The annual Congress is an international gathering of our multidisciplinary cohort, but it is also a core programmatic effort of CNU, providing an opportunity for our attendees to convene, to educate, and to collaborate in service of a world where cities, towns, and neighborhoods are intentionally designed to foster community, preserve the natural environment, and improve the lives of all people.
Cincinnati’s distinct neighborhoods, emerging downtown, historic fabric, and recent riverfront development provides a helpful context for this year’s focus on Restorative Urbanism. The agenda for CNU 32 will continue to evolve what was delivered in Charlotte - with session types and topics designed to guide attendees to learn, experience, and work together.
Foundational Education at CNU 32
As part of our evolution of the Congress delivery, this year we are including a slate of sessions that aim to teach the foundational principles of the practice of New Urbanism through the lens of our Restorative Urbanism focus. You can now see what sessions are included in that slate, in our New Urbanism Starter Course.
Full Schedule (pdf linked here)
Tuesday, May 14
Registration: Get your badge on the 4th floor of the Hilton Netherland Plaza starting at 2pm ET.
Strong Towns National Gathering: Starts today. Get your badge on the 4th floor of the Hilton Netherland Plaza starting at 2pm ET. More information can be found here.
Incremental Development Workshop: The Small Scale Development Workshop on small scale real estate development is all about project formation. We take a big picture view of neighborhood-based development to help attendees analyze what makes a good project, how a building makes money, and how small developers interact with the broader ecosystem of professionals in the built environment. More information can be found here.
Wednesday, May 15
Tours: CNU 32 Tours start as early at 8am. You can see all the options and availability here.
Envisioning and Implementing Change through Place Types Workshop by FBCI: Join FBCI faculty Peter Park, Lisa Wise, and Tony Perez for a workshop from 9am-12pm. Space is limited. Register here.
Strong Towns National Gathering: Starts today. Get your badge on the 4th floor of the Hilton Netherland Plaza starting at 2pm ET. More information can be found here.
CNU 32 Opening Party! Celebrate the return of the annual Congress and raise a glass with friends (new and old). Bring your badge to Court Street Plaza, on E. Court Street between Vine and Walnut, get a wrist band, have a drink, and hangout in an open, pedestrian plaza!
Thursday, May 16
Tours: CNU 32 Tours start at 10:15am. You can see all the options and availability here.
Sessions:
- Main Stage: Restoring Urban Fabric by Connecting our Communities
- Cultural Restoration and Placemaking through Art and Urban Design
- Restorative Urbanism and the Principles of New Urbanism
- Bridging the Funding Gap – Creating Novel Financial Tools for Communities to Rebuild Downtowns
- A New Urbanist Research Agenda
- Breaking Barriers in Urban Planning: Houston’s No Zoning Approach and Homelessness
- Investing in Your Place: Case Studies in Successful Incremental Development Cohorts
- Urban Renewal Repair: Case Studies for Community Restoration in Norfolk & Detroit
- Founders Lunch
- Basics of Incremental Development: Introduction to Small Scale Development
- Walkability for a Restorative Urbanism
- Pattern Zones & Pre-Reviewed Homes: State of the work and next practices
- Wood Stick Multifamily/Podium Construction- workshopping the #1 infill type to restore civic urbanism
- Project Financing: From Municipality to Individuals - How projects that don’t conform to the traditional lending systems get financed in creative ways
- Connected Communities: Cincinnati's Zoning Reform Efforts
- Restorative Urbanism Guidebook Workshop
- Rebuilding Heritage: New Urbanism in Ukraine's Recovery
- Standard Building Types and the Impacts of New Urban Design
- The Cincinnati Riverfront- How an ambitious Master Plan for Cincinnati's 120 acre riverfront became a mixed-use development
- Minneapolis 2040 Plan- Implementation Outcomes
- Downtown Office + Large Retail Vacancies = An Opportunity to Solve Multiple Problems
- Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome: Creative Incremental Development Responses to a Changing Market
- Leveraging Arts Investments for Restorative Urbanism
- Enriching Urbanism through Restorative Coding
- Parking Requirement Impacts on Housing Affordability
- The Intersection of Form-Based Codes and Historic Preservation
- State Legislative Session
- Curb Control: Stories from the Frontline in the Battle to Reclaim Street Space From Cars
- How to Chapter Meeting
- CNU Latino Meeting
- Maximizing Housing Opportunities
- Main Stage Continuation
- Newest New Urbanists
- Onsite Happy Hour
- Charter Awards Ceremony
- CNU 32 Pub Crawl
Friday, May 17
Tours: CNU 32 Tours start at 10:15am. You can see all the options and availability here.
