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:
The next biennial SACRPH conference will be held at the University of Cincinnati on October 15 to 18, 2026.
- The conference will commence with a keynote talk Thursday night on “Colonial Urbanism and Racial Imagination.”
- Friday will include daytime tours in the Cincinnati region and an evening roundtable on the history of SACRPH to mark its 40th anniversary.
- Saturday features papers 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, as well as a memorial session to honor Alison Isenberg.
Immediately preceding the conference, on the afternoon of Thursday, October 15, SACRPH will hold the inaugural Alison Isenberg Dissertation Colloquium.
Call for Nominations to the Board
The Nominating Committee of the Society for American City and Regional Planning History invites nominations–including self-nominations–to the SACRPH Board of Directors and to the position of President-Elect. SACRPH welcomes nominees seeking to lead the organization, guide its strategy, serve on its committees, support its conference, and engage in the work of developing the field of city and regional planning history.
To submit a nomination, please use our nomination form.
The deadline for nominations is May 1, 2026.
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:
“The Making of a Split City”
Source: Columbia University Archives. Morningside Area Alliance records, 1947-1992. Box 199, Folder 1.
Hiba Bou Akar and Martine Johannessen examine the spatial history of the Ulysses S. Grant Houses and Columbia University’s planning projects in Manhattan in “The Making of a Split City: Planning, Urban Renewal, and Resistance in the Spatial Production of Morningside Heights, New York City.” In 2020, the Grant Houses recorded one of the highest COVID-19 death rates in public housing in the city. This article focuses on two key moments that help explain its poor fate: mid-century urban renewal and Columbia’s expansion into Manhattanville in the twenty-first century. It examines how Columbia has used planning tools, health discourses, and policing to secure land and displace or contain neighboring Black communities. Drawing on archival materials, the article introduces the concept of the split city to describe a form of racialized urbanism shaped not by complete separation but by selective and conditional inclusion. The split city is not a stable or totalizing formation. It is shaped by ongoing struggle, as residents have continually resisted erasure and asserted their right to the spaces and futures of Morningside Heights.
Member Spotlight:
Postdoctoral Fellow, History Department at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY)
Research Associate, “Melting Metropolis: Everyday Histories of Health and Heat in London, New York, and Paris since 1945.”
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