a pre-congress forum and sono urban lab january 14 and 15 ... · the wealth of cities the smart...

“New Urbanism: Rx for Healthy Places” The 18th national Congress for the New Urbanism Organized with assistance from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

May 19-22, 2010 Downtown Atlanta, Georgia

CNU18 + Imagine Downtown: Sustainable, Healthy and Livable

A Pre-Congress Forum and SoNo Urban Lab January 14 and 15, 2010

CNU Transect Zones, Karen Reese Tunnell for CNU18




in coordination with

“New Urbanism: Rx for Healthy Places” the 18th annual Congress for the New Urbanism

organized with assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

presents

Imagine Downtown: Sustainable Healthy & Livable and

CNU18 Downtown Urban Labs supported by

The Sustainable Cities Institute The Kendeda Foundation

with in-kind support from Atlanta Regional Commission

Cooper Carry Cousins Properties

Brookwood Program Management Georgia Institute of Technology

Lowe Engineering

Allied Organizations City of Atlanta Office of Sustainability

Southface Energy Institute Sustainable Atlanta




Congress for the New Urbanism Visiting Experts Stefanos Polyzoides: CNU Co-Founder John Norquist: CEO CNU Michael Ogden Dhiru Thadani: CNU Board

Invited Experts Heather Alhadeff: City of Atlanta Dee Merriam: CDC Shan Arora: Southface & CNU18 Roger Miller: Cooper Carry Townsend Bailey: Sustainable Atlanta Brenda Morawa: USGBC/BVM Aaron Bastian: ATL Office of Sustainability Chris Norman: Fulton County Land Bank Authority Sally Bethea: Upper Chattahoochee River Keeper Steve Nygren: Serenbe Lori Thomas Bryant: CNU18/Plan+Design Chris Owens: Lowe Engineering Bob Bunker: Brookwood Group/ret Army Corps Chuck Palmer: Troutman Sanders Julia Campbell: Georgia Dept of Community Health Andrea Pinabell: Sustainable Cities Institute Kevin Clark: Historic Concepts Anglea Priest: Kimley Horn James Dills: CDC Andy Prozes: LexisNexis Group Ellen Dunham-Jones: GA Tech/CNU18 Chair Caleb Racicot: CNUATL/Tunnell, Spangler Walsh Stephanie Foster: CDC Jeff Rader: DeKalb County Commissioner Wylie Gaston: KPS Robert Reed: Southface Energy Institute John Goff: Cousins Properties, Inc. Dan Reuter: Atlanta Regional Commission Bill Hosken: City of Atlanta Candace Rutt: CDC Ciannat Howett: Emory Univ Sustainability Center Gwendylon Smith: GA Dept of Community Health Glenn Kurtz: Lanier Parking Brett Wylie: Cooper Carry Karen Leone de Nie: Federal Reserve Bank Lynnette Young: Sustainable Atlanta

Organizing Advisors Jennifer Ball: Central Atlanta Progress Laura Heery Prozes AIA: CNU18 Co-Chair

Ellen Dunham-Jones: CNU18 Co-Chair/CNU Board and Georgia Institute of Technology John Goff: Cousins Properties, Inc. Charles Green: CNU18 Co-Chair and CDC Healthy Community Design Initiative Andrea Pinabell: Home Depot Foundation, Sustainable Cities Institute Robert Reed: Downtown Resident and Southface Energy Institute Dan Reuter: Atlanta Regional Commission and CNU18 Co-Chair for Tom Weyandt Townsend Bailey: Sustainable Atlanta Imagine Downtown Sustainable Advisors Coordinated by Bob Bunker: Brookwood Group Amanda Brown Olmstead: ABOA Jim Cumming: Trillium Properties Ben Brown: CNU18/Placemakers Ciannat Howett: Emory University Lori Thomas Bryant: CNU18/Plan + Design Karen Leone de Nie: Federal Reserve Bank Shan Arora: CNU18/Southface Mandy Mahoney: City of Atlanta Rebecca Heery: CNU18/CAP Roger Miller: Cooper Carry Wilma Sothern: Central Atlanta Progress Chris Owens: Lowe Engineering Ross Wallace: Central Atlanta Progress Chuck Palmer: Troutman Sanders




The Congress for the New Urbanism The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is comprised of decision-makers and thought leaders who define best urban design and development practices, policy and infrastructure for sustainable communities.

