racism in neighborhood change.

We Belong Here: Gentrification, White Spacemaking, and a Black Sense of Place, by Shani Evans. University of Chicago Press, 2025.

Shani Evans, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Rice University

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Tune in to hear from Dr. Rachel Humphris on her new book, Making Sanctuary Cities: Migration, Citizenship, and Urban Governance, published in 2025 by Stanford University Press. Making Sanctuary Cities investigates the complex policy frameworks that shape urban immigration and the politics of belonging through ethnographic and archival research on three cities: San Francisco, Toronto, and Sheffield, England.

Making Sanctuary Cities: Migration, Citizenship, and Urban Governance, by Rachel Humphris. Stanford University Press, 2025.

Rachel Humphris, Senior Lecturer, Queen Mary University of London

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In this episode, we’re speaking with Nyron Crawford, author of Marked Men: Black Politicians and the Racialization of Scandal, published in 2024 by NYU Press. Marked Men complicates the common perception that Black elected officials are forgiven for their transgressions because of the commitments and benefits made to constituents. Instead, Crawford demonstrates that “racialized suspicion” shapes the way Black voters rally to protect their embattled Black political representatives.

Marked Men: Black Politicians and the Racialization of Scandal, by Nyron Crawford. NYU Press, 2024.

Nyron Crawford, Associate Professor, Political Science, Temple University

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Tune in for our conversation with Laureen Hom, author of The Power of Chinatown: Searching for Spatial Justice in Los Angeles, published in 2024 by University of California Press. In The Power of Chinatown, Hom draws on ethnographic fieldwork to explore how and under what conditions residents and business owners in LA’s Chinatown challenge and mobilize dynamics of gentrification and community change.

The Power of Chinatown: Searching for Spatial Justice in Los Angeles, by Laureen Hom. University of California Press, 2024.

Laureen Hom, Associate Professor, Urban and Regional Planning, San José State University

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In this episode, we’re speaking with Claudia Gastrow, author of The Aesthetics of Belonging: Indigenous Urbanism and City Building in Oil-Boom Luanda, published in 2024 by University of North Carolina Press. The Aesthetics of Belonging draws on archival and ethnographic research to explore the political significance of aesthetics in the remaking of Luanda.

The Aesthetics of Belonging: Indigenous Urbanism and City Building in Oil-Boom Luanda, by Claudia Gastrow. UNC Press, 2024.

Claudia Gastrow, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, NC State

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Tune in for our conversation with Willow Lung-Amam, author of The Right to Suburbia: Combating Gentrification on the Urban Edge, published in 2024 by UC Press. The Right to Suburbia chronicles the efforts of community activists, political leaders, and community groups in three Washington, D.C.-area suburbs to push back on the displacement effects of new development in their communities.

The Right to Suburbia: Combating Gentrification on the Urban Edge, by Willow S. Lung-Amam, University of California Press, 2024.

Willow Lung-Amam, Associate Professor, University of Maryland

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Listen to our conversation with Gregg Colburn, co-author with Rebecca Walter of Affordable Housing in the United States, published in 2024 by Routledge. Affordable Housing in the United States offers a comprehensive and accessible guide for students and practitioners on affordable housing policy and best practices, along with well-researched case studies on the approaches of three different cities: Chicago, Seattle, and San Antonio. We discuss the book itself, and wade into the more recent challenges and uncertainties around affordable housing provision and preservation under a new federal administration.

Get the book!

Affordable Housing the United States, by Gregg Colburn and Rebecca J. Walter. Routledge, 2024.

Guest

Gregg Colburn, Associate Professor, University of Washington

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Tune in to our discussion with co-authors Thad Williamson and Julian Hayter about their new book, The Making of Twenty-First-Century Richmond (2024). The book explores the fraught history of Richmond, VA, a mid-sized city working to emerge from the shadows of its early history as the capital of the Confederacy and the challenges of urban decline in recent decades. Drawing on multidisciplinary methods, The Making of Twenty-First-Century Richmond analyzes the root causes and internal dynamics that have shaped the city over time through close examinations of education policy, economic development, and housing.

Get the book!

The Making of 21st Century Richmond: Politics, Policy, and Governance, 1988-2016, by Thad Williamson, Julian M. Hayter, and Amy L. Howard. University of North Carolina Press, 2024.

Guests

Thad Williamson, Professor, University of Richmond

Julian M. Hayter, Professor, University of Richmond

Amy L. Howard, Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives & Community Engagement, University of Richmond

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Join us for an exploration of the failed Philadelphia 76ers Arena Proposal in Center City. First proposed in 2022 with promises to revitalize the faltering Market East corridor, the arena generated tremendous and widespread backlash from communities across the city and region. The project, which was publicly and strongly backed by Mayor Cherelle Parker, was ultimately cancelled in early 2025, only a few weeks after the City Council approved it.  

In this four-part miniseries, we dig into this contested and complex megaproject proposal through different lenses: the evolving economic geography of Market East in the 20th century; the actual benefits and drawbacks of publicly-funded arena and stadium projects for local taxpayers; the important role of activists in Chinatown and the city’s medical community; and what the future might hold for the Market East corridor now that the promised arena has been abandoned.  

Guests 

Arthur Acolin, Associate Professor of Real Estate, University of Washington 

J.C. Bradbury, Professor of Economics, Kennesaw State University  

Vivian Chang, Executive Director, Asian Americans United (AAU) 

Randall Drain, MD 

Jody Holton, Chief Planning & Strategy Officer, SEPTA 

Brad Humphreys, Professor of Economics, West Virginia University 

William King, MD, Philadelphia County Medical Society; National Medical Association 

Joel Maxcy, Department Head and Professor of Sports Business and General Business, Drexel University 

Mohan Seshadri, Executive Director, Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA) 

Harris Steinberg, FAIA, Founding Executive Director, Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation 

Walter Tsou, MD, Philadelphia County Medical Society, President; former Health Commissioner of Philadelphia 

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