Bobak Razavi - The Perfect Age for Placemaking

If you could only get around your city on foot or bicycle and you were an urban planner, would you prioritize pedestrians and cyclists over cars?  Bobak Razavi, 7th grade social studies teacher, certainly thinks so, and he’s got the plans to prove it.

Seventh grade is the perfect age to think about place.  Developmentally, 12 and 13-year-olds are no longer little kids, they have enough independence to explore physical spaces like neighborhoods, commercial nodes, and parks and natural areas on their own, and they are beginning to see beyond their own experiences.  “The typical 7th grader,” says Bobak, “can be goofy or bookish; tall, or yet to reach their growth spurt; full of life, wiggly,” and also thoughtful, curious, creative, and able, as Bobak insists, “to go deeper in their thinking, and use their time to really think through perplexing questions.”

For a decade, Bobak has been teaching middle school social studies at Saint Paul Academy (SPA) and has curated a cross-discipline curriculum that get students out of the classroom and into the physical world so they can connect place, geography and people – foundational social studies concepts - with the water cycle, climate change, and weather, which are part of their science curriculum.  “We wanted to do more with place,”

Bobak says, “so we asked, ‘Shouldn’t we be doing more around placemaking?’  The 7th graders are already studying water issues, wetlands, and stormwater management in science class, so shouldn’t we connect all of that to the places we live?”

The 7th grade curriculum at SPA introduces “New Urbanism” to the students.   New Urbanism is defined as “human-scaled urban design focused on walkable blocks and streets with housing, jobs and shopping in close proximity, and accessible public spaces.”  New Urbanism evolved as an alternative to the sprawling, single-use, low-density patterns typical of post-WWII development, in both cities and suburbs.  Research shows that sprawl and the resulting “car culture” inflicts negative economic, health, and environmental impacts on communities.  “The concept of New Urbanism,” says Bobak, “is so current.  Our built world matters a lot.  And especially during Covid, we understand that we need to be outdoors to connect, even at a distance.  I think the kids recognize how much we need public spaces to bring us together.” 

Bobak continues:  “Kids this age are naturally curious and have their own ideas.  We want to introduce community design concepts and let them come to their own opinions.  It’s not enough to TELL kids that sprawl is hard on the environment and public health.”  Instead, Bobak and his fellow teachers assign small teams of students to design their own plans for a city, drawing from class lessons on society (social studies) and the environment (science class). 

The students begin by researching different design options from real urban examples (modern as well as historic) and they are encouraged to explore their own communities to consider what works and what doesn’t in practice.  SPA, a private school in a residential neighborhood of St. Paul, draws students from urban, suburban, and rural areas in the Twin Cities, and the kids bring their lived-experiences to the classroom, making for a nice mix of perspectives.  “The kid from the exurb and the city kid get to work together,” Bobak observes, “They process their project space together and blend the best of both worlds.  It’s a great exercise in teamwork.” 

After studying New Urbanism characteristics, students think about goals they have for their yet-to-be city’s population, recreational needs, education, industry, and what natural and built-environment features they want to highlight.  They draw their town’s geography in bright colors on paper and label resources.  A written grid helps each team identify specific New Urbanism attributes they include in their designs such as a strong town center; connected neighborhoods; commerce and jobs intermingled with housing (or mixed use areas); inclusive, accessible and affordable housing; locations for learning and job training; and greenspace and public gathering places.   

The kids also delight in getting to include features THEY want to see in their towns:  skate parks, water features, zip lines, bike share docks, recreation centers, and amphitheaters for performing shows and live music.  And while the kids include thoroughfares for cars (for their parents!), a good percentage of their towns’ transit space is devoted to sidewalks and designated bike and scooter lanes.  Makes sense, since those are familiar forms of transit that allow 7th graders some autonomy!  Bobak has noticed, too, that there is always space on the kids’ plans for big group activities (like ultimate Frisbee fields or basketball courts) and more private endeavors (libraries, individual park benches).  “That mix reflects the free-range, active kids’ needs, and those of the more introverted, self-directed kids,” Bobak offers, making for resilient and joyful places. 

Near the end of the project, the 7th grade teachers pose as “mayors” and visit each team and their envisioned towns in a showcase of design.  Big and small questions are asked, and the students describe their design decisions, target populations served, and highlight unique features that make THEIR town fantastic for people, from 7-year-olds to 7th graders to centenarians.   The students revel in the energy and ownership of the day, revealing their good ideas and comparing them to other teams’ plans. 

Bobak describes how perfectly this 7th grade placemaking project fits SPA’s academic arc, linking learning and academic skill-building across the middle school years.  The 6th grade social studies curriculum focuses on Minnesota history, including land forms before and during European colonization; the culture of Mni Sota’s original and current inhabitants, the Dakota; and how the Dakota people and other groups value and protect the state’s natural elements, especially water.  The 8th graders, then, examine race and equity across literature, history, and popular culture, further stretching their research, analysis, and communication skills.   And this year, with the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd, the students - shaped by loss and the racial reckoning going on around them – recognize what social division and unrest look like.  Much of it is happening in public places. 

Place grounds the students in the built environment, gets them thinking about land use, private property, shared public spaces, access, bias, and unintended consequences and who, or what, might get left out in a planning process.  “The conversation with my students has shifted,” Bobak reflects.  “These kids know the term ‘social justice,’ they know people are struggling, are hungry, that our waters and air are polluted.  They are thinking more broadly; they know about privilege.  They are starting to recognize that access means equity.” 

 Asked if he is hopeful for the future of our communities, urban planning, resource management, civic engagement, and place making, Bobak responds: “I’m excited for the choices this generation of students will make and how they will use the information that is in their hands.” 

Resources:

Saint Paul Academy Middle School Social Studies:  https://www.spa.edu/middle-school/grade-7

New Urbanism:  https://www.cnu.org/

Photos credits:  Tracy Nordstrom, Bobak Razavi