Sessions:
- Main Stage: Climate & Equity
- Fire and Flood: Restorative Urbanism and Climate Resiliency
- Placemaking: a buzz word for gentrifying neighborhoods, or a tool for restorative urbanism?
- [Re] Imagine Lower Mill Creek
- Crunchin' the Nums- architectural design and financial implications of historic tax credits
- The Great Climate Migration - How Should New Urbanism Guide Cincinnati’s Preparation to be a Climate Haven?
- World Bank / International Work
- Form Follows Finance: The Economic Underpinnings and Inequity in Municipal Economics
- Local Government Lunch
- Emerging New Urbanists' Mentorship Huddles
- Scaling up the New Urbanism: Using State Laws to Heal Our Regions
- Restorative Urbanism to Retrofit Suburban Sprawl
- The Women Who Built Cincinnati
- Affordability with Dignity
- People-Centered Transportation Innovations
- Housing-First Strategy (NTBA)
- The approaches in this toolkit are also being actively used in workforce housing infill communities across the Southeast.
- Climate Workshop
- Highway Transformation Manual and CNU Transportation Resource Forum
- How to Visually Communicate Your Ideas Most Effectively
- Restorative Urban Forestry: A Vital Component of Restorative Urban Planning
- How to Argue with a Traffic Engineer
- Scale Wars: A New Hope
- Campus Planning: New Orleans HBCU Case Studies
- Cincinnati's West End / Kenyon Barr
- Embedding the Passion of the Founders in a Project (NTBA)
- The Case for a New Suburbanism: Revitalizing & Restoring American Suburbia
- The Crash Analysis Studio: A Revolutionary Model for Safe Streets and Saving Lives
- Reinventing Small Towns as Master Planned Communities
- Restorative Urbanism and Housing- Confessions of a Recovering Missing Middle Housing Developer
- Restoring Housing Choice in Detroit, MI and Birmingham, AL: A renaissance rooted in mixed-income housing.
- Relanguaging for Equity
- 3CDC and Over the Rhine
- Urban Growth Boundary: Bridging the urban/rural divide
- Agroforestry and Urban Forests: Related Fields with Community Benefits
- CNU32 Cincinnati Legacy Projects
- Onsite Happy Hour
- Social Events
- CNU 32 Dance Party
Saturday, May 18
Tours: CNU 32 Tours start at 10:15am. You can see all the options and availability here.
Sessions:
- Main Stage: Charter Amendments Public Session
- Old School, New Ideas
- Short Format #1
- Local Vibes, Global Impact- Vibrant street life and diverse hyperlocal economies drive inclusion+equity
- Addification without Gentrification: Neighborhood Revitalization without Displacement
- Tenth Street Historic District
- Principles of Placemaking: Secrets Behind Highly Successful Urban Plazas and Parks
- The Urban Form Standard: Dimensions for the Next 10,000 Years
- Really Affordable Housing: Converting Motels, Hotels, SRO's and Group Homes
- Short Format #2
- Recovering Main Street Architecture
- Resident-Led Neighborhood Planning
- Critiquing Urban Design Theory and Practice through a Climate and Resiliency Lens
- Wilkommen: Balancing Good Urban Infill and Community Needs
- Reviving African American Main Streets
- Streetcar Studio
- Envisioning Change and Implementing it through Placetypes
- Cincinnati Gemütlichkeit: The German Secret to Comfort, Belonging, and Shared Experience
- What's in a name? The Power of Street and Place Names
- Cottage Courts: The Practical Stuff
- Implementing Tactical Urbanism
- How Churches Can Use Their Location and Space to Transform Neighborhoods
- Closing Keynote: Frameworks for Restoration: The 15-Minute City and the Principles of the New Urbanism