Joe Grengs, associate professor of urban and regional planning and chair of the urban and regional planning program, is delivering the 2019 UPCD Fall Lecture at the University of Massachusetts Boston on Friday, October 11. The talk is hosted by UMass Boston’s graduate program in urban planning and community development and MIT’s Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies.
Grengs lecture, “Insuring Transportation Equity Through Accessibility-Oriented Planning,” draws on his research examining social equity in transportation and land-use planning. He argues for prioritizing transportation investments that improve access to essential destinations for poor people and other disadvantaged travelers.
In June, Grengs was an invited speaker at the Policy Summit 2019: Connecting People & Places to Opportunity, which was hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Hundreds of policymakers, community and economic development practitioners, bankers, and researchers gathered to discuss issues affecting low-income people, from opportunity zones and transit to racial equity and neighborhood revitalization. Grengs’ session, “When Transit and Business Miss the Bus on Job Access,” explored the role that commuting and job location plays in job access. Grengs and fellow speakers Joanna Ganning (Cleveland State University) and Cam Hardy (Better Bus Coalition), with moderator Bethia Burke (The Fund for Our Economic Future), discussed challenges that workers face around transit and highlight best practices for addressing them.