Fall 2016 seminar: M.R.P. candidate, city and regional planning
Jabari Jordan-Walker is a first-year master's student in the Department of City and Regional Planning. Jordan-Walker's academic background began within the framework of art criticism and theory. He holds a B.F.A. in critical and cultural studies from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver. Jordan-Walker's focus on public art and architecture cumulated into a meditation on institutional critique and mutations of public/private space through the 21st century. In the face of the economic boom stimulated by the 2010 Winter Olympics, his artwork and writing took on the city's increasing lack of affordable housing. During his residence in Vancouver — a city that acknowledges it sits on unceded Coast Salish land — Jordan-Walker was exposed to the disproportionate challenges First Nations people face while attempting to invest in Vancouver's ever-changing urban identity. This experience has him questioning the differences in how governments are addressing the refugee and internal houselessness crisis', respectively. His research interests at Cornell University revolve around an interaction with native urban populations of the Arctic (Inuit) region. More specifically, understanding how strides in self-governance have played a major role in developing holistic and fairer urban societies. Focusing on architecture, vernacularism, and urban geographic research tools, Jordan-Walker asks how to better solidify the infrastructural position of urban aboriginal populations in vulnerable cities such as Nuuk, Greenland.