Ishita Chandra
Work Sample 2022
Professional Report
Recognising Street Vendors in Planning Processes The Case of Oakland Chinatown 2022
Abstract The invisibility of street vendors in conventional planning documents of the City of Oakland inspired my research on recognizing street vendors in the planning processes. Even though street vending has been an integral part of public life in Oakland Chinatown, this activity is considered outside of the city’s official planning frameworks. Cities worldwide have gone to great lengths to , and ‘formalize’ street vending activities. Therefore, street vendors rely on the permit system to exercise their right to the city. To break away from the streamlining permit process, I map the street vendors of Oakland Chinatown. In the process, I identify street vendors’ transient use of space. The evolving nature of street vending presents challenges to the regulation system ther. Further, I critique the City of Oakland’s existing food vending permit process with an anti-formalizing lens. I use the lessons from mapping and the critique of the permit system to inform recommendations to the City of Oakland.
Rationale
10 am PST in Oakland Chinatown, Oakland, CA I walk along the sidewalks in Oakland Chinatown, to identify issues with the pedestrian circulation for the Department of Transportation in Oakland. On my way, I see a crowd emerging from the corner of 9th and Webster street. In curiosity, I camouflage myself in the crowd and sway in the crowd’s direction. It is loud and chaotic. I overhear but do not understand conversations. The crowd follows a unique rhythm. The tempo of the crowd slows down near street vendors. Street vendors are sitting on the floor abutting the brick and mortar store fronts. I locate them on my sketched street map and move on to my next task. 11 am PST UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA To understand the existing engagement process, I analyzed the engagement sections of future proposal documents in Oakland Chinatown. The street vendors did not make it to the list of potential or existing stakeholders of the public realm. On further investigation through the planning documents, I found directions to apply for mobile food vending City of Oakland. Does permitting adequately recognise street vendors as dignified stakeholders in planning processes?
Observational Study 18th October 2021 | Re-mapping Streets in Oakland Chinatown The first step to recognizing street vendors’ presence in the public realm is to map their position on the streets of Oakland Chinatown. The study includes snapshots of different times of the day. Mapping street vendors’ spatial patterns helped my research reveal specific characteristics of the street vending activity in Oakland Chinatown. Numerical data represented in maps and graphs are estimates. This section concludes with critical transient attributes of the street vendors.
Street Vendors Position Mapping 8 am PST in Oakland Chinatown, CA, USA As I walk along the sidewalks of 9th and 8th, I find no traces of street vendors on the street. The grocery store employees are unloading produce from trucks parked on the edge of the sidewalks. 2 pm PST in Oakland Chinatown, CA, USA As I walk along the sidewalks of 9th and 8th, street vendors have taken their positions on the street. They are sitting on the edge of the brick-and-mortar stores. The edge of the store is defined by where the display outside ends. Every store has a different boundary depending on the amount of produce displayed that day. Street vendors sit in almost the same position every day. The map represents the approximate positions of the street vendors. 8 pm PST in Oakland Chinatown, CA, USA As I walk along the sidewalks of 9th and 8th, I find no traces of street vendors on the street.
Creative Utilization of Space Street vendors use the sidewalks in their own creative ways. The different arrangements demonstrate that even with limitations, space can be used in multiple different ways. Street vendors in Oakland Chinatown organize themselves on the sidewalks. My team and I observed how street vendors position themselves differently on streets with different dimensions.
Though there are no markings on the street for disability accessstreet vendors tend to leave adequate (5ft) space for wheelchairs. Street vendors use packaging material, baskets and bikes to display their products. The street sections are drawn as per observations and measurements taken in October 2021. Street vendors occupy both sides of the sidewalk as a result creating comfortable enclosures for pedestrians. Enclosures create the illusion of protection against vehicular traffic and moving cars on the adjacent road.
Prioritize Engagement Over Income
Income An estimated 100 out of 120 street vendors observed appeared to be elderly asian women. As per interviews, street vendors use income from vending to contribute to satisfying household needs. Street vendors sell excess produce from kitchen gardens, second hand clothes and utensils. Figure 4 showcases the items that are being sold by street vendors. According to multiple observational studies, as of October 2021, approximately 120 stationery street vendors sell homegrown fresh produce, house plants and dry supplies. The variety of produce ranges from staples, such as onions and peppers, to ribbed chinese tomatoes. According to interviews, street vendors sell homegrown surplus produce. However, some of the dry supplies are from emergency care packages offered by the community organizations.