Organized with assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 18th Congress will address cures for healthy built environments. CNU Founders: Andres Duany, Peter Calthorpe, Elizabeth Moules, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Stefanos Polyzoides, Dan Solomon; and authors attend: Sustainable Urbanism: Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl Urban Design with Nature and the Decline of the American Dream Douglas Farr Andrés Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Jeff Speck Retrofitting Suburbia Urban Sprawl and Public Health Ellen Dunham-Jones, June Williamson Howard Frumkin, Lawrence Frank, Richard Jackson Street Smart: The New Transit Town Health and Community Design: The Impact Streetcars and Cities in the 21st Century of The Built Environment on Physical Activity Gloria Ohland, Shelley Poticha Lawrence Frank, Peter Engelke, Thomas Schmidt The Regional City Megaregions Peter Calthorpe, William Fulton Catherine Ross The Option of Urbanism Greyfields Into Goldfield Chris Leinberger Lee S. Sobel, Jonathan Miller The Wealth of Cities The Smart Growth Manual John Norquist Andres Duany, Jeff Speck, Mike Lydon Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles: The New Transit Town A Typological Analysis Best Practices in Transit-Oriented Development Stefanos Polyzoides Hank Dittmar, Gloria Ohlan Bicycle Diaries Form-Based Code David Byrne Dan Parolek, Karen Parolek, Paul Crawford The Architecture of Community A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings Construction Léon Krier, Dhiru Thadani Christopher Alexander Design for Diversity: The Urban Design Handbook Exploring Socially Mixed Neighborhoods Ray Gindroz, Karen Levine, Urban Design Associates Emily Talen Cosmopolis Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space Daniel Solomon Jan Gehl Great Streets The Charrette Handbook Allan Jacob Bill Lennertz The New Urbanism Home From Nowhere Peter Katz James Howard Kunstler




Downtown Atlanta’s Vision Plan – Imagine Downtown 2.0 Imagine Downtown is the Downtown vision framework plan focused on catalytic development opportunity areas to guide future public and private investment. The plan identifies redevelopment opportunities within Downtown and the future land uses and desired transportation and open space improvements necessary to attract and support that anticipated development. At its core the Imagine Downtown 2.0 vision plan promotes the responsible growth and development of a vibrant and attractive Downtown Atlanta. Downtown will include more options for transit, pleasant sidewalks and enjoyable open space. New construction will be oriented towards dense mixed-use development incorporating a variety of retail, office and residential uses. Downtown will be a 24- hour community, a place where residents, business people and visitors can experience all that the Capital of the New South has to offer. The plan envisions a Downtown Atlanta that is: * The center of a world-class city that welcomes diversity * A model of progressive growth for the region * Reflective of the rich cultural traditions of the South * The bridge between neighborhoods north, south, east and west * The location of choice for urban living in the metro area * Safe and barrier-free for working families and seniors These six goals raise the bar and provide the rationale for a Downtown vision summarized by five powerful mandates:

1. Downtown will lead the way in advancing sustainable mobility choices by connecting the city, the region and all of Georgia through a state-of-the-art, multimodal transportation hub.

2. Downtown will celebrate the identity by elevating the status, appearance and function of the Peachtree Corridor as Atlanta’s and the Southeast’s premier Main Street.

3. Downtown will expand urban living options by supporting and encouraging the creation of diverse, affordable, and sustainable neighborhoods and workforce housing throughout its extents.

4. Downtown will be a cultural and entertainment destination rooted in Centennial Olympic Park and colored by the vitality contained in the Auburn, Edgewood, Luckie and Marietta corridors.

5. Downtown will approach its physical form with honesty and openness to unconventional beauty, and will seek to overcome design obstacles like the Interstate with creative solutions that build on intrinsic uniqueness and authenticity.

More information at atlantadowntown.com




Do you know that Downtown Atlanta is well underway as a sustainable, healthy and livable district?

The following map and list of projects and initiatives

provide a glimpse.

