Dear Friends of GCI,

The academic year is well under way at GCI, with an upcoming Great Cities faculty scholar presentation by political scientist Dick Simpson on November 8. Please join us at 1:00 p.m. for the presentation. Professor Simpson will lead a conversation on the possibilities of a “new Chicago school,” which will include contributions from University of Chicago sociologist Terry Clark, University of Illinois at Chicago sociologist Xiangming Chen and National Louis University political scientist Costas Spirou. Please join us at Great Cities for good conversation and good refreshments!

Speaking of good and relevant conversation, one of UIC’s signature events—Winter Forum—is fast approaching. This year’s topic, Healthy Cities: People, Place, and Policy, brings together academics, activists and experts from around the city and around the nation to discuss this important topic. The healthy urban residents require a healthy environment and no city can be truly deemed to be “healthy” if large shares of its citizens are at risk. Therefore “health” is more than an individual matter—it is a requirement of the places we live and work in and it is a primary feature of domestic and global policy. Please join over four hundred others for a day long event that will challenge all of us to build “healthy cities, ” beginning with breakfast on Friday, December 2 and including lunch, two plenaries and fourteen different work shops—all for $35.00 (only fifteen dollars for students).

Sincerely,

David Perry Professor and Director

News

UIC Great Cities Institute 2006-2007 Faculty Scholar Competition
Applications are due Friday, January 20, 2006 by 4:00 pm. Faculty Scholar guidelines and application are available at: http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/gci

UIC Great Cities Institute 2006-2007 Faculty Seed Fund Competition
Applications are due Friday, January 27, 2006 by 4:00 pm. Faculty Seed Fund guidelines and application are available at: http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/gci

Calendar

2005-2006 GCI Faculty Scholar Seminars
Tuesdays in the GCI Conference Room, 1pm
November 8, Dick Simpson “The New Chicago School and the New Chicago Politics”
January 17, Jennifer Brier TBA
February 28, Kimberley Gomez TBA

Great Cities Institute Winter Forum “The Healthy City: People, Place and Policy”,
Friday, December 2, 2005
More information available at: http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/gci/winterforum/WF%20site/index.htm

People

Louise Cainkar, GCI Faculty Fellow,attended the First Annual meeting of the International Association of Scholars of Contemporary Iraq in London in early September. She was sent as the representative of The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (Chicago and Amman-based). Cainkar also attended a meeting with Iraqi social science professors in Amman, Jordan in mid- September, organized by The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARI). The purpose of the National Science Foundation funded meeting was to build collaborative research projects between Iraqi and American social scientists.

John Hagedorn, GCI Faculty Fellow, is quoted in the August 29, 2005 edition of the Chicago Sun- Times on the popularity of hip-hop fashion, which he says is not necessarily related to gang affiliation.

Michael Pagano, GCI Faculty Fellow, Co-Editor of the Urban Affairs Review, and Director of the UIC graduate program in Public Administration, was quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about construction costs at Hartsfield Airport as they compare to those of Millennium Park and other signature projects.

Siim Soot, GCI Faculty Scholar 1997-1998 and Director Emeritus of the Urban Transportation Center in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, was quoted in numerous publications over the past few months. Soot was quoted in the Joliet Herald-News on the effects of high gas prices on suburban commuting in outer suburbs; in the Daily Southtown on the history of gas prices and why the price is still relatively low compared to other goods; in the Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch on the reasons why most people haven't cut back on driving despite high gas costs; and in the Christian Science Monitor on consumer responses to rising gas prices.

Charles Hoch, GCI Faculty Scholar 1997-1998 and Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at UIC, is quoted in the Daily Herald on the use of long-term land-use plans such as the 2040 plan recently produced by the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission. Hoch is also quoted in the North Jersey Herald News on the reasons why rooming houses once were a common form of affordable housing.

David Perry, Director of the Great Cities Institute, is quoted in the cover story of Planning Magazine, the journal of the American Planning Association. The story details the trend toward universities redeveloping neighborhoods adjacent to their campuses and refers to a new book, University as Developer, co-edited by Perry.

Sharon Mastracci, GCI Faculty Scholar 2004-2005 and Assistant Professor of Public Administration, was highlighted in the “Hypotheses” column in the Chicago Tribune Magazine for her research on emotional labor in government jobs that require workers to deal with the public.

Rachel Weber, GCI Faculty Scholar 2000-2001, Book Review Editor of the Urban Affairs Review and Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy, is quoted in the September 5, 2005 edition of a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel column on the prevalence of tax incentives to lure retailers to some cities.

