The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) hosted its virtual 60th Anniversary Annual Conference in November 2020. The four-day conference included a keynote panel discussion on “Decolonizing Planning,” open roundtable discussions, paper presentations, and social networking events. The 2020 conference’s focus on “Racial Equity and Justice in Urban Planning Research and Education in the Face of Racialized Inequality” had a unique objective this year: to elevate the scholarly voices in ACSP whose research and expertise lay within racial equity.

ACSP was founded in 1969 as a professionally recognized academic planning organization that promotes education, research, service, and outreach both in the United States and on the international stage. The association works to:

• recognize the diverse needs and interests required in responsible planning;
• improve and enhance the accreditation process; and
• establish the role of planning education in tertiary education through publications, conferences, and community engagement.

ACSP planners combine their scholarly knowledge with cooperative action, public interest work, and transformational change advocacy.

USC students who presented at ACSP include:

• Clemens Pilgram:
  • “Spatial Determinants of Dockless Mobility Use” (Co-author)

• Gregory Randolph:
  • “Urbanization Beyond the Metropolis: Planning for a Large Number of Small Places in the Global South” (Presenting author)
• Jocelyn Poe:
  • “On Trauma, Place, and Planning Ethics” (Presenting author)
  • Make Space, Take Space: Student Activism and Experience with Equity and Inclusion Initiatives (Roundtable participant)
• Marisa Turesky:
  • “50 Years of Pride: Queer Organizing as Radical Urban Planning” (Co-author)
• Sean Angst:
  • “Affordable South Los Angeles: Survival, Stress, & Support” (Presenting author)
  • “Rent Burden Impacts and Coping Strategies” (Co-author)
  • Make Space, Take Space: Student Activism and Experience with Equity and Inclusion Initiatives (Roundtable participant)
• Soledad De Gregorio:
  • “Rent Burden Impacts and Coping Strategies” (Co-author)
• Yougeng Lu:
  • “Estimation of Exposure to Urban PM2.5 In Fine Spatiotemporal Resolution: A Los Angeles Case Study” (Presenting author)
• Zakhary Mallett:
  • “Spatial Determinants of Dockless Mobility Use” (Co-author)

Julia Hartgen, USC PhD 2020 and current Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, received the Karen Polenske Award for Outstanding Student Paper on a China-Related Topic for her dissertation research on “Housing Single Women: Gender in China’s Shared Rental Housing Market.”