This is a continually growing map of projects and initiatives. We welcome your additions and suggestions. Please forward information and leads to Jennifer Ball at Central Atlanta Progress

[email protected] or (404) 522-3344




Sustainable Initiatives and Projects Southface Energy Institute – headquartered in Downtown Atlanta and promotes sustainable homes, workplaces and communities through education, research, advocacy and technical assistance. Philips Arena – first professional sports and concert facility in the world to receive LEED-EB certification and recipient of ‘GreenLink Ambassador Award’ Turner Building Solar Canopy - 100 kw power generation per day Atlanta Zero Waste Zone - food waste diversion, biofuel and compost generation Water Recovery – notable efforts by the Georgia World Congress Center and Woodruff Park Decatur Street ‘Road Diet’ – establishment of campus ‘main street’ by Georgia State University PATH Foundation Trail Connection – plans for Harris Street PATH to connect to Centennial Olympic Park Emory Midtown Hospital – local food initiative, zero waste zone and composting, waterless urinals Sustainable Atlanta - program spearheaded by the City of Atlanta to connect businesses, organizations, institutions and residents to develop solutions and implement action plans to address the challenges and opportunities inherent in the relationship between environment, equity and the economy Atlanta Local Food Initiative – many Downtown restaurant participants Transportation Alternatives 9 MARTA Rail Stations 20 MARTA Bus Routes 32 Commuter Bus Routes 9 Zip Car (car share) locations Emory Cliff Shuttle – free to all riders between the Emory Midtown and Clifton Road campuses Imagine IT! Children’s Museum “Express’ - fueled by environmentally-friendly bio-diesel fuel produced from the waste cooking oil supplied by a partnership between Chick-fil-A at Peachtree Center and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. LEED Projects Owner Rating System Level Edgewood Offices The Epsten Group, Inc. NC 2.0 Platinum Southface Eco Office Southface NC 2.1 Platinum Cushman & Wakefield Cushman & Wakefield Inc. CI 2.0 Gold Georgia Power Child Care Georgia Power NC 2.2 Gold HOK Office HOK CI 2.0 Gold Hurt Building Hurt Financial Associates, LLC EB O&M Gold World of Coca-Cola The Coca-Cola Company NC 2.1 Gold Skanska Office at Ivan Allen Plaza Skanska USA CI 2.0 Gold The Portman Companies CI 2.0 Gold Winter Construction Corporate Office Winter Construction CI 2.0 Gold Atlanta Downtown Improvement District CI 2.0 Silver Atlanta Public Safety Headquarters City of Atlanta NC 2.2 Silver Balzer Theater at Herren's Theatrical Outfit NC 2.1 Silver 191 Peachtree Street Cousins Properties Inc. NC 2.1 Silver Oakland Park A Melaver, Inc / Urban Realty NC 2.2 Silver North Avenue Apartments Georgia Institute of Technology EB 2.0 Georgia World Congress Center GWCC EB 2.0 Emory Crawford Long Hospital Midtown Cousins Properties Inc. NC 2.2 Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center GSA EB 2.0 Hughes Spalding Redevelopment Children's Healthcare of Atlanta NC 2.2 Student Center Georgia State University EB 2.0 Center for Civil and Human Rights CCHR NC 2.2 Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building GSA NC 2.1 180 Peachtree Retail CI 2.0

This is a continually growing list of projects and initiatives. We invite your additions and suggestions. Please forward information and leads to Jennifer Ball at Central Atlanta Progress

[email protected] or (404) 522-3344




Overview of Urban Sustainability Criteria Many factors shaping sustainable urbanism are interconnected and interdisciplinary. The following summary of design criteria for concepting to Imagine Downtown Sustainable, are compiled from:

The Congress for the New Urbanism Charter and Sustainability Principles The Center for Disease Control and Prevention Healthy Community Design Initiative USGBC LEED Neighborhood Development (ND) Atlanta Regional Commission: Livable Centers and Lifelong Communities Initiatives Energy Conservation and Sustainability Initiatives of the City of Atlanta Office of

Sustainability, Southface Energy Institute, Sustainable Atlanta and Sustainable Cities Institute

Water Encourage potable water conservation at all scales. Minimize stormwater and wastewater generation and stagnation. Reduce stormwater and wastewater discharge into public facilities. Maximize opportunities to integrate stormwater management into public spaces. Energy Encourage energy conservation on the scales of the building, block, and

neighborhood; consider LEED-certification, green roofs, and other methods. Discourage the use of fossils fuels in favor of clean energy sources. Encourage design that responds to the local climate. Expand opportunities to produce energy locally. Reduce waste generation and encourage recycling. ______ Encourage active transportation to reduce emissions from use of fossil fuels. Transportation Provide a compact, complex, and connected urban form that supports walking,

bicycling, and transit use. Increase daily physical activity and improve air quality by providing adequate facilities

to support walking, bicycling, and transit use. Ensure a seamless connection between different transportation modes. Minimize new surface parking lots and the environmental impacts of existing lots. Minimize curb cuts along streets with high levels of pedestrian activity. Utilize access management such as shared driveways and rear alleys. Maximize on-street parking for its benefits to pedestrians and retailers. Reduce injury risk through street design. ______Ensure that accessibility is addressed through universal design principles.




