Planning in Shrinking: 

Challenges, Strategies, and Innovations

Brent D. Ryan

Vice Provost and Professor, MIT

2024.12.7 (Saturday), 3 PM

C1 Meeting Room, Building C, CAUP, Tongji, University Siping Campus

WANG Lan

Dean, CAUP, Tongji University

SHEN Yao

Director for Global Relations, CAUP, Tongji University

Brent D. Ryan is Vice Provost and Professor of Urban Design and Public Policy in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. His research focuses on the aesthetics and policies of contemporary urban design, particularly with respect to current and pressing issues like deindustrialization and climate change. Professor Ryan’s first book Design After Decline: How America Rebuilds Shrinking Cities, was selected by Planetizen as one of its ten best urban planning books of 2012, and his second book, The Largest Art, was published by MIT Press in 2017. Professor Ryan is the co-editor of the Journal of Planning History. 

Professor Ryan's research has been widely published, including the Journal of Urban Design, Journal of Urbanism, Journal of Planning History, and the Journal of the American Planning Association, which awarded his article “Reading Through A Plan” its best article of 2011. Professor Ryan has also written numerous chapters for books including The Routledge New Companion to Urban Design; The City After Abandonment; Urban Landscape; The Oxford Handbook of Urban Planning; Rethinking Global Urbanism; and Urban Megaprojects: A Worldwide View.

As many American cities grapple with urban shrinkage, addressing this challenge has become a central focus in contemporary urban planning. Youngstown, Ohio, serves as a compelling case study of a city undergoing such a transformation. In this presentation, Professor Brent D. Ryan will guide us through the complexities of planning in a shrinking city, highlighting unique strategies and innovations in land use planning, housing demolition, and plan implementation. He will begin by introducing the context of Youngstown, outlining the pressing issues caused by urban shrinkage, before exploring the intricacies of land use planning and zoning regulations in a shrinking context. Professor Ryan will then examine the role of key actors involved in housing demolition and their capacities to drive change. Finally, he will discuss the challenges of plan monitoring and assessment in Youngstown and offer concluding recommendations for future urban planning in cities facing similar challenges. This lecture will provide invaluable insights into the process of urban regeneration, illustrating how strategic planning and innovative solutions can help reinvigorate cities in decline.