The Lecture in Planning Series (LiPS): Davarian Baldwin

The Campus as Planning Apparatus: Land Control, Labor Management, and Local Governance
Colleges and universities have become central actors in the knowledge economy—major landholders, employers, healthcare providers, and even policing agents within U.S. communities. This talk examines the spatial form of “the campus” as a planning mechanism that converts neighborhood blocks into sites of university and corporate wealth through land control, labor management, and semi-private governance. Drawing on work from his Smart Cities Research Lab, Davarian Baldwin explores how campuses transform laboratories into tax shelters and graduate workers into wage-suppressed apprentices, while highlighting various strategies of resistance. What are the implications of living within a planning model Baldwin calls the “UniverCity”?

Davarian Baldwin is the Raether Distinguished Professor of American Studies and the founding director of the Smart Cities Research Lab at Trinity College. His teaching, research, and advocacy explore the politics of global cities, with a focus on the diverse and marginalized communities striving to build sustainable lives in urban environments—from the United States to London, Rotterdam, and Bangkok. Baldwin is the award-winning author of several books, including In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities Are Plundering Our Cities. He also served as consultant and text author for The World of the Harlem Renaissance: A Jigsaw Puzzle (2022). His commentary has appeared in major outlets such as NBC News, BBC, HULU, USA Today,The Washington Post, and TIME magazine. Baldwin was named a 2022 Freedom Scholar by the Marguerite Casey Foundation in recognition of his scholarship and public engagement on issues of racial and economic justice.

The Lecture in Planning Series (LiPS) is co-organized by the MSUP Program and second-year PhD students in Urban Planning: Light refreshments will be served. This event is open to Columbia University affiliates with a valid university ID. Any questions on the events can be directed Rossella Asja Lucrezia Ferro, rf2930@columbia.edu and Daniela Perleche Ugas, dp3167@columbia.edu.