Livability Enhance Downtown Atlanta as a great place to live and recreate by providing a mix of

retail, housing, civic or offices uses along sidewalk and public spaces. Provide continuous appropriate building frontages along the sidewalks and public

spaces. Minimize blank, windowless building facades along streets and public spaces. Offer a range of high-quality, accessible, and safe public spaces. Encourage more places to socialize and gather, especially for children and the aging. Utilize buildings to define public spaces, including parks and streets, and establish a

sense of enclosure. Integrate a balanced mix of housing opportunities and price levels to ensure social

diversity and the ability to live where you work. Ensure social capital through social networking and civic engagement. Reduce light and noise pollution. Offer healthy, safe, accessible, and environmentally friendly housing. Establish an urban form that serves people of different ages, and supports the aging

population. Respect local culture and traditions, geography, climatic conditions, and history. ____ Create healthy and sustainable food environments (promoting fresh fruits and

vegetable access through local grocery stores; discouraging fast food, liquor stores, etc.; finding opportunities for farmers markets and on-site farming).

Ensure livability for all through universal design principles. Public Safety Incorporate Crime Prevention through Environmental Design principles into new

development. Provide appropriate public safety facilities and services. Support a holistic, citywide approach addressing homelessness. Economics Enhance Downtown Atlanta as a vibrant business address. Promote the creation of “green” businesses and jobs. Encourage social and economic equity. Provide a regulatory framework that allows Downtown to evolve in response to

changing market forces.




Speaker and Presenter Biographies Douglas C. Allen, ASLA

Doug Allen is a Professor and Senior Associate Dean at the Georgia Tech College of Architecture. He is a noted and award-winning designer, lecturer and administrator. As a faculty member and administrator at Georgia Tech since 1977, he has received a plethora of awards, citations and recognitions for his work and service to the Institute. His lectures and publications focus on landscape architecture and urban design. Doug received a BLA from the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design (1971) and a MLA, Harvard University Graduate School of Design (1976). Jennifer Ball

Jennifer Ball is Vice President of Planning for Central Atlanta Progress, Inc. (CAP) where she manages land use and transportation planning policy initiatives and implementation projects within Downtown Atlanta. Recent notable initiatives under her direction include the development of the Green Line and Imagine Downtown vision plans, the Downtown Livability Code zoning regulation update and the on-going implementation of $35 million worth of public space capital improvements including streetscape improvements, wayfinding signage and roadway upgrades. Ellen Dunham-Jones

Ellen Dunham-Jones is an award-winning architect and Associate Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology where she teaches contemporary architectural theory and design. An advocate for alternatives to urban sprawl, she lectures widely on sustainable urban design. As co-author with June Williamson of Retrofitting Suburbia; Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs (Wiley & Sons, 2009) her work has received significant media attention in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Urban Land, Planning, and was featured in Time Magazine’s March 23, 2009 cover story, “10 ideas changing the world right now.” She has published over 50 articles and serves on several boards including the Board of Directors of the Congress for the New Urbanism. She is chairing CNU 18, which will meet in Atlanta May 19-22, 2010. She received undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture from Princeton University and taught at UVA and MIT before joining Georgia Tech’s faculty to serve as Director from 2001-2009. Laura Heery Prozes

Laura Heery Prozes is an architect and planner, who was Design Principal for redesign of the Peachtree Corridor from an urban highway to a bikeable walkable boulevard for the Buckhead Community Improvement District. While president of Brookwood Design Group, she lead Master Plan and Concept for the Turner Entertainment TimeWarner Entertainment Camous in Midtown Atlanta, The Coca-Cola Company facilities in Brussels; and was the Design Architect for the Georgia Institute of Technoloigy in Savannah Campus and the Porsche NA Headquarters/Lakeside Commons, as well design for international projects in Paris, Tokyo and Mexico. Laura has enjoyed providing concepting and development planning for The Coca-Cola Company, Centennial Olympic Park, Hines Interests, Barry Real Estate, Glenwood Park and Serenbe. Laura is a member of the American Institute of Architects, Young Presidents’ Organization, International Womens Forum and board affiliations have include the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Earthshare, The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, and Research Atlanta, While on sabbatical, she is working with Central Atlanta Progress for “Imagine Downtown Sustainable” and is Executive Co-Chair of the 18th Congress for the New Urbanism. Jeremy Hess

