About the Program

CNU XVI Stats

1,500 attendees
200 expert presenters
50+ sessions
13 guided tours
6 action-packed debates

New Urbanism and the Booming Metropolis

The last few decades have put Austin on the map as one of America's hottest, fastest-growing, and most dynamic cities. But can it be a truly great city?

Austin's planning and design professionals, civic and political leaders, and engaged citizens have been working for years to shape the booming Central Texas region into a New Urban model for the Sun Belt. CNU XVI will spotlight both the challenges and the triumphs Austin has encountered bringing progressive planning and design to a fast-growing metropolis.

Austin's rapid growth is being driven by the city's celebrated assets: a unique and beautiful natural setting, a dynamic presence in the information economy, a vital and expansive local creative culture, and an engaged populace of active citizens with deep civic commitment. Those same elements can be seen at work in the exciting new evolution of Austin's urban landscape from the conventional Sun Belt model into one focused on wise stewardship of resources and creating great places and spaces.

From the Envision Central Texas region-wide planning and visioning effort, to the dramatic transformation of Austin's downtown, to the emergence of mixed-use showpieces like the Mueller community (at the city's old airport) and the Domain, to the revitalization of the city's formerly disadvantaged East Side, one can find signs of positive change all around the Austin area. None of these efforts has come easily, and with growth still proceeding at a rapid clip, the New Urbanism movement has much to learn from the Austin experience. CNU XVI is the perfect opportunity for learning about New Urbanism and enjoying Austin.

Session Types

Concurrent Sessions
Concurrent Sessions make up the heart of the program. These breakout offerings include a moderator and leading panelists discussing the experiences and challenges of New Urbanism. This year CNU XVI offers 2 types of sessions, for newcomers and advanced practitioners alike:

• Fundamental -- Sessions identified as Fundamental are geared toward members who are either new to the CNU or who are new to the particular topic being discussed. These sessions will focus on the core principles of the New Urbanism as they relate to the session topic.
• In-depth -- Sessions that fall into the In-depth category will probe more deeply into a particular topic and are geared toward more tenured CNU members or those who hold a deeper knowledge of the session topic.

Plenary Sessions
Plenary sessions bring the entire Congress together for a shared experience at the start or end of the day. Each plenary showcases an innovative thinker or expert practitioner who will provide an enlightening perspective and challenge our standard thinking.

New Urbanism 101
These day-long sessions provide an in-depth primer on the history, principles, and concepts of New Urbanism, presented by Andres Duany and other leaders in the NU movement.

Initiative Meetings
These lunches offer a chance to get updates on the latest CNU Task Forces where some of CNU’s pioneering projects began.

Salons
Salons are informal gatherings that allow CNU members to network, discuss their work, tackle pressing issues, or continue conversations.

Chapter Meet-Ups
Chapter meet-ups are a time for members to get together with other professionals from back home for networking, socializing, and discussion. Visit www.cnu.org/chapters for the chapter listing. E-mail Lee Crandell (lcrandell@cnu.org) to learn how you can host a meet-up for your region.

Working sessions
Working sessions are 2.5 hour sessions where members work on advancing CNU initiatives.

Special Events
Special program offerings, such as NextGen. CNU XVI will also feature two partner sessions that tackle current issues in New Urbanism. Sessions will be three hours in length.

Social Events
Events designed to let attendees network and interact

New Urbanism 202
202 Sessions are specialized seminars led by expert presenters and geared toward advanced professionals in New Urbanism.

Urban Laboratories
Urban labs offer a hands-on learning experience while helping Austin solve real-world challenges. Two separate but related urban labs will help the City of Austin ensure that it’s future rail system works cohesively with proposed land uses to achieve its full potential.

Guided Tours
CNU XVI offers fourteen optional guided tours of Austin and nearby Texas communities significant for their architecture and urban design. Guided tours are open to all.

Session Tracks

The session tracks guide you through specific topics. Each track contains fundamental, in-depth and debate sessions.

Codes
Today, The New Urbanism is gaining real traction. But the coding necessary to sustain that momentum has been, until recently, a lost art. Explore the rediscovered art and how the SmartCode and other Form-Based Codes make places that matter.

Community
New Urbanism provides a place where we can be whole again as a culture. Join some of the most experienced practitioners of New Urbanism as we explore the elements of a community, both around the world and in America.

Design and Architecture
The Design & Architecture Track will offer solutions for enhancing the built environment as well as promoting livable places. Sessions will examine the building blocks that create urban form: innovative building types, neighborhood schools and techniques of introducing density. In-depth sessions will present solutions for repairing the conventional growth pattern destroyed by sprawl to exploring the effects of urbanized city centers.

Development and Finance
Sessions within the finance track will explore how successful New Urbanists are financing their projects. What are the sources of private capital that are being tapped and what are the creative tools being used to finance public infrastructure? Further, these sessions will provide concrete examples of how New Urbanist projects have financially out performed conventional suburban developments.

Sustainability
New Urbanists have long challenged unsustainable land use practices and offered a greener way to approach the question of where and how we grow. How do green landscaping, building, and stormwater management techniques enhance – or compete with – the NU vision of dense, connected neighborhoods? What role do natural spaces play in the built environment, and do regulatory tools exist to preserve them without sacrificing urban form and connectivity?

Transportation
How are we going to get there?
Transportation has the solitary power to determine the true merit and sustainability of the places we work so hard to create. This year’s transportation track will tackle the pivotal issues facing the Booming Metropolis and seek to provide insight from best New Urbanist practices. Key components of transportation research and implementation will be discussed in the context of TODs, intermodal transit centers, dynamic street design, toll road impacts, and streetcar feasibility.

Download the CNU XVI Program Book (PDF)