Harvard GSD, Spring 2020

Parkersburg, West Virginia has a unique urban history, but in many ways its story is common to cities across the United States. Cities boomed with industrial triumphs, but had to endure a slow decline as those industries withered. Today, faced with a disastrous ecological inheritance, made worse by climate change, the future for cities like Parkersburg does not look bright.

The urban situation in these post-growth cities, however, could provide opportunities to deal with these problems, not available in places with higher demand. Indeed, by using their current urban de-growth as an opportunity, they may be able to spur a new wave of healthy, sustainable growth. This plan for the future of Parkersburg looks to the city’s past for clues on how to restore a city and an ecology to health.