Dr. Hess is a practicing emergency medicine physician and medical epidemiologist trained in global environmental health. His clinical research interests include the effects of heat, emergency department crowding, and health system preparedness. His public health research interests include the health effects of climate change, particularly adaptation activities for disasters, global health impacts, and other aspects of the public health response; and energy scarcity and the health system impacts of fossil fuel dependence. He




serves as the medical officer of the Global Climate Change Program at CDC's National Center for Environmental Health and as a consultant in the NCEH Office of the Director. His current research is focused on evaluating acute morbidity and mortality associated with weather and climate; global health adaptation to climate change, particularly in relation to disasters; and fossil fuel dependence in health systems and the health impacts of transitioning to novel energy sources. Dr. Hess also works on sustainability in Emergency Medical Services and other health care systems. Ciannat Howett

Ciannat attended Emory University as an undergraduate, receiving her B.A. in 1987. She then worked at Emory until 1989 as Associate Director of Alumni Giving and the first Director of the Emory Parents Fund. She received her law degree from the University of Virginia in 1992. She practiced environmental law for four years with Kilpatrick Stockton in its Atlanta and Washington, DC offices, was Senior Attorney with the Water Enforcement Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. for six years, and, most recently, served for four years as Director of the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Georgia and Alabama office. She is on the Board of Emory Law School’s Turner Environmental Law Clinic, the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences, the Sustainable Atlanta Advisory Board, the Grants 2 Green Advisory Board, DeKalb County’s Green Commission, Agnes Scott College’s National Sustainability Advisory Committee, The Livable Communities Coalition Board of Directors, and has served on the Georgia Attorney General’s Water Advisory Council. For the past four years, she has been named a “Georgia Super Lawyer” by Atlanta magazine. She became Emory’s first Director of Sustainability Initiatives on September 1, 2006, managing a University-wide effort to ensure that the University’s actions and policies support environmental, social, and economic systems that provide a healthy, productive, and meaningful life for current and future generations. Chick Krautler

Charles “Chick” Krautler is the Director of the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). As head of the official metropolitan planning organization for the 10-county, 68-city Atlanta Region, he oversees and directs regional planning programs in the areas of transportation, air quality, the environment, land use, water supply and quality, as well as aging services and workforce development. Mr. Krautler began his work in regional planning councils as the Executive Director of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. Before coming to ARC, he was President of the Triangle J Council of Governments, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Earlier in his career Mr. Krautler served as Manager of Public Affairs for the Washington Gas Light Company in Washington, DC and Executive Vice President of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Krautler is a member of numerous professional organizations including the Georgia Association of Regional Development Centers (GARDC); a board member of the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC); the Clean Air Campaign (CAC); the Georgia Foreign Trade Zone Board of Directors; the Southeastern Regional Directors Institute (SERDI); the Metropolitan Atlanta Chamber of Commerce; and the Atlanta Rotary Club. Mr. Krautler has been recognized by Georgia Trend magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians. Mr. Krautler received both a bachelors and masters degree from East Carolina University. He and his wife live in Atlanta and have two grown children Tim Lowe

Lowe is President of Lowe Engineers and is co-chairman of the Governor’s water contingency task force, created in response to a judge’s ruling that limits Georgia’s access to the water supply in Lake Lanier. Lowe also serves on the McPherson Redevelopment Authority and Georgia World Congress Center Authority and chairs the Energy & Environment Committee for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. John Norquist

