Study Architecture 
ProPEL 
Author(s): Richard Mohler & Julie Parrett
Seattle’s South Park neighborhood is bounded by a state highway to the west, an EPA Superfund Site to the east, and industrial uses to the south. It is bisected by State Route 99 (SR99), lies directly beneath the SeaTac airport flight path, and is subject to climate induced sea level rise and liquefaction in a seismic event. The life expectancy of South Park residents is thirteen years less than those living in neighborhoods nine miles to the north. Yet, South Park remains a tightly knit and well-organized community of color determined to control its own destiny despite the environmental injustice and public health disparities it has long endured. The community is now at a watershed moment with an opportunity to address these inequities through the mitigation or removal of the segment of SR-99 that bisects the neighborhood. The city-sponsored Reconnect South Park Project re-imagines the highway’s 40-acre swath as a site for restorative development. However, the prospect of green gentrification risks enabling the very forces it is intended to disrupt. This paper chronicles an interdisciplinary design studio at (redacted) that engaged community stakeholders, city departments, and non-government organizations in the exploration of policies and design strategies at multiple scales to be implemented prior to, during, and following the highway removal project. These policies and strategies are focused on building capacity for community wealth generation and stabilization, addressing climate change impacts, and improving health outcomes while reducing the threat of gentrification. The studio prioritized the expertise of community voices and elevated neighborhood youth as stewards of the project over its thirty-year timeframe.
https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.113.74
Volume Editors
Sara Jensen Carr & Rubén García Rubio
ISBN
978-1-944214-48-7
