Events

Re-imagining Urban Highways

After decades of disinvestment, many American cities are rebounding and growing their cultural, economic and environmental assets. But despite their renewal, cities such as Philadelphia, New York, New Orleans and St. Louis are saddled with highways located in their increasingly popular downtowns. How should cities change highways to meet cities’ 21st-century needs and contemporary urban lifestyles? This panel discussion will look at successful urban highway removal projects in Milwaukee, New Haven and Providence, as well as explore ways of mitigating highways in Philadelphia and The Bronx.

Moderator:  Aaron Naparstek, Loeb Fellow / Streetsblog
Ashwin Balakrishnan, Southern Bronx River Watershed Alliance
Thomas Deller, City of Providence
Diana Lind, Next American City
Peter Park, Loeb Fellow

6pm reception; 6:30-8:30 panel
Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia 19103

An Evening with Code for America

Join Next American City at the Storefront for Urban Innovation—our new office/event space in Philadelphia’s Brewerytown neighborhood where we plan on hosting all sorts of fun things. We’re having Code for America, the non-profit network of web geeks who want to use their computer skills to help cities, over for a conversation. We asked them to drop in for a presentation about what they’ve learned during their time in Philly, and what they have in store for the future.

Getting it Done II: Building Strong Communities In A Changing World

Across the U.S., more than 100 communities are implementing comprehensive community development programs. As these communities continue to experiment with new approaches and strategies, there is a growing body of evidence about what really works to revitalize low income communities.  We know that success requires deep and abiding citizen engagement and new structures of collaborative, community decision-making. High-quality community planning must integrate real estate development, economic activity, workforce, health, safety, and education and provide a clear road map for making desired change. Aggressive efforts to broker relationships among the public and private institutions that supply the resources are also essential to success. GID II will bring together 600 community representatives, policy makers, and researchers from across the country to share best practices related to all aspects of comprehensive community development.  Plenary sessions will feature seasoned community developers and policymakers discussing priority issues for low income communities such as jobs and economic development. 

Belonging: A Conversation About Cities in Flux

Cities’ populations, boundaries and identities are constantly changing. While the market often pulls cities in opposite directions of gentrification and vacancy, policymakers and community leaders try to mediate these trends. These actions beg the question: Who and what belongs in a city? In cities around the country, everyone from artists to philanthropists are leaving their imprints on local school systems, urban agriculture, historic preservation, media, art and many other aspects of urban life in order to make the city their own. This panel discussion at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will gather a distinguished group of experts, artists and practitioners for a provocative dialogue on the topic of spatial, political, and cultural belonging in American cities.

APA National Conference

APA will hold the 2012 National Planning Conference April 14-17 in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Explore Southern California and reconnect with colleagues.

The 20th Congress for the New Urbanism

As practitioners, associates and friends of New Urbanism gather on Florida’s Gold Coast for our 20th Congress, we find a New World of challenges and opportunities before us. Our world, already beset with the challenges of peak oil, climate change, and wealth disparity, finds global economic crisis confronting us with the equivalent fury of tropical storms from old Florida lore. We step ashore facing worldwide adjustments in the financial, housing, retail, transportation, and energy markets. These storms have drastically changed how we do business in the 21st Century and are opening a “new world” of challenges and opportunities for the New Urbanism.

2012 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention

Join more than 1,100 arts and community leaders from across the nation to learn how your organization can adapt to the shifting economic climate and changing demographics and prepare your community for the future.

Remaking America for the 21st Century

The fourth national Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference is set for June 20-22, 2012 in New Orleans. Conference sessions and activities will explore a wide variety of topics related to the challenges and opportunities presented by foreclosed, abandoned, blighted and other problem properties. 

EcoBuild America

A conference about sustainable, high performance and technology solutions for the built environment.

Recap: Open Cities 2010

Open Cities: New Media’s Role in Shaping Urban Policy is an annual two-day conference, produced by Next American City and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, that unites new media and urban policy’s top thinkers and practitioners. Through a series of panel discussions, presentations and networking opportunities, the conference discussed new media strategies for dealing with a variety of challenges, such as how to build an engaged urban citizenry, best utilize municipal data and develop cost-saving technologies or networks to improve cities.

Among other questions, participants asked:

- How do new media shape the public’s perception of cities?
- How is open data changing the way the public and government interact?
- How can ordinary citizens use technology to participate in the planning and development of their cities?
- Who is being left behind in terms of data literacy and access to information?

The Just City: Creating a New Geography of Opportunity

Next American City created a liveblog of the Ford Foundation’s 75th Anniversary event, The Just City: Creating a New Geography of Opportunity.

Living Cities 20th Anniversary

On September 27, 2011, Living Cities celebrated its 20th anniversary with leaders across the public, private, and philanthropic sectors at the Newseum in Washington, DC.  Through a series of panels and moderated discussions, participants explored the role of dynamic collaboration in effectively addressing barriers standing between people and critical opportunity boosters such as quality education, fair and affordable housing, and good jobs.  The day was equal parts reflection upon the organization’s achievements to date and humbling reminder of the vast ground yet to be covered.  Read more here.