University of Oregon’s Gerardo Sandoval recently received an honorable mention for the 2013 Paul Davidoff Book Award. His book, “Immigrants and the Revitalization of Los Angeles: Development and Change in MacArthur Park,” was chosen out of 21 nominations.

Sandoval is an assistant professor in the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management, as well as the new associate director of the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies. “Sandoval has created fine-grained, nuanced insights into the challenging but ultimately successful journey that formerly troubled communities can take toward positive change,” “Urban Studies” said in its recent review.

Congratulate Gerardo Sandoval on his honorable mention.

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning presents the Paul Davidoff Award twice a year. The award gives recognition to books that promote participatory planning and positive social change while reflecting the ethics of Davidoff, an academic activist of modern city planning.

MacArthur Park, featured in Sandoval’s novel, is a low-income immigrant community in Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood started a redevelopment that re-characterized a city previously inundated with crime and violence well into the mid-1990s. Sandoval focused his research on roles of immigrants in community redevelopment, and the impact that governments and transnational relationships can have on immigrants.

- by Sarah MacKenzie, UO Office of Strategic Communications intern