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Melissa Wolfe
Nancy Roche
Writing 1010-013
December 4, 2014
Literacy Practices: City and Metropolitan Planning
Statement of Significance
The word practice as we have studied it in our writing 1010 class has been redefined in
regards to literacy. It has more meaning than its operational definition because it incorporates
cultures and the ways that literacy is used by them as well as lifestyles and relationships between
people. Barton and Hamilton said that, Practices are shaped by social rules which regulate the
use and distribution of texts, prescribing who may produce and have access to them (8). By
researching the broader social goals and cultural practices of the City and Metropolitan Planning
community and department at the University of Utah, major texts and practices used in the
department, and the events which are mediated by texts, I have found that literacy practices are
specific to and finely tuned by the social groups in which they are involved.
The Community and Our Universitys Department
The General Community
The worldwide City and Metropolitan Planning community seeks to enhance the vitality
and health of regions and cities through approaches to building in harmony with nature. The
practices or cultural values remain the same throughout the community and are unified through
magazines, articles, and other texts but vary due to differing city and environmental factors and
how different members deal with these factors. Although the general communitys values are the

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same the literacy practices involved with each of its facilities, workplaces, etc., vary because of
the differing environments each is placed in.
The Universitys Department
The departments faculty is structured in a hierarchical manner with the head faculty at
the top followed by the auxiliary faculty and then the general staff. The head faculty, all of
whome have PhDs or other high cualifying positions, consists of the associate dean, chair
professor, assistant and associate professors/lecturers, and adjunct professors. The auxiliary
faculty consists of similarly structured professors and instructors who are not noted as having
PhDs or other big name degrees. The general staff is made up of advisors, office assistants,
system managers, public relation associates, budget managers, and other people who are
involved in keeping the department up and running. Although this general structure is the same
throughout many of the departments at the University of Utah there are many things that make it
unique.
In our interview, artifact four, Stephen Goldsmith, a professor in the department at the
University of Utah, said that the Urban Ecology degree was added to the City and Metropolitan
Planning Department and made available for students a year and a half ago and was the first in
the country. He explained that he and a few of his colleagues pushed for about six and a half
years to have this program added because it is inappropriate to send twenty-one to twenty-two
year old planners into the workplace without understanding a holistic view of the physiology of
cities and urban ecology. He continued to explain that the department changes with an evolution
of knowledge and so it will never stop changing. In that way the literacy practices involved in the
department will always continue to change as well.

Texts

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The major texts that are involved in the city and metropolitan planning department range
anywhere from textbooks and essays to magazines and websites. Many of the important texts can
be found in the departments database which mostly includes articles and informative essays
about current or old projects, the history of architecture, and other related subjects written by a
span of the communities members. The texts that I have studied in this department do not use big
flashy words, use a range of semiotics and acronyms, and often include section headers, bullet
points, and pictures. By studying various aspects of the texts like physical appeal, structure, and
availability, one can see that they represent the practices of social groups which are molded by
the community.
Department Brochure
Artifact two, the departments current brochure, is strategically and beautifully designed.
It is very clear that someone, most likely a grad student, put a lot of time and thought into its
physical appearance and choice of pictures in a way that represents the department well. Another
aspect that is worth noting, despite my previous claim, is that the brochure is almost completely
composed of flashy words. In these ways, the brochure represents a practice which has been
finely tuned by the department that is focused on appealing to and impressing future and aspiring
students.
APA Magazine
The APA (American Planning Association) magazine, artifact three, connects the city and
planning community members involved with the association through informative articles. It is
published every two months and includes topics that keep the members of the association up to
date with the latest city and metropolitan projects around U.S. Each article is strategically

