CNU Congress keeps pace with dynamic movement

The focus of the 15th annual meeting, to be held in Philadelphia, will be the old city and its region.

The annual Congress for the New Urbanism turns 15 in Philadelphia this spring, at a time when New Urbanism is at the center of some of the most innovative work happening in land-use regulation reform, transportation design, post-disaster renewal, and green development.
Headquartered at Philadelphia’s Loews Hotel from May 17 to 20, CNU XV: New Urbanism and the Old City will be a showcase for all of these efforts. It also brings a movement with a 15-year record of progress to one of America’s great cities to focus on the formidable challenges of renewing older places.
The theme is a timely one, says CNU President and CEO John Norquist. As developers encounter more competition for desirable greenfield properties, they are seeing the advantages of underdeveloped close-in locations. Cities like Philadelphia are enjoying regeneration after years of neglect.
Early registration for the Congress is open now. Save up to $90 on registration fees and apply the savings to advanced New Urbanism seminars, great Urban Labs, or tours of the region. Visit cnuxv.org for more details and online registration.
Long inspired by America’s great old cities, new urbanists have helped revive some of the most challenging sites in urban America — blighted streets, abandoned waterfronts, brownfields, and ill-conceived public housing developments. Yet cities like Philadelphia pose challenges of aging infrastructure and housing, obsolete zoning codes, and residents’ aspirations for more suburban lifestyles — making them rocky places for new redevelopment. Meanwhile, the rebirth that’s under way in Center City Philadelphia often occurs without the benefit of new urbanist sensibilities. CNU XV will work toward a powerful synthesis of new and old urbanism.
The shapers of the CNU XV program, including Jason Duckworth of Arcadia Land Company and CNU Board advisors Jacky Grimshaw, Dhiru Thadani, and Todd Zimmerman, have put together a strong program designed for new urbanists seeking creative ways of implementing their projects in older cities as well as in suburbs in need of urban retrofits.

foundations and innovations
CNU XV will highlight the foundations of New Urbanism by examining enduring forms such as the Philadelphia rowhouse, the city’s narrow streets, and the unique William Penn-planned squares. The Congress will also showcase the latest innovations in urban planning.
Building on last year’s Congress, which focused on implementation, the CNU XV program will continue to address common hurdles in the development process so that projects can be carried out. The 2007 program features six threads: local and regional development; design; environment; transportation; codes and affordability; and emerging New Urbanism.
Attendees can expect many highlights in Philadelphia, including a strong slate of plenary speakers. CNU cofounder, author, and leading urbanist Peter Calthorpe will speak on Regionalism—the Third Layer of New Urbanism. Eminent author, professor, and Slate.com critic Witold Rybczynski will turn his attention to contemporary town building in America. Denise Scott Brown, renowned urbanist and author, will ask “New Urbanism Is Almost All Right?” Other plenary speakers include Yale School of Architecture dean Robert A.M. Stern; US Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), incoming chairman of the House Financial Services Committee; and Ed Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030, a global movement to address the climate crisis. For the second year in a row, market analyst Todd Zimmerman will lead a candid discussion with top developers. This year, the lineup features Vince Graham, Jay Noddle, and John Westrum.
In a range of breakout and urban laboratory sessions, this Congress will challenge new urbanists to take a new look at their older cities and apply those lessons across the Transect.  
CNU cofounder Andrés Duany will deliver a lecture that expands on the topic New Urbanism and the Old City. Denver’s planning director Peter Park, former Cincinnati mayor and current academic fellow Roxanne Qualls, and CNU cofounder Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk will give a panel discussion on the process of overhauling big city zoning codes, while leading practitioners Stefanos Polyzoides and David Sargent explore how form-based coding is coming of age around the country.
   