John Norquist is President and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism. His work promoting New Urbanism as an alternative to sprawl and antidote to sprawl's social and environmental problems draws on his experience as big-city mayor and prominent participant in national discussions on urban design and school reform. John was the Mayor of Milwaukee from 1988-2004. Under his leadership, Milwaukee experienced a




decline in poverty, saw a boom in new downtown housing, and became a leading center of education and welfare reform. He has overseen a revision of the city's zoning code and reoriented development around walkable streets and public amenities such as the city's 3.1-mile Riverwalk. He has drawn widespread recognition for championing the removal of a .8 mile stretch of elevated freeway, clearing the way for an anticipated $250 million in infill development in the heart of Milwaukee. A leader in national discussions of urban design and educational issues, Norquist is the author of The Wealth of Cities, and has taught courses in urban policy and urban planning at the University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and at Marquette University. He represented Milwaukee's south and west sides in the Wisconsin Legislature. He chaired the National League of Cities Task Force on Federal Policy and Family Poverty and served on the Amtrak Reform Council. Michael Ogden

Since 1986, Michael Ogden has been involved in the design, engineering, and management of over 500 water infrastructure projects. Using natural systems, Michael has helped make wastewater treatment, stormwater management, and water reuse more sustainable. Projects include learning centers and school campuses, urban developments, residential communities, mixed use developments, and entire municipalities. These projects span 40 states, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Costa Rica, Panama, Bahamas, Fiji, Afghanistan, India, China, Cambodia, and Saudi Arabia. Many of these projects are designed in conjunction with land planners, architects, landscape architects, wildlife biologists, and ecologists with the goal of developing sustainable water infrastructure. Incorporating the ecologies of the pond, wetlands, prairie, and woodlands natural systems have proven to be very effective components of wastewater treatment systems. Besides generating clean water, such a design approach also provides attractive landscapes and habitat. In addition to these environmental values, Michael has focused design efforts on energy efficiency and the carbon sequestration potential of natural systems. Several municipal systems, which meet advanced secondary levels of treatment, operate without any energy inputs. As a proponent of wastewater treatment and reuse, Mr. Ogden is responsible for designing and permitting the first total reuse systems in New Mexico, Nevada, New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Michael has contributed to the design guidelines and regulations for various states including Indiana, Arizona, Texas, Nebraska, and New Mexico. Andrea Pinabell

Andrea Pinabell joined The Home Depot Foundation August of 2009 to manage the Foundation’s new sustainable community initiatives including the development and implementation of the Sustainable Cities Institute. Andrea comes to the Home Depot Foundation with over 15 years of experience in the private sector related to all aspects of environmental and sustainable planning, design and development. A native of Keokuk, IA, Andrea has been in the Atlanta area for over 10 years. She holds a BS degree in chemical engineering from Iowa State University and is a LEED accredited professional. Stefanos Polyzoides

Stefanos Polyzoides is one of the six founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism and a principal in Moule & Polyzoides, Architects and Urbanists, in Pasadena, CA. He was born in Athens, Greece, received his B.A. and M.Arch. from Princeton University, and has lived and practiced in Southern California since 1973. For the last four decades, Mr. Polyzoides has been heavily involved with the theory and practice of Architecture and Urbanism, and with professional education in both fields. He is a Registered Architect in the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Florida and Texas, and a Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Southern California.

The recent projects of Moule & Polyzoides have been in the service of both private and public, mostly municipal clients. As advocates for sustainable development, they have recently produced some special green buildings in University and Institutional settings, and are in the forefront of new urbanist Greenfield and Brownfield design in the United States. Exemplary recent projects are the LEED platinum ‘NRDC Western Headquarters” in Santa Monica CA, and the Master Plan for the extension of River Walk in San Antonio Texas. Mr Polyzoides has written extensively in both book and article form. Along with his partner Liz Moule and Hank Dittmar, he is the co author of the ‘Canons of Sustainable Development’, an addendum to the Charter of the New Urbanism.




A.J. Robinson

A.J. Robinson is President of Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID). CAP, a private business association started in 1941, remains one of the most effective advocacy organizations in the city. CAP has created and spun off a number of organizations such as Trees Atlanta, Research Atlanta, COPA, Inc. and the Midtown Alliance. In 1995, CAP created the ADID and the Ambassador Force of downtown to address public safety and cleaning concerns. In his role, he manages the overall strategic functions of the organizations which are designed to make the Atlanta community and specifically Downtown, more livable, vital and diverse. Key initiatives focus on economic development, planning, public safety, sidewalk environment, transportation, events and overall marketing of Downtown Atlanta. CAP is funded through membership dues and grants from many of Atlanta's major corporations, as well as organizations and foundations committed to the development of Downtown.

