Founded in 1986, the Society for American City and Regional Planning History (SACRPH) promotes scholarship on the planning of cities and metropolitan regions and bridges the gap between the study of cities and the practice of urban planning.
SACRPH 2026 in Cincinnati –
The 21st National Conference on Planning History:
Registration is now open for SACRPH’s next biennial conference, to be held at the University of Cincinnati on October 15 to 18, 2026!
- The conference will commence on Thursday with the inaugural Alison Isenberg Dissertation Colloquium (invite only), optional Community Service Day, and an evening keynote on “Colonial Urbanism and Racial Imagination.”
- Friday will include daytime tours in the Cincinnati region, an evening roundtable on the history of SACRPH to mark its 40th anniversary, and a Cincinnati Night reception at the American Sign Museum.
- Saturday features paper panels, roundtables, workshops, and a poster session; a lunchtime presidential address; and an evening awards reception.
- The conference will conclude on Sunday with additional paper panels, roundtables, and workshops, and a memorial session to honor Alison Isenberg.
Graduate Student Paper Prize – Nominations due Sept 15
SACRPH invites self-nominations for the Graduate Student Paper Prize ($100) to be awarded to a full-time student whose paper has been accepted for presentation at the biennial conference in October. For consideration, students should email the text of their planned presentation as a PDF (no longer than 15 pages, double-spaced), plus evidence of current full-time student status, to the prize committee chair, Ella Howard (howarde@wit.edu).
Submission emails should have the subject “SACRPH Graduate Student Prize Submission” and must be received on or before September 15.
Tribute to Stephen Ramos
SACRPH mourns the passing of Stephen Ramos, long-time SACRPH member. He was most recently Professor in the College of Environment + Design at the University of Georgia. Stephen was a frequent SACRPH conference participant and an active bridge to our sister organization, the International Planning History Society. Please see our tribute.
Highlight from the Journal of Planning History
Source: Robert K. Nelson, LaDale Winling, Richard Marciano, Nathan Connolly, and Edward L. Ayers, “Mapping inequality: Redlining in new deal America,” American Panorama: An Atlas of United States History. University of Richmond: Digital Scholarship Lab 17 (2020): 19, https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/; Google, “Google Earth.”
In “The Historical Impacts of Freeway Construction and Urban Renewal in Sacramento,”Aakansha Jain, Juan Carlos Garcia Sanchez, Jesus M. Barajas, and Susan L. Handy examine how in California, as in other parts of the country, freeway construction fueled decentralization and suburbanization. Using archival research, census data, and interviews with community members this paper explores how freeway construction and urban renewal together reshaped Sacramento’s landscape. The construction of US-50 and SR-99 through the city created economic and social disparities in Oak Park, a predominantly African American neighborhood. Construction of I-5 on the west end of the city contributed to displacement of Japanese Americans and several other communities of color. The legacy of freeway building, combined with other policies, continues to disproportionately impact communities of color in Sacramento.
Member Spotlight: Joseph Heathcott
Joseph Heathcott
Professor of Urban Studies, The New School
Incoming Professor of Architecture and Planning, Associate Dean for Research at University of Cincinnati
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