A Forsyth
Biographic Data
| ID | 1275932 |
|---|---|
| NAME | A Forsyth |
| GIVEN NAMES | A |
| FAMILY NAME | Forsyth |
| SIGNATURE | FORSYTH A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Harvard University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8400-6842 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 68 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 169 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 68 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1973 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Publishing in special issues in urban studies and planning
Tridib Banerjee, In the Images of Development
Enlarging the Domain of Planning Education
As traditional (younger) student numbers decline in many countries, urban planning is well positioned to attract older students. In the last century, planning education took many forms, adapting to new circumstances. This paper proposes reengaging this earlier spirit of experimentation to widen the audience beyond younger students. Planning could engage mid-career and encore learners hoping to prepare for paid work and volunteering, or to achieve…
Measuring Student Learning Outcomes at the Program Level
Paths to good health in old age
That old age among humans may last many decades is an achievement with consequences for built environments. During a period that can span several decades, older people may inhabit many places inclu
Daring to Stop
In past decades, accreditors have asked planning programs in North America to perform increasingly elaborate assessments of student learning. Most recent is a requirement for directly measuring program-level learning outcomes (PLLOs). I ask, does this measurement improve professional planning education? Do the benefits of such measures outweigh the costs? While it seems sensible to pay attention to what students learn, I argue that directly measu…
Underappreciated mid-sized cities
Can mid-sized cities play a greater role in accommodating population growth and if so, under which conditions and what policy settings? Drawing on debates about economic growth and optimal city size as they frame policy preferences, we use census data, policy reports and media, and interviews with policymakers in Australia to examine the opportunities offered by mid-sized metropolitan areas. Such locations have enough services and facilities to b…
Active Living and the Politics of Implementation
Drawing on five case studies, Lawrence D. Brown's Political Exercise: Active Living, Public Policy, and the Built Environment (2022) examines the complex path to fruition of comprehensive policy approaches. The health-promotion approach called active living, or modifying the built environment to encourage physical exercise in everyday life, experienced a peak of interest in parts of two decades. Looking at five very different places (Wilkes-Barre…
Climate Change, Aging, and Well-being
How do older people’s living environments influence their vulnerabilities to climate change? Much has been written about the physiological consequences of climate change for older individuals, particularly the dangers of increased incidence of severe heat. Less is known about how older people’s residential settings moderate their exposure to climate stressors, their particular sensitivities to the effects of climate change, or their capacities to…
What Tense Is a Plan
Plans have a complicated relationship to time and thus to verb tense. They are forward looking but have current goals for future circumstances. Such goals typically reflect the contemporary situati
Data Policy
Essential Japa Style
What Is Planning
Planning Theories and Practices
Social Technology
Population aging is a defining demographic reality of our era. It is associated with an increase in the societal burden of delivering care to older adults with chronic conditions or frailty. How to integrate global population aging and technology development to help address the growing demands for care facing many aging societies is both a challenge and an opportunity for innovation. We propose a social technology approach that promotes use of te…
What Is Aging in Place? Confusions and Contradictions
Aging in place is a policy goal for many governments and a personal goal for numerous older people. But what does it mean? Drawing on both scholarly and gray literature, this article outlines seven themes underlying definitions of aging in place. Some are descriptive: never moving, staying put for as long as possible, or remaining in the same vicinity. Two are related to care: staying out of a nursing home or receiving progressively higher levels…
What Is a Contribution in Planning Research
In this editorial I explore making a research contribution in a professional field like planning, building on an earlier blog (Forsyth, 2019). I define research and how it differs from practice. I
Peer Review in a Generalist Journal
One of the important parts of the job of a journal editor is finding good peer reviewers.1 In this editorial I investigate the peer review process in the context of the Journal of the American Plan
International Content in the Journal of the American Planning Association
What place do international topics and authors have in the Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA)? I asked this question in a JAPA blog in 2019, and the topic remains an important one
Theories and Planning Theories
This editorial is about a conundrum. The Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA) has long been an important location for publishing work on planning theory, but my conversations as edit
Lessons from planned resettlement and new town experiences for avoiding climate sprawl
Mapping Communities
"Mapping Communities: Responding to Commentaries on “In Defense of the Generalist Journal”." Journal of the American Planning Association, 86(4), pp. 512–513
A Point of View in Planning
In 2019 JAPA introduced a new article format, the Viewpoint. The first JAPA Viewpoint, “Transportation Sustainability Follows From More People in Fewer Vehicles, Not Necessarily Automation” (Merlin
Measuring Journal Success
The Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA), though published by Taylor & Francis, is still owned and edited by the American Planning Association (APA). A question APA members ask perio