Robinson has guided the organizations in accomplishments that include the passage of public space vending legislation, the creation of a City wide anti-panhandling program, the continuing revitalization of Woodruff Park, securing more than $80 million in New Market Tax Credits for Downtown projects in partnership with the Atlanta Development Authority, the successful passage of new legislation involving tax allocation districts Statewide, and the creation of the Atlanta Dream, a WNBA team. In addition, he has directed the private side of a public/private partnership with Mayor Shirley Franklin to advance the building of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, commissioned the development of the “Green Line”(an aspirational plan for the future growth of the real estate corridor between the State Capitol and the Georgia World Congress Center), and the creation of a permanent tribute to former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young.

The former President of Portman Holdings, he was responsible for all activities of this multi-dimensional real estate company with offices in Atlanta, Charlotte, Shanghai and Warsaw. He also participated in the U.S. Department of Commerce's historic creation of China's first business school under the protocol signed by President Jimmy Carter and the Chinese Department of Education. A 1980 graduate of Harvard School of Business, he received a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. With high distinction, he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in June 1977 from Emory University. Brian Stone

Brian Stone, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the School of City and Regional Planning at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he teaches in the area of urban environmental planning and design. Stone's program of research is focused on the spatial drivers of urban environmental phenomena, with an emphasis on land use and climate change, and is supported through funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Forest Service, among other funding institutions. Prior to joining the Tech faculty in 2005, Stone taught in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has worked as a planning consultant and served on the board of a number of non-profit organizations, including the Partnership for a Smog Free Georgia, the UW Aldo Leopold Arboretum, and the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance. Stone's work on land use and climate change recently has been featured on CNN, CBS, National Public Radio, and in print media outlets such as Forbes Magazine and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Stone holds degrees in environmental management and planning from Duke University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dhiru Thadani

Dhiru A. Thadani, AIA, is an architect and urbanist who has been in practice since 1980, and has worked on projects in Asia, Europe and North and Central America. From 1987 to 2002 he was principal in the firm Thadani Hetzel Partnership, and from 2002 to 2009 he was principal and director of town planning in the firm of Ayers/Saint/Gross, Architects and Planners. Since its formation in 1993, Dhiru has been a charter member of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), and was appointed to the Board in 2005. He is a 2001 Fellow in the Knight Program in Community Building. Dhiru was born in Bombay, India and moved to Washington, D.C. to attend the Catholic University of America from 1972-1978 where he received his undergraduate and graduate education in architecture. During his thirty-seven years in Washington, D.C. he has taught, practiced, and has




worked to place architecture and urbanism in the public eye. Dhiru has been involved in new developments, urban retrofits, neighborhood revitalization, and infill densification. His goal has been to create neighborhoods that are walkable, and contain a diverse range and balance of workplace and housing. In addition, these new developments support regional planning for open space, and architecture that is responsive to the culture, climate and context. For the past twenty years, Dhiru has been the lead designer for several real estate developments in first and third world countries. The developments range in scale from government-sponsored autonomous new towns for 500,000 inhabitants to smaller resort communities for 900 residents, as well as small-scale residential infill interventions in revitalizing neighborhoods.

Fred Wacker

A 32-year veteran working to provide affordable housing opportunities for low-income families, Fred’s role as director and COO of The Home Depot Foundation is a natural progression from his previous 14 years of work between the Fannie Mae Foundation and Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. Fred’s primary focus is to shepherd the Foundation’s 5-year strategic plan and position the Foundation as a knowledge leader in affordable housing built responsibly, urban forestry and sustainable community development. Originally from Newark, N.J., Fred has lived in Georgia for 31 years and is a graduate of Ohio University. Arthur M. Wendel, MD MPH

LCDR Arthur M. Wendel, MD, MPH is a medical officer in the Healthy Community Design Initiative, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He is a board-certified physician in family medicine and preventive medicine, and he is a graduate of CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. He has worked in a variety of areas of public health, including disaster response, food-borne illness, and environmental health. He received his B.A. from Pomona College and his M.D. and M.P.H. from Tufts University. He completed his family practice training at the University of Washington and preventive medicine training at CDC. Dr. Wendel’s interests include building healthy communities and transportation systems.




What’s Next?

The events this week are just the beginning of a series of activities leading up to CNU18. Watch for more details about the following

First Week of March

CNU18+Imagine Downtown Urban Lab Fairlie-Poplar District CNU Invited Expert

Doug Farr

March 1 and 2, 2010 Greenprints 2010: Sustainable Communities by Design