Nik Theodore, Director of the Center for Economic Development in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, is quoted in a US News story on taxpayer-funded day-labor centers, including one planned for a Washington suburb.

FACULTY SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT
Please take a moment to get to know a few of GCI’s new faculty scholars.

Xiangming Chen,, Professor, Department of Sociology

Challenges to Regional and Local Governance: Globalization, Metropolitan Extension, and Value Chain Coordination in the Greater Shanghai Region

Xiangming Chen is Professor of Sociology and Adjunct Professor of Political Science and Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as Lecturing Professor in the School of Social Development and Public Policy at Fudan University in Shanghai. He also is Research Fellow at IC² Institute of the University of Texas at Austin and affiliated with the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago. He has been conducting research on the multiple facets of global-local relations in the urban and regional contexts of China and Asia. He has received fellowships and grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Exchange, the Open Society Institute, and Harvard University. With Anthony Orum, he co-authored The World of Cities: Places in Comparative and Historical Perspective (Blackwell Publishers, 2003; Chinese edition from People’s Press of Shanghai, 2005). Most recently, he is author of As Borders Bend: Transnational Spaces on the Pacific Rim (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). He has published in Urban Affairs Review, Urban Studies, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Cities, Studies in Comparative International Development, Asian Survey, Asia-Pacific Population Journal, and Policy Sciences. As a Great Cities Faculty Scholar for Fall 2005, Xiangming is pursuing a new research project on the relationship between global value chains, institutional governance, and local industrial upgrading in the Greater Shanghai Region. He sits on the Advisory Board of the Urban Age project at the London School of Economics and sponsored by the Alfred Herrhausen Society of the Deutsche Bank; the project consists of a series of international conferences in New York, Shanghai, London, Mexico City, Johannesburg, and Berlin (see www.urban-age.net). He teaches an annual summer course entitled "Contemporary Issues in Urban China" in Beijing, and is also involved in a socio-economic study on the planned development of Dongtan on Chongming Island near Shanghai as an ecologically sustainable city.

Dick Simpson, Professor, Department of Political Science

From Daley to Daley: The New Political Machine in Chicago

Dick Simpson has uniquely combined a distinguished academic career with public service in government. He has published widely, been an outstanding teacher, and affected public policy. He began his academic career at the University of Illinoisat Chicago in 1967 where he has taught for 38 years and where he currently serves as Professor of Political Science. At UIC he received the highest awards given for teaching including the UIC Silver Circle Award (twice), the CETL Teaching Recognition Award, the UIC award for Excellence in Teaching, and the American Political Science Association and Pi Sigma Alpha National Award for outstanding Teaching in Political Science.

Professor Simpson has been the principal researcher on important studies which have led to reform in many units of government in Cook County, Illinois. He has published numerous studies of elections, voting patterns of elected officials, local government, public policy, and government budgeting. He is author or co-author of sixteen books on political action, ethics, and politics, including Inside Urban Politics (2004), Rogues, Rebels and Rubber Stamps (2001), Winning Elections (1996), Chicago's Future in a Time of Change (1993), and The Politics of Compassion and Transformation (1989). He has produced seven films and video documentaries winning a variety of film awards, including an EMMY nomination. His latest DVD to be released in 2006 is Teaching Politics: Preparing Future Leaders. Simpson has published more than 80 professional journal articles, magazine articles, book chapters, and book reviews. He has received thirty-one grants and fellowships totaling more than $750,000. He has twice been a Great Cities Scholar and once a Humanities Institute Fellow at UIC. He was a monthly op-ed columnist for the Chicago Journal for three years and is currently a monthly columnist for The Chicago Sun-Times.

In his first campaign for political office in 1971, Simpson surprised political observers and won election as Chicago's 44th Alderman, despite a well-financed opponent with an army of precinct captains. He served the 44th Ward for two terms before voluntarily retiring in 1979. As Alderman, Simpson consistently voted for and introduced reform legislation - occasionally persuading old-line aldermen to support his proposals as well. Results include:

• The elimination of bank redlining


• Ending salary discrimination in the city budget for women holding the same jobs as men


• A City Council resolution urging Illinois passage of the Equal Rights Amendment


• Budget amendments to provide more money for day care


• Additional budget amendments to speed the opening of day care centers


• Programs to help the homeless and the hungry


• The extension of Senior Citizen public transportation hours.