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Emily Talen

Professor

COOR 5636
(480) 965-2055

Additional
Affiliation(s):

Affiliate Faculty, School of Sustainability, ASU
Adjunct Faculty, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning)
Co-Editor, Journal of Urbanism, published by Taylor & Francis

Education:

1995 - Ph.D. (Geography) University of California, Santa Barbara
1983 - M.C.R.P. (City and Regional Planning) Ohio State University
1980 - B.A. (Sociology) Calvin College

Research Interests:

Urban form, sustainable cities, new urbanism

Research Activities:

Urban Codes research: This research, supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts , supports creation of a virtual book of urban codes, to be published on the web. The website will be an anthology of the codes, laws and related documents that have created, or sought to create, particular urban forms. It will be a searchable archive drawn from a broad array of historical documents. Codes are selected from around the world, and from all time periods. The website will include both legally-binding codes as well as customary rules that may not have involved a governing authority. These documents provide a rich cultural resource for urban planners, architects, and all others involved in the construction of place.

Affordability in planned communities, with a specific focus on New Urbanism: Two decades of New Urbanist developments have shown us that providing a quality public realm, a mix of unit types, good walkability, and community facilities can quickly result in housing priced out of reach of the very mix of society it was intended to foster. This situation forces us to confront a basic malfunction in American city design: good urban places often fail to be inclusive. I recently surveyed the affordability of a sample of New Urbanist developments from around the country, focusing exclusively on the large, market rate kind. I collected price data on 152 of them, garnering as best I could what the least expensive option would be if one wanted to live there. I focused on housing unit prices because, as it turns out, very few of them had rental options. My result: I found that 90% of them would not be affordable to someone making the average teacher's salary for a given locality. For more information about the study, see report on the Congress for New Urbanism web site.

Urban Design for urban planners: I have just completed a book (titled Urban Design Reclaimed: Tools, Techniques and Strategies for Planners, to be published by the American Planning Association - Planner's Press). This book is for anyone who believes that the design of the built environment is central to urban life and community well-being. Structured as a set of 10 exercises, the book offers step-by-step instruction on how to observe, analyze and design places that are civically-minded, well-functioning, and pedestrian-oriented. While intended for urban planners, architects, landscape architects, geographers, and community activists working in the field, the book could also serve as a text for students in any course that touches on issues of neighborhood, place, and community.

Selected Publications:

Books

Talen, E. 2009. Urban Design Reclaimed: Tools, Techniques and Strategies for Planners. Planners Press (American Planning Association). In press.

Talen, E. 2008. Design for Diversity: Exploring Socially Mixed Neighborhoods. London: Architectural Press (Elsevier). 246 pages.

Talen, E. 2005. New Urbanism and American Planning: The Conflict of Cultures. London: Routledge. 318 pages.

Journal Articles

Steffel, J. and E. Talen 2008. Affordable Housing in New Urbanist Communities: A Survey of Developers. Housing Policy Debate (forthcoming).

Talen, E. 2008. New Urbanism, Social Equity, and the Challenge of Post-Katrina Rebuilding in Mississippi. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 27: 277-293.

Talen, E. 2008. Beyond the Front Porch: Regionalist Ideals in the New Urbanist Movement. Journal of Planning History, 7(1): 20-47.

Talen, E. and S. Shah. 2007. Neighborhood Evaluation Using GIS: An Exploratory Study. Environment and Behavior, 39(5): 583-615.

Talen, E. 2006. Connecting New Urbanism and American Planning: An Historical Interpretation. Urban Design International, 11: 83-98.

Talen, E. 2006. Neighborhood-Level Social Diversity: Insights from Chicago. Journal of the American Planning Association, 72(4): 431-446.

Talen, E. 2006. Smartcode Justice. Places, A Forum of Environmental Design 18, 1.

Talen, E. 2006. Design for Diversity: Evaluating the Context of Socially Mixed Neighborhoods. Journal of Urban Design, 11(1): 1-32.

Talen, E. 2006. Design that Enables Diversity: The Complications of a Planning Ideal. Journal of Planning Literature, 20(3): 233-249.

Courses Taught:

Courses currently taught at ASU:
New Urbanism, Principles of Urbanism, Urban Geography, Mapping Urbanism.

Courses previously taught:
Urban Structure and Function, Planning Capstone Workshop, Environmental Design Studio, The History and Planning of Cities, Community Design Workshop, Planning Analysis, Urban Structure and Function, Written and Graphic Communication Skills for Planners, Planning of Cities and Regions; Designing the City; Urban and Environmental Applications of GIS, Urban Growth and Structure.