33 Small City Anchor Institutions • Feature • Bohannon Finally, universities can advance these relationships by institutionalizing partnerships, rather than relying on individual champions alone. Through labs, memoranda of understanding, and long-term programs, universities can provide continuity even as staff, students, or political leadership change. That consistency is especially valuable for small cities and under-resourced planning departments. So ultimately, the university’s role is not to sit between designers and planners, but to create the conditions in which collaboration can thrive through alignment, translation, shared learning, and long-term commitment. When universities take that role seriously, they help transform designer–planner relationships from transactional interactions into durable partnerships grounded in trust, mutual respect, and shared responsibility for place. At their best, universities help designers and planning departments not just work together, but learn together, building relationships that endure beyond any single project. C.L. Bohannon, PhD, FASLA, is an Associate Professor in the Landscape Architecture Department and Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Community Engagement at University of Virginia School of Architecture. Bohannon is a nationally recognized scholar and educator in the areas of communityengaged design and pedagogy, social and environmental justice, and African American landscapes, especially in the American South. Student work. Yuan Shuai. Longleaf Pine, Prospect Bluff. UVA School of Architecture.
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