September 28, 2007

Michael Donovan, a 2007 Ph.D. graduate of the Department of City and Regional Planning, has won the Gill-Chin Lim Award for Best Dissertation on International Planning from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP).

The award was established by the ACSP Global Planners Educators Interest Group (GPEIG) in recognition of the commitment of its late colleague, Gill-Chin Lim, to the study of humanistic aspects of globalization. The Gill-Chin Lim Award for the Best Dissertation on International Planning recognizes superior scholarship in a doctoral dissertation completed by a student enrolled in an ACSP-member school.

The committee received the largest number of submittals in this fourth year of the award. Dr. Michael Donovan's dissertation, At the Doors of Legality: Planners, Favelados, and the Titling of Urban Brazil, was the unanimous choice of the committee. The exemplary manner in which Dr. Donovan's dissertation met the criteria for the award was noted as follows:

"The work presented a nuanced understanding of 'the diverse processes of international planning in the global context' by not simply testing the conventional wisdom of land titling, but also analyzing different planning programs to look at the range of policy impacts. The work focused on an underserved populations in the 'Global South' and reflected commitment to these populations. The analysis also showed a creative approach to providing alternative approaches to planning policy."

More information on the award may be found on the ACSP website.