My work is situated at the intersection of studying urban development, governance, and the creation and destruction of cultural spaces in working class communities of color. My research and practice focus on learning from the grassroots as they respond to various forms of inequality and injustice while still building transformative and creative alternatives. In critically examining urban development in low-income communities of color, I center everyday responses that are central to community-based planning, transnational development, and the creation of new democratic processes and spaces.
Through my research and teaching I build collaborations with organizations at the forefront of various grassroots movements and community-based initiatives. I am currently working in collaboration with VOCES de la Frontera, Wisconsin’s leading immigrant rights and low-wage workers center, on a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) project that addresses significant threats to the health and safety of Wisconsin’s essential workers. My teaching collaborations range from working with Freedom Inc on the People’s Budget in order to shift public investment to developing the Just Dining Guide with Worker Justice Wisconsin (formerly the Worker Rights Center) in the fight for more just working conditions.
Selected Publications
Kim, A. J., Knapp, C., & Sarmiento, C. (2025). Notes on Abolition in Planning: A Framework for Listening. Journal of Planning Literature, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/08854122241298596
Sarmiento, C. S. (2024). Distinction, difference, and the place (s) of Latine working-class immigrants in the creative city. Urban Geography, 46(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2024.2352309
Sarmiento, C. (2022). Not diverse enough? Displacement, diversity discourse, and commercial gentrification in Santa Ana, California, a majority-Mexican city. Urban Studies, 59(9), 1782-1799. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980211020912
Sims, J. R., & Sarmiento, C. S. (2023). Squeezed in and pushed out: dual and contradictory displacements in Santa Ana, CA. City, 27(3-4), 294-320. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2023.2207248
Sarmiento, C. S. (2020). From Jails to Sanctuary Planning: Spatial Justice in Santa Ana, California. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 40(2), 196-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X19893743
For a full list of publications, see Sarmiento’s CV.

Department
- Civil Society & Community Studies
Degree Program
- PhD Human Ecology: Civil Society & Community Research
Affiliations
Education
- PhD, Planning, Policy and Design, University of California, Irvine
- MA, Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles
- BA, World Arts and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles
Contact
Office: 4253 Nancy Nicholas Hall
Phone: 608-262-0322
Email: carolina.sarmiento@wisc.edu
Websites: