Magazine

The David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, where the G-20 Summit of finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s 20 wealthiest economies met in September, is the first LEED-certified convention center in North America. The construction and placement of this green building represents why the G-20 decided to meet in Pittsburgh and not, say, Washington, D.C., London or Paris: Many Pittsburgh companies have followed economic paths away from industrial production (namely steel) and toward advances in healthcare, higher education and environmental sustainability.

For months leading up to G-20, Pittsburgh was in various states of excitement and paranoia. Luke Ravenstahl, the city’s 29-year-old mayor, told The New York Times that G-20 would help Pittsburgh lose the “Steel City” nickname and “replace it with the real ‘green’ image.” Local reports, however, presented widespread fear, fueled largely by journalists like KDKA’s Marty Griffin, who reported that local business owners were planning to take out “terrorism insurance policies” for G-20. But Ravenstahl never declared a state of emergency, despite seeking an additional 3,000 police officers to handle
the event.