Select a company with an international presence that you are familiar with or by searching the internet. Identify the laws, treaties, acts, and governing bodies (e.g. U.N., WTO, and IMF) that impact their business. Explain the impact these laws, treaties, acts, and governing bodies have on their business. D
Robust civic engagement that connects with vulnerable communities is imperative as cities grow, gentrify and change. Currently, Google is .
Background:
All development projects undergo a series of steps to receive approval for their plan, including approval for the type of land uses (residential, commercial, retail etc), and ensuring that the development application meets all city requirements for such things as open space/parks, transportation, utilities and infrastructure, etc. This is called the entitlement process. Cities also require a level of public notification as part of the entitlement process.
As our guest speaker mentioned, Google purchased land from the City of San Jose in December of 2018. The agreement with the City includes the requirement to develop a Community Benefit package. For San Jose, the ability to add jobs to the city but also add affordable housing are key goals.
The Google project, called Downtown West Mixed-Use Plan is currently in review. As part of their process, Google and the City have conducted community outreach around the plan.
Assignment:
Review of the Station Area Advisory Group (SAAG) community engagement process.
- Provide your own opinion/reaction to the community engagement tools and what you reviewed – how effective? Pros and cons? Is it easy to understand and navigate?
- Thinking about Week 3 and Gentrification/Displacement, what would be your top concerns for this planned development?
- Considering the readings and lesson this week, what engagement tools would you suggest to increase the overall effectiveness of the outreach for this project? (reading is listed below, here is the link: https://www.vitalsource.com/) The book is called “The City Reader”