Engagment My team and I compared pedestrians’ reactions with street vendors’ and without street vendors. As per our study, more pedestrians slowed down or stopped on Sidewalk A (with street vendors) than on Sidewalk B (without street vendors). Even though there weren’t too many people buying from the street vendors, their presence initiated interactions. Therefore street vendors are an attraction that activates the street. Also, we observed that street vendors were in constant communication with each other. Even though we could not understand the topic of conversation, it made us feel a part of something bigger. Sidewalk B was quieter because of the absence of discussion sounds from the street vendors. Therefore, the city should transform its outlook towards street vendors, considering their potential from income generation methods to agents of street activation.
Stakeholder Mapping
This section identifies critical stakeholders affected by street vending in Oakland Chinatown. I identified three departments in the City of Oakland that influence street vendors: Race and Equity, Economic & Workforce Development, and the Department of Transportation. Additionally, I conducted and analyzed interviews with various stakeholders. Table 1, summarizes stakeholders’ viewpoint on the presence of the street vendors. Key takeaways of Stakeholder Interviews The interview with OCCC revealed that street vendors do not want to be regulated because of the temporary nature of street vending. They eluded that street vendors will come back even if they are asked to leave if they violate the permit system. OCCC and City staff mentioned the limited capacity of staff members to engage and regulate the street vendors.
Recommendations In this section, I use remapping studies and the critique of the permit system. Finally, I provide recommendations to the City of Oakland. My suggestion to the city considers the transient nature ( flexible, adaptable, temporary) of street vending. Also, my suggestions consider the vulnerabilities of the street vending community in Oakland Chinatown.
Capacity building by Tactical Urbanism Figure 6 - Pedestrian interaction Comparison Between Sidewalks A (with street vendors) and Sidewalk B (without street vendors) Note - Observation Date Friday, 22nd of october 2021. Source: Author Marking annotations or references on the sidewalk for designated flexible zones can be an efficient strategy to ensure unhindered disability access.
Educations through Visual Design Street vendors do not have a regular supply of produce or merchandise; therefore, health permits might fail to ensure food safety. However, educating street vendors to self-assess the produce can be an effective way to provide healthy food. Education through information graphics on dos and don’ts for vending can be a step towards healthy food access through street vending. Community Development through Organization OCCC and the City of Oakland should introduce a community development organization with the mission to work for the welfare of street vendors. An additional organization will solve OCCC’s and City staff’s limited capacity. Inclusive Action for the City is one such organization that works for the welfare of street vendors in Los Angeles. This organization bridges the gap between the City and Street vendors. The organization assists street vendors through alternate methods of funding.
Y-Plan Youth Engagement
Effective Communication for Earthquake Preparedness January - May 2022
Brainstorm Session
Y Plan Summit
Research Paper
Can Community Inclusivity Impact the rate of Depression in California? November 2020
Abstract “Depression is a glaring reality for California.” On average, Californians face a high risk of depression. Some common symptoms of depression are low mood and feeling of loneliness. A constant low mood can thwart people from participating as an equal stakeholder in the city. It is observed that an inclusive community, where people feel socially supported, have a sense of belonging, and have open communication, can help alleviate depression. To assuage depression, it is essential to understand the relation between inclusivity and depression for city planners. Though there are many factors related to community inclusion, open communication, social support, sex, and age are examined for this research.
