CNU XIII assembles the world’s urbanism experts

With its theme, “The Polycentric City, CNU XIII will explore issues that arise in Southern California and resonate in regions and localities everywhere. After all, regions all over the United States and beyond are facing the reality of connecting, urbanizing, and reurbanizing centers ranging from historic urban cores to edge cities and new TODs and town centers. This considerable challenge calls for a multidisciplinary approach that’s reflected in the four topic threads of the Congress: transportation, environment, physical form, and implementation (including social and demographic factors). CNU XIII will assemble top experts in all these fields from around the world, with a strong showing from California. Visit www.CNUXIII.org to learn more and register. In the meantime, here are just some of the speakers and presenters who are expected in Pasadena: UCLA professor Donald Shoup is a preeminent parking guru. His extensive research exposes the flaws — and the economic and environmental consequences — of conventions like minimum parking requirements. In a solo session, Shoup will provide insights from his new book The High Cost of Free Parking (see article on page 1). iconoclastic traffic engineer Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman believes most roads are overengineered. He advocates removing signs, stripes, and traffic signals to improve safety. It sounds counter intuitive, but since there’s strong evidence that it works, the New York Times says that the transportation cognoscenti are making pilgrimages to Holland to see for themselves. Phil Angelides is a longtime believer in New Urbanism. As developer of Laguna West, the first TND on the West Coast, and now as California’s state treasurer and candidate for governor, Angelides has encouraged investment in environmentally responsible growth patterns, including state pension fund investment in critical infrastructure such as housing. As the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, George Ferguson has helped shift the discussion from architectural star turns to the importance of context and the urban form. Ferguson is a strong voice against the isolation of design professions and for multidisciplinary design education. With Southern California’s growth pressures and changing demographics foreshadowing trends in other regions, Peter Calthorpe, cofounder of CNU and principal of Calthorpe Associates, with his partner John Fregonese, principal of Fregonese Calthorpe Associates, will talk about their thirty-year regional growth scenarios for the Los Angeles region. delving into space syntax With his rigorous analysis of how people and vehicles interact with their environments, University of London professor and Space Syntax Laboratory director Bill Hillier is making science safe for architecture and planning again. Thanks to Hillier, “space syntax” is becoming an influential field of study and a tool for creating better-functioning places, such as a rebuilt Trafalgar Square that now attracts thirteen times more Londoners. Jacky Grimshaw, CNU board member, vice president of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and lifetime “L” rider, will moderate a panel on smart transportation options, from smart cars to car sharing. Dan Sturges, inventor of the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) will discuss and display his latest vehicle creations. Paul Crawford, a principal of Crawford Multari & Clark Associates and a cofounder of the Form-Based Codes Alliance, has done pioneering work tailoring codes for cities like Petaluma, California. He will moderate a session on the details of form-based codes, including the preparation and adoption process. Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, CNU cofounder and principal of Duany Plater- Zyberk & Company, will bring her new urbanist expertise to a discussion of the design guidelines for major thoroughfares that are under development as part of CNU’s joint project with the Institute of Transportation Engineers. Ellen Greenberg, principal with Freedman Tung & Bottomley, will present guideline details and other members with transportation planning experience will provide valuable commentary. experts on sprawl Leading voices from two famously sprawling metropolises — Atlanta and Los Angeles — will examine top ideas from each region that deal with explosive sprawl and polycentric growth. Michael Dobbins, associate professor of architecture at Georgia Tech, is the former Atlanta Planning Commissioner and current development advisor to the City of Atlanta. An urban planner, policy specialist, and member of the Ventura City Council, William Fulton is author of the LA-based report Sprawl Hits the Wall and the narrative history The Reluctant Metropolis, an LA Times best-seller. Fulton will also be a featured speaker on metropolitan and regional governance issues. Dobbins’ colleague, director of the architecture program at Georgia Tech, Ellen Dunham-Jones, will host an exploration of systemic efforts to retrofit sprawl, a topic of a forthcoming book from Dunham-Jones. William Deverell and Greg Hise, professors at the University of Southern California and coauthors of the renowned Eden by Design, will address the history of landscape in Los Angeles. Hise and Deverell examine what can be learned from a Olmsted-Bartholomew plan that laid out an intelligent framework for public space but failed to make its mark on Los Angeles. Since this list just begins to identify the speakers of consequence at CNU XIII, be sure to check for speaker updates on the Congress website. u