The 83rd National Session of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design took place in Cincinnati, OH from October 6-8, 2026, hosted by Mayor Aftab Pureval.
At this collaborative workshop, mayors engaged with design leaders to find solutions to the most critical planning and design challenges facing their cities. Sessions are organized around case study projects: each mayor selects a project or challenge from their city that the mayor is actively working to address. At the session, mayors introduce their projects with a 15-minute presentation, and the attending mayors and design leaders identify important issues, offer suggestions, and discuss potential solutions. The interchange sparks lively debates, generates new ideas, and inspires creative thinking. Between these discussions, a Resource Team of design leaders from around the country also delivers presentations on their areas of expertise.
Mayors
Cincinnati, OH Mayor Aftab Pureval (Host)
Duluth, MN Mayor Roger J. Reinert
Erie, PA Mayor Daria S. Devlin
Eugene, OR Mayor Kaarin Knudson
Santa Fe, NM Mayor Michael J. Garcia
Stockton, CA Mayor Christina Fugazi
Syracuse, NY Mayor Sharon F. Owens
Resource Team
Martine Combal | Executive Director, Public Institutions, JLL, Washington, DC
Stanton Eckstut | Architect, Stanton Eckstut, Architect PLLC, New York, NY
Marques King | Principal Architect & Urban Designer, Fabric[K] Design, Detroit, MI
Christopher Kroner | Principal, MASS Design Group, Poughkeepsie, NY
Eric Shaw | Leadership in Government Fellow, Open Society Foundations, Las Vegas, NV
Elizabeth Silver | Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Brooklyn, NY
Shin-pei Tsay | Chief Information Officer, City of Boston, Boston, MA