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designed and most include graphs or pictures of various studies and statistics. The magazine
shows how a practice in the community can unify and be easily interpreted by all of its members.
Events
There are two major events highlighted on the university of utahs website which discuss
the overall goals and plans for the city and metropolitan planning department. The first major
event that the department annually hosts is called the Mayors Symposium which is mediated by
an itinerary and whatever material the speakers bring to share with the group of attendees. The
second major event that is highlighted on the departments website is called the Center for the
Living City where the Salt Lake Workshop and Westside studio bring together a range of
students that work with members of the community to promote civic engagement among
communities. The text which mediates this event is a website which is beautifully designed and
very physically appealing. These events represent how the different social groups in the
department and city come together to discuss practices and collaborative techniques to pressing
environmental and city factors in the Salt Lake regions.
Conclusion
The Literacy practices of the City and Metropolitan Planning department that I have
studied seem to use texts which are written to be easily understood and used by students and
other members of the community. Literacy practices vary based on social groups and use
different types of texts to inform members of said social group. The City and Metropolitan
Planning department at the University of Utah demonstrates that the texts involved with literacy
practices are unique to social groups within the community through the broader social goals and
cultural practices community and department, texts and practices used in the department, and the
events which are mediated by texts.

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Works Cited
Barton, David, and Mary Hamilton. "Literacy Practices." Situated Literacies: Reading
and Writing in Context. London and New York: Routledge, 2000. Print.

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Inventory

Literacy Practices
Inform members of current
events and issues in the
architectural world
Appeal to future/aspiring
students

Artifact
APA magazine
(artifact 3)

Location
Where ever the magazine is
being read? It was published in
Chicago, IL
City and Metropolitan Planning City and Met. Planning
department brochure
department in the architecture
(artifact 2)
building on campus
Inform future/aspiring students APA membership brochure
planning.org/earlycareer
of APAs early career program (artifact 1)
Discuss literacy practices
Interview with Stephen, a
Either in his office or online
related to the city and
professor in the department
metropolitan planning program (artifact 4)
at the U
-Paragraphs are chunked
Database Artifact 1:
http://search.proquest.com.ezp
-Use section headers in specific One hundred years of city
roxy.lib.utah.edu/avery/docvie
areas of the paper
planning's enduring and evolving w/55499394/A35DAAE4C6D
-Use of acronyms
connections
24996PQ/3?accountid=14677
-Quote different sources
-Paper incorporates numbers
and dates
-Use bullet points
-Includes footnotes
-Title emphasis on Olympic
cities and includes dates
-Paragraphs are chunked
-Isolates beginning of sentence
-Cites own work

Database Artifact 2:
Olympic Cities: City Agendas,
Planning, and the World's
Games, 1896-2012

-Title emphasis on most

segregated city in America and
includes a time period
-Paragraphs indented
-Use chapter numbers as
reference
-Italicized title
-Dates included in literacy

Database Artifact 3:

http://search.proquest.com.ezp
roxy.lib.utah.edu/avery/docvie
w/229627549/fulltext/A35DA
AE4C6D24996PQ/173?
accountid=14677

http://search.proquest.com.ezp
roxy.lib.utah.edu/avery/docvie
The Most Segregated City in w/229621001/fulltext/A35DA
America: City Planning and Civil AE4C6D24996PQ/119?
accountid=14677
Rights in Birmingham, 19201980

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-Before colon bold and big
-After colon smaller and
italicized
-Author under title is smaller
yet still prominent
-Indented paragraphs
-Italicized titles referenced
throughout
-Dates included in literacy
-References himself and other
work
-Bold/large lettered section
headers
-Figures of maps and tables
-Numbered bullet points
-Refernces included at end

Database Artifact 4:

-Bold large title with dates

included
-Author is directly underneath
and smaller yet still prominent
-First page includes authors
personal beliefs and small
conclusions
-Indented paragraphs with bold
section headers
-Acronyms and dates all over
the place
-Quotes other work
-Footnotes included at end

Database Artifact 5:
The Birth of Organized City
Planning in the United States,
1909-1910

Planning for inner-city retail

development: The case of
Indianapolis

http://search.proquest.com.ezp
roxy.lib.utah.edu/avery/docvie
w/229620941/fulltext/A35DA
AE4C6D24996PQ/26?
accountid=14677

http://search.proquest.com.ezp
roxy.lib.utah.edu/avery/docvie
w/229663223/fulltext/A35DA
AE4C6D24996PQ/6?
accountid=14677