Seven U-M faculty members have been selected to participate in a new Detroit Sustainability Indicators Project, a collaboration between Data Driven Detroit and the Graham Institute.
Organizers say the Detroit Sustainability Indicators Project has two goals: To gather and assess data on relevant sustainability related topics (environmental, economic and social), with the intent of mapping these data and making the findings available to the public; and to create a sustainability index for Detroit that will help inform policy and decision making and serve as a model for other urban areas working on sustainable redevelopment.
Research projects being funded as part of this collaborative project in Detroit include the following:
• Stuart Batterman, professor of environmental health sciences, School of Public Health, and professor of civil and environmental engineering, College of Engineering: Regional Spatial and Temporal Mapping of Air Pollution in Detroit.
• David Bieri, assistant professor of architecture and urban planning, A Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning: Measuring the Greenness of Cities: A New Methodology for an Urban Sustainability Index.
• Margaret Dewar, professor of urban and regional planning, Taubman College: Documenting Care and Commitment to Place in CDAD’s “Urban Homesteads” and “Naturescapes.”
• Jen Maigret, assistant professor of architecture, Taubman College: Liquid Planning Detroit.
• Brian Min, assistant professor of political science and faculty associate, Center for Political Studies, LSA: Economic Disparity and Federal Investments in Detroit.
• Kent Murray, professor of geology, Department of Natural Sciences, College of Arts, Sciences and Letters, UM-Dearborn: Environmental Lead (Pb) Exposure as a Consequence of Housing Demolition.
• Joan Nassauer, professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment: Documenting and Demonstrating Neighborhood Care Dynamics in CDAD’s “Urban Homesteads” and “Naturescapes.”
“This project is just what Detroit needs,” says Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit. “It’s a bridge between academia and those who are driving community change in Detroit. No one agency has all the answers, but together, we can make critical data available to those who are shaping Detroit’s future for generations to come.”
