Feb 14 2025

The Most F*cked Up Place: Corruption, Economic Development, and the Role of Planners

Part of the Friday Forum organized by the Coalition of Urban Planning PhD Students (CUPPS)

February 14, 2025

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Location

CUPPAH Lower Level Conference Room 1

Dr. Kerry Fang is associate professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her work asks questions like, “Why some regions are rich while others are poor?” and “What policy tools can help create jobs and boost innovation?”

 

 

Seven years ago, while living in Tallahassee, Dr. Fang discovered that the city was under FBI investigation for public corruption in its economic development projects. Securing subpoenaed FBI materials, court documents, media coverage, and city meeting documents, Dr. Fang delved into these cases and uncovered troubling patterns. Dr. Fang found corruption to be far more pervasive than imagined, challenging traditional rational and participatory planning frameworks and highlighting the need for a political perspective.

Planners often found themselves sidelined in communication networks, with their recommendations overridden by politicians at varying rates. Yet, email communications occasionally served as a bridge, aligning politicians’ votes with planners’ recommendations. Beyond this, signs of corruption were glaring: public subsidies funneled to a few with insider connections, deeply entangled social networks among corrupt actors, the rise of “kingmaker” politicians who wielded outsized influence, and little accountability for accepting gifts from developers and lobbyists. These findings shifted Dr. Fang's understanding of economic development, revealing how corruption distorts decision-making and undermines equitable development.

Contact

David López-García, PhD (He/Him) Assistant Professor

Date posted

Jan 30, 2025

Date updated

Jan 30, 2025