Gallant, Isabelle

Defining Greatness: Community Organizations Contesting “Best Interest” in the Entrepreneurial City

Isabelle Gallant is a DePaul University graduate with a degree in community psychology and a minor in geography. They are interested in the ways people create and interact with their built and social worlds, and potential for change within the two. Currently, they are involved with ONE Northside’s fight to preserve single room occupancy hotels in Uptown, and look to continue to fight for housing justice throughout their career.

Major: Community Psychology

Minor: Geography

Senior, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

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Project Abstract

Urban planning is a technical practice driven by a strong ideological question; “What is in the public’s best interest?” In the entrepreneurial city, best interest has been defined as maximized profits. This results in a city in which private development is favored, while the displacement of poor and working class people and communities of color is considered the necessary for progress. Expanding on my experience as a participant-observer with ONE Northside, a community organization fighting to preserve single room occupancy hotels, I argue that community organizations have a key role in shaping best interest in urban planning as they offer alternative visions for best interest, expose the social costs of a best interest equating to best investment, and offer grounded and effective solutions.

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Narrated Poster Presentation