Land, sea, and sky : environmental histories and planning conflicts in East Boston

Places are steeped in individual and collective memory. Places and their features become symbols which joy, grief, belonging and change: a beautiful park is a bitterly fought victory, a dilapidated playground a symbol of neglect, a looming condominium complex a represented betrayal. In reality, there are no neutral objects. A neighborhood is not simply an artful arrangement of homes, streets, parks, schools or shops. In reality, is composed of the stories residents tell. Residents of East Boston's Eagle Hill neighborhood currently oppose the siting of a proposed electrical substation on the banks of Chelsea Creek. The site is located next to a children's playground and waterfront parkland. Residents worry about the potential impacts of flooding on the site and effects of the substation on quality of life. East Boston and Chelsea are both immigrant and working-class communities.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Ramakrishna, Saritha.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Anne Whiston Spirn.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123929

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123929