Core Sessions
  • Jazz Market New Orleans Audience Seating
    Jazz Market New Orleans Audience Seating
    Trumpeting a cultural revival
    <strong>Peoples Health New Orleans Jazz Market</strong>&nbsp; <em>New Orleans, Louisiana</em>

    Build Great Places / #thisiscnu

  • Mercado District | Tucson, Arizona
    A timeless place from the ground up. #thisiscnu

    Build Great Places / #thisiscnu

  • A unique building becomes a hub for historic neighborhoods
    <strong>Ponce City Market</strong> <em>Atlanta, GA</em>

    Build Great Places / #thisiscnu

  • From parking lot to urban tour-de-force
    <strong>UCLA Weyburn</strong>&nbsp;<em>Los Angeles, California</em>

    Build Great Places / #thisiscnu

  • A mixed-use center for town and gown
    <strong>Storrs Center</strong> <em>Mansfield, CT</em>

    Build Great Places / #thisiscnu

  • Southside
    Ten acres that transformed a city #thisiscnu

    Build Great Places / #thisiscnu

  • Expanding options for a car-oriented suburban area
    <strong>Village of Providence</strong> <em>Huntsville, AL</em>

    Build Great Places / #thisiscnu

  • Historic arcade houses young professionals
    <strong>Microlofts at The Arcade Providence</strong>&nbsp;<em>Providence, Rhode Island</em>

    Build Great Places / #thisiscnu

  • Crosstown_Concourse_2018_Charter_LooneyRicksKiss
    Crosstown_Concourse_2018_Charter_LooneyRicksKiss
    From former warehouse to "vertical village"
    <strong>Crosstown Concourse</strong>&nbsp; <em>Memphis, Tennessee</em>

    Build Great Places / #thisiscnu

Core Sessions are in-depth primers on the history, principles, concepts, and tools of New Urbanism geared to first-time Congress attendees.

Wednesday | June 8

Core: Principles of New Urbanism
9:00 AM - 10:00 PM . GEM THEATER
AIA 1 LU

New urbanists measure success by aligning practical strategies with the principles most identified with places people love. Andres Duany, one of the founders of the movement, talks about the components of community, the failure of post-WWII planning to deliver them, and what new urbanists have learned about restoring relationships between planning, design, and great places.

Andres Duany | Principal, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company


Core: Urbanism & Sustainability
10:15 AM - 11:15 AM . GEM THEATER
AIA 1 HSW

Over 80 percent of Americans now live in cities or suburbs—getting our communities right has never been more important. Kaid Benfield, author of People Habitat: 25 Ways to Think About Greener, Healthier Cities, takes a more holistic, solution-based, example-oriented approach to planning our communities sustainably—ecological and socially.

Kaid Benfield, Senior Counsel for Environmental Strategies, Placemakers


Core: Coding & Zoning
11:30 AM - 12:30 AM . GEM THEATER
AIA 1 LU

In New Urbanism, one-size-fits-all strategies are off the table. From the beginning, the movement has developed and implemented strategies that strengthen communities through choice and diversity. Learn how pioneering tools such as form-based codes and the SmartCode are employed to incrementally and intelligently plan cities and towns while honoring the complexities of human settlement.

Susan Henderson, Principal, PlaceMakers LLC


Core: Sprawl Retrofit
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM . GEM THEATER
AIA 1 LU

Transforming our suburban landscapes is a major planning and development priority of the 21st century. Suburban areas are not destined to remain filled with strip malls and excess parking lots—they represent enormous opportunities to rescale sprawling landscapes into diverse and thriving pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods. Explore the challenges and best practices of retrofitting sprawling areas into pockets of walkable urbanism.

June Williamson, Associate Professor of Architecture - Spitzer School of Architecture, The City College of New York/CUNY


Core: The Cash Flow of Urbanism
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM . GEM THEATER
AIA 1 LU

Cities are beginning to see the value of their urban form and analyzing the relationship between building design and tax production. In doing so, they are realizing the economic potency of their downtowns and Main Streets. Joe Minicozzi discusses using methods such as property value analyses, retail tax studies, and revenue forecasting to help local officials understand the economics of walkability and mixed-use for cities, counties, and regions.

Joe Minicozzi, Principal, Urban3, LLC


Core: Walkability
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM . GEM THEATER
AIA 1 LU

Around the world, cities that have welcomed pedestrians and cyclists have reaped enormous benefits: improved public health, revived local economies, more resilient neighborhoods, and happier citizens. Walkable City author Jeff Speck lays out what it takes to get people out of their cars and onto their feet, exploring a wide range of best practices to make cities and towns more walkable, bikeable, and successful.

Jeff Speck, Principal, Speck & Associates LLC