Methodology To study the relation, data was drawn from the California health interview survey. Chis data is the largest state-level health survey in the country. The survey is updated annually. First step was to choose data for community inclusivity and depression. English proficiency, emotional & social support, age, sex, and depression were selected for this research. Second important step was to synthesis the data. For which data types were identified as categorical, nominal and numeric. • Data on Felt depression in the last one month was categorized into six categories. (proxy / skipped=-2; all of the time=1; most of the time=2; some of the time=3; a little of the time=4; Not at all=5). For this analysis, responses were re-categorized into two variables, depressed (1,2,3,4) and not depressed (5). • Similarly, English proficiency is categorized into three categories, people who speak only English=1, very well/ well=2, not well/not at all=3. This analysis is re-categorized into two dummy variables: speak/know English (1,2) and don’t speak/ don’t understand English (3). • Likewise, received emotional and social support was categorized into five categories. (always=1, usually=2, sometimes=3, rarely=4, never=5). These were re-categorized into two variables, received emotional & social support (1,2,3,4) and people who did not receive emotional & social support (5). • Self-reported age the only numeric variable. Average age and standard deviation were calculated for this study. The variables were then tested for association and significance with rate of depression.
Analysis Table 1, presents the descriptive data of depression and factors related to community inclusion in California. There are some notable results discussed below. First, on average few people feel depressed in California. 20% share of the total population reported feelings of depression. Second, most of the people living in California can communicate in English. However, 8% of the total population cannot communicate in English. Third, even though most people feel emotionally and socially supported, 10% share of the total population feels unsupported. Another important observation is that there are more females compared to males in California. The share of female population in California is 8% higher than male population. Lastly, the data shows that the average adult age in California is 54 years.
Results This section discusses key findings from Table 2, which presents association between depression and factors of community inclusivity. •
People who cannot communicate in English are more likely to be depressed. The table shows that the share of the depressed population who cannot communicate in English is 15% higher than those who can communicate in English. The difference is statistically significant, which ascertains that English proficiency and rate of depression are related.
•
People who receive emotional and social support are less likely to be depressed. The share of depressed population, who receive emotional and social support is 24% less likely to be depressed than the share of depressed population who do not receive emotional and social support support. The difference in the rate of depression between the two groups is statistically significant hence we can say that emotional and social support and rate of depression are related.
•
On average, younger population are more likely to be depressed than older population.The average age of people who have depression is 7years older than those who are not depressed. The difference in the age is statistically significant so we can claim that age and rate of depression are related.
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Females are more likely to be depressed than male. Despite the observation, the difference between the depressed male and female was found to be statistically insignificant. Therefore, we can’t claim the association between rate of depression and sex.
Limitations Although the factors discussed in the study (age, emotional and social support, English proficiency, sex) are associated with the rate of depression in California, there are other important factors - genetics and trauma that may be the cause of a higher rate of depression in California. For future study, genetics can be measured by including presence of a family member with depression as a proxy measure. Another limitation of the study could be false reporting of depression. Social stigma and lack of awareness can be the reason for false reporting.
Conclusion Chis data was analysed to study the impact of community inclusion on the rate depression. Although the research is limited in important ways - factors like genetics and trauma could be the cause of depression. In conclusion, community inclusion variables considered in this study accept sex, can affect the rate of depression in California.
Bibliography World Bank. “Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design.” Accessed November 28, 2020. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/publication/handbook-for-gender-inclusive-urban-planning-and-design. American Planning Association. “Mind the Gender Gap.” Accessed December 15, 2020. https://www. planning.org/planning/2020/feb/mind-the-gender-gap/. Time. “Women Are Now the Majority of the U.S. Workforce — But They Still Face Challenges.” Accessed December 16, 2020. https://time.com/5766787/women-workforce/.
Landscape Studio
A Forest in Motion Choreographing Succession
Instructor: Walter Hood and Anna Brand Fall 2021
Landscape as a Process
YEAR 0
YEAR 30
YEAR 100
SUCCESSION & ENTROPY
FRAMEWORK TO CHOREOGRAPH SUCESSION
FOREST DENSITY
DENSITY OVER TIME
YEAR 15
YEAR 30
YEAR 70
YEAR 150
PATH TYPOLOGIES
SITE SCALE PLANTING SCHEME
PLANTING SCHEME
PROPOSED MASTERPLAN WORLD FAIR 2055
PROPOSED GARDEN -1 LANDSCAPE AND CULTURE YEAR 2055
PROPOSED GARDEN - 2 HOW DO WE LIVE TOGETHER? YEAR 2055
Urban Design Studio Housing Density
Creating Centres SPRING 2021 Instructor: Zachary Lamb Group : Elly Wanyongi
Ishita Chandra ishitac@berkeley.edu +1510 365 9208