the city and its Region
Among sessions that use Philadelphia experiences to expand the knowledge base of the New Urbanism, one on the University City Miracle will feature Franklin & Marshall College president and former University of Pennsylvania executive vice president John Fry and developer Carl Dranoff. Architects John Blatteau, Alexander Gorlin, and Joshua Eckert will examine the Philadelphia rowhouse. Famed Philadelphia restauranteur Judy Wicks talks about how “going local” unites our experience at the table with the built environment.
Bruce Katz, director of metropolitan policy at the Brookings Institution and leader of RenewPA, looks at smart growth as economic development. Architect Dean Marchetto will share lessons of redeveloping the New Jersey “Gold Coast.” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas Hylton will share his struggles to change Pennsylvania school design policy, while CNU’s John Norquist explores the role that expanded choice can play in creating opportunities for poor and middle-class families in older cities.

Katrina reports
Andrés Duany and Ray Gindroz will give an update on how new urbanists are using federal funds to create the first significant infill projects featuring affordable housing in New Orleans. Leland Speed, the state development official who made the Mississippi Renewal Forum possible, will join governor’s advisor Ann Daigle, code consultant Jeff Bounds, mayors Xavier Bishop of Moss Point and Connie Moran of Ocean Springs, and others in showcasing Mississippi’s innovative work in planning and coding.
Sessions will span varied territory, from Collingswood, New Jersey, where mayor James Maley is getting an impressive project implemented, to the Pennsylvania Amish country, where Thomas Comitta Associates and Zimmerman/Volk Associates are shaping a unique approach to redefining farmland. Tim Haahs will give practical tips on parking design and policies, while G.B. Arrington and Shelley Poticha present the latest examples in transit-oriented development across the country.  
As part of CNU XV’s “Detroit Sessions,” University of Michigan dean Doug Kelbaugh and Chris Leinberger of the Brookings Institution reveal assets of America’s most stigmatized city. In “Motown on the Record,” Detroit developers will discuss how the city most damaged in the post-war era may have the most to gain in the 21st Century.
Philadelphia Center City District director Paul Levy will explain the mechanics behind the country’s first-ever business improvement district, which pioneered techniques to keep streets clean and safe.
Join renowned boulevard builders Allan Jacobs and Elizabeth Macdonald as they present their latest work. Dan Burden looks at the technical side of working with emergency responders and implementing traditional street design. Transportation task force chair Marcy McInelly will showcase lessons learned from the CNU-ITE manual, while CNU board vice chair Jacky Grimshaw presents new techniques from the Center for Neighborhood Technology for examining land value, transportation, and affordability issues.
Philadelphia offers a rich palette of sessions in which attendees can soak up the details of good urban form.  There will be two sessions on pattern books, one led by Ray Gindroz on the Louisiana Speaks pattern book. The other session will highlight a new effort to bring excellence to Habitat for Humanity designs. In a rare appearance, Robert Davis will reflect on 25 years of Seaside, Florida. Architect and CNU cofounder Dan Solomon will lead a provocative session on two terminal illnesses of our time — global warming and raging tribalism — and on how urban strategies and architecture can address both.
Urban designer Laura Hall, professor Ed Steinfeld, and AARP director Elinor Gindroz will examine strategies for making New Urbanism accessible to all.
Prominent landscape architect Dennis Carmichael and fellow landscape professional David Yocca along with Newland Communities developer Jody Leidolf will explore how the public realm can be designed to enhance both the sociability and the environmental quality of a place. Green neighborhoods point person Doug Farr will lead a user’s guide to the pathbreaking LEED-ND certification system. Prince’s Foundation chief executive Hank Dittmar will lead a session on expanding on LEED-ND’s checklist system to create an urbanism that is both environmentally responsible and diverse, lively and responsive to culture and local tradition.
For full descriptions of these sessions and more — and to reserve your place at CNU XV — visit cnuxv.org now.

Pages 24 and 25 are provided to New Urban News courtesy of the Congress for the New Urbanism, The Marquette Building, 140 S. Dearborn, Ste. 310, Chicago, IL 60603. 312/551-7300; fax: 312/346-3323.www.cnu.org, cnuinfo@cnu.org