DCRP hosts the Divided Cities and Regions Symposium
Development occurs in the context of conflict, and development can be the cause of conflict. Whether the project is the sole cause or merely the catalyst, the process of development agitates some of our deepest beliefs about progress, sustainability, equity and justice. Top scholars, professionals and students all recently came together at DCRP to discuss how to mediate conflict in the practice of urban planning.
Presentations covered a wide range of topics from urban planning in the world's most divided cities like Jerusalem and Nicosia to building trust with minority populations while preparing disaster management relief plans.
Keynote Speakers:
Scott Bollens (Ph.D. ’87) - Warmington Chair in Peace and International Cooperation at UCI
Professor Bollens studies ethnicity and urban policy, growth strategies, metropolitanism, and intergovernmental policymaking. 
David Godschalk, Stephen Baxter Professor Emeritus at UNC-Chapel Hill
Professor Godschalk's research and publications span three planning fields: Growth Management and Land Use Planning, Hazard Mitigation and Coastal Management, and Dispute Resolution and Public Participation. 
Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at MIT
Professor Susskind directs the Graduate Program in Environmental Policy and Planning at MIT. His primary contributions are in the fields of urban and environmental planning, negotiation and dispute resolution, and mutlilateral treaty negotiation. 
Skills Session Leader:
Michael Elliott, Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech
Professor Elliott is the associate director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD) at Georgia Tech. He is a co-founder and has served as co-director of both the Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution and the Southeast Negotiation Network. 
Practitioner:
Pedro Rios, Director, U.S./Mexico Border Program at AFSC
Mr. Rios's program works to secure human rights and self-determination for migrants and border communities by facilitating leadership development, accompanying immigrant communities in their organizing processes, providing technical support and resources, and promoting collective action through human rights committees. His office documents human rights abuses to challenge systemic abuses by the Border Patrol and other government agencies. 
Pictures from the event: (view the full album here)
Sponsors: Carolina Planners' Forum, UNC-CH Department of City and Regional Planning, Carolina Planning Journal, Duke-UNC Rotary Center for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution