| Abstract: | Urban renewal infill projects adjacent to university campuses provide ideal opportunities to create mixed-use landscapes with lasting character and strong place identity, especially when planning guidelines promote sustainability and smart growth principles. Despite such conditions, powerful growth coalitions can still manipulate the development process so that projects are altered to serve their own interests. This research examines how an innovative infill project in Colorado Springs devolved into a very traditional, automobile-oriented big-box shopping center unlikely to serve the needs of students or create a lively destination site. We analyze the strategies of powerful stakeholders and public agencies during the development process to determine how such a breakdown could occur. We conclude that a deregulated political culture empowers the growth machine coalition to define the "reality" of what can and cannot be built, perpetuating the creation of placeless, generic landscapes insensitive to local site characteristics or alternative visions. |