Speaking to the Future
As I write this editorial in April 2020, COVID-19 is at the front and center of planning discussion. An emergent phenomenon, it is too soon to make definitive conclusions about its long-term effect
Men in the valley
Does Residential Density Increase Walking and Other Physical Activity
Many agree that increasing physical activity will improve public health. This paper reports on empirical findings on the relationship between the density of the residential environment, walking and total physical activity. Using multiple objective and self-reported measures for 715 participants in the US, and improved techniques for sampling and analysis, it finds that density is associated with the purpose of walking (travel, leisure) but not th…
Design and Destinations
Do people walk more, or less, depending on the physical character of their residential areas rather than merely their individual characteristics? This paper reports findings for the Twin Cities, Minnesota, about how walking and total physical activity are affected by street pattern, `pedestrian-oriented' infrastructure and amenities, and mixed use or destinations—in shorthand, design and destinations. The effects of density are dealt with in less…
Noho
This paper traces the relationships between downtown revitalization, housing markets, and a growing lesbian presence in the small city of Northampton, Massachusetts, located on the northern edge of the Springfield Metropolitan region. In Northampton, lately known as NoHo, a self-consciously “cosmopolitan” and urbane revitalized downtown has been created since the 1970s, drawing on a regional set of markets. The downtown also forms a core for lesb…
Out' in The Valley
Building on previous work by Castells, and Adler and Brenner, I explore the public character of a lesbian concentration in the Connecticut River Valley region of Massachusetts. From the late 1980s this area has gained national media attention for its lesbian population. Using a number of data sources I examine how lesbian residences and services are distributed in the Valley. I find a strong service core in the small city of Northampton, but resi…
The Information Age
Health impact assessment in planning
Adolescent physical activity and the built environment
Do adolescents who live or go to school near fast-food restaurants eat more frequently from fast-food restaurants
Alcohol outlets and youth alcohol use
Analyzing Public Space at a Metropolitan Scale
This paper examines the potential for using GIS to analyze public space at a metropolitan or regional scale. The paper outlines contemporary discussions about public space-in geography, planning, and urban studies—showing how work to date has focused on specific sites and types of environments, rather than the larger landscape of public space. The paper then discusses the metropolitan-level issues where analysis using a GIS would answer important…
Assessing Planning School Performance
To grow and prosper in an era when university departments are increasingly assessed comparatively and critically by national systems of accountability and ranking, planning schools need data that reflect the wide range of activities undertaken by planning educators. Recent developments surrounding planning school assessment in U.S. planning schools are considered in light of the history of university unit performance measurement internationally, …
Youth dietary intake and weight status
Commentary
As the planning academy has grown and evolved, it has developed different ways of doing planning research. People may (a) work at the scientific frontier, (b) investigate issues of practical relevance, (c) reflect on the implications of practice, or (d) try to answer the enduring questions of planning. These are important differences. Different cultures represent varying ideas about what constitutes an important or significant contribution to the…
Responses to the Graduate Planning School Study
Does the built environment relate to the metabolic syndrome in adolescents
Daring to Stop
In past decades, accreditors have asked planning programs in North America to perform increasingly elaborate assessments of student learning. Most recent is a requirement for directly measuring program-level learning outcomes (PLLOs). I ask, does this measurement improve professional planning education? Do the benefits of such measures outweigh the costs? While it seems sensible to pay attention to what students learn, I argue that directly measu…
Testing three health impact assessment tools in planning
Who Built Irvine? Private Planning and the Federal Government
The Irvine Ranch in Southern California is the largest privately master-planned 'new community' or satellite new town ever to be built in the US. The development was led by the private sector but government played an important role. This paper traces how the federal government shaped the Irvine development through a range of policies and programmes from defence to habitat protection. In turn, the developers of Irvine were cast in a role of co-ord…
Transatlantic Lessons
Reflecting five years of experience in an ongoing partnership between the University of Massachusetts and the Pskov Region in Russia, we analyze the process of establishing two degree programs in planning. After describing the project's history, we analyze three key areas of conflict and controversy that the partnership faced: arguments over the role of planning in economies with private markets and democratic governments; differing educational p…
The Russian Language
A Gender Agenda
Since the 1970s increased attention has been focused on gender in relation to planning practice, but not to planning theory. Feminist theory has much to contribute to planning theory, particularly in five areas: spatial, economic, and social relationships; language and communication; epistemology and methodology; ethics; and the nature of the public domain. In turn, gender-sensitive theory could contribute to research in five areas of practice an…
Privatization
In 1989 two public-private coalitions were formed to help plan and develop physical and social infrastructure in Rouse Hill, a minicity of a quarter of a million people for the northwest fringe of Sydney, Australia. Brought together at the instigation of state government bureaucrats, the coalitions were lobby groups and alternative providers of services. The groups drew on unequal resources and had different impacts on the development. Although s…
Noho
This paper traces the relationships between downtown revitalization, housing markets, and a growing lesbian presence in the small city of Northampton, Massachusetts, located on the northern edge of the Springfield Metropolitan region. In Northampton, lately known as NoHo, a self-consciously “cosmopolitan” and urbane revitalized downtown has been created since the 1970s, drawing on a regional set of markets. The downtown also forms a core for lesb…
Out' in The Valley
Building on previous work by Castells, and Adler and Brenner, I explore the public character of a lesbian concentration in the Connecticut River Valley region of Massachusetts. From the late 1980s this area has gained national media attention for its lesbian population. Using a number of data sources I examine how lesbian residences and services are distributed in the Valley. I find a strong service core in the small city of Northampton, but resi…
Transatlantic Lessons
Reflecting five years of experience in an ongoing partnership between the University of Massachusetts and the Pskov Region in Russia, we analyze the process of establishing two degree programs in planning. After describing the project's history, we analyze three key areas of conflict and controversy that the partnership faced: arguments over the role of planning in economies with private markets and democratic governments; differing educational p…
The Information Age
On Writing and Tenure
In 1997, I was invited to talk about writing and tenure at a student-sponsored workshop for doctoral students in planning. After that talk, several audience members asked me to publish it in a forum, like JPER, that would be fairly accessible to their doctoral colleagues. I received a similar response when I showed it to other doctoral students. After more deliberation than it probably needed, I decided to go through the process of getting it in …
Analyzing Public Space at a Metropolitan Scale
This paper examines the potential for using GIS to analyze public space at a metropolitan or regional scale. The paper outlines contemporary discussions about public space-in geography, planning, and urban studies—showing how work to date has focused on specific sites and types of environments, rather than the larger landscape of public space. The paper then discusses the metropolitan-level issues where analysis using a GIS would answer important…
Men in the valley
Trajectories of Planning Theory
Who Built Irvine? Private Planning and the Federal Government
The Irvine Ranch in Southern California is the largest privately master-planned 'new community' or satellite new town ever to be built in the US. The development was led by the private sector but government played an important role. This paper traces how the federal government shaped the Irvine development through a range of policies and programmes from defence to habitat protection. In turn, the developers of Irvine were cast in a role of co-ord…
Responses to the Graduate Planning School Study
Reforming Suburbia
The Irvine–Minnesota Inventory to Measure Built Environments
The effects of neighborhood density and street connectivity on walking behavior
A growing body of health and policy research suggests residential neighborhood density and street connectivity affect walking and total physical activity, both of which are important risk factors for obesity and related chronic diseases. The authors report results from their methodologically novel Twin Cities Walking Study; a multilevel study which examined the relationship between built environments, walking behavior and total physical activity.…
Does Residential Density Increase Walking and Other Physical Activity
Many agree that increasing physical activity will improve public health. This paper reports on empirical findings on the relationship between the density of the residential environment, walking and total physical activity. Using multiple objective and self-reported measures for 715 participants in the US, and improved techniques for sampling and analysis, it finds that density is associated with the purpose of walking (travel, leisure) but not th…
Alcohol outlets and youth alcohol use
Assessing Planning School Performance
To grow and prosper in an era when university departments are increasingly assessed comparatively and critically by national systems of accountability and ranking, planning schools need data that reflect the wide range of activities undertaken by planning educators. Recent developments surrounding planning school assessment in U.S. planning schools are considered in light of the history of university unit performance measurement internationally, …
Design and Destinations
Do people walk more, or less, depending on the physical character of their residential areas rather than merely their individual characteristics? This paper reports findings for the Twin Cities, Minnesota, about how walking and total physical activity are affected by street pattern, `pedestrian-oriented' infrastructure and amenities, and mixed use or destinations—in shorthand, design and destinations. The effects of density are dealt with in less…
Measuring the Built Environment for Physical Activity
The built environment, walking, and physical activity
Does the built environment relate to the metabolic syndrome in adolescents
When American Became Suburban by Robert A. Beauregard
Assessing the validity of recent estimates of problematic drug use in England
BACKGROUND: The Home Office has recently published estimates which, for the first time, provide a "robust national estimate" of the number of problematic drug users in England. The 2004/05 and 2005/06 estimates are the highest estimates ever produced for England and coincide with the highest ever government annual expenditure on combating illicit drug use. METHODS AND RESULTS: Review of a range of data sources that indicate a downward trend in pr…
Geography (30 works) · Sociology (29 works) · Medicine (27 works) · Political science (27 works) · Psychology (25 works) · Computer Science (20 works) · Engineering (19 works) · Urban Transport and Accessibility (16 works) · Business (15 works) · Urbanization and City Planning (15 works)