The role of design in catalyzing development can be seen in cities across the country. New catalysts and paradigms for development have led to reinvestment in city centers and quests for authenticity. Topics to be discussed include:
- Affordable Housing / Neighborhood Development
- Historic Preservation / Adaptive Reuse
- Creative / Authentic Placemaking
- Leveraging Open Space & Old Infrastructure to Drive Development
MODERATOR
Michael A. Nutter was sworn-in as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia on January 7th, 2008. Mayor Nutter is a native Philadelphian with an accomplished career in public service, business and financial administration. He served as a Philadelphia City Councilman for nearly 15 years representing the city’s Fourth District encompassing the communities of Wynnefield, Overbrook, Roxborough, Manayunk, East Falls, Mt. Airy, and parts of North and West Philadelphia.
FACILITATOR
Chris Leinberger, a land use strategist, teacher, developer, researcher and author who balances business realities with social and environmental issues. Mr. Leinberger is currently a visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. His most recent book is The Option of Urbanism, Investing in a New American Dream, published in 2008 by Island Press.
FORUM PANELISTS
Mary Margaret Jones is President of Hargreaves Associates, a landscape architecture and planning firm known for explorative design and work on challenging sites. Jones has served as Sr. Principal in Charge for such award-winning projects as the 2000 Sydney Olympics Master Concept Design, University of Cincinnati Master Plan, San Francisco’s Crissy Field, Houston’s Discovery Green and is currently overseeing the planning and design for the Parklands at the London 2012 Olympics.
Richard D. Baron is co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of McCormack Baron Salazar (MBS), which redevelops neighborhoods in inner-city areas across the country. In the past thirty years, MBS has developed 143 projects with costs of $2.3 billion. It has developed more than15,000 houasing units and one million square feet of retail/commercial space. MBS has closed fifty-five phases of HOPE VI developments in fifteen cities involving 7,185 units and $1.2 billion in total development costs.
Mitchell Silver is president-elect of the American Planning Association (APA) and an award-winning planner with more than 25 years of experience, specializing in comprehensive planning, land use planning and implementation strategies. Before coming to Raleigh in 2005 to serve as Planning Director, Silver had worked as policy and planning director in New York City, a principal of a New York City-based planning firm, a town manager in New Jersey and deputy planning director in Washington, D.C.
