A People's History of Sustainable Development Roles of Portland Neighborhood Associations in Sustaining Change

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hernandez, Sarah

Keywords

Sustainable Development, Neighborhood Associations, Portland

Area of Concentration

Sociology

Abstract

This thesis interweaves the history of Portland, Oregon's grassroots "livability" and city-led "sustainability" initiatives to better understand ways that 16 Neighborhood Associations (NAs) in Portland Southwest district have contributed to City government's official prioritization of sustainable development. I propose that Portland has achieved success with sustainable development, in part, because sustainable development initiatives coincide with citizens' strongly rooted understanding of "livability", which evolved during the "Neighborhood Revolution" in the 1960's and 70's. I use a grounded theory approach to identify themes in NA concerns and operations as they emerge at the neighborhood level. My research aims to add to a body of literature that acknowledges the myriad of ways that local citizens participate in urban sustainable development initiatives. At a time when sustainable development continues to gather momentum in business and politics, my research intends to remind sustainability proponents that it is inherently necessary to include citizens in policy formation and beneficial to prioritize citizens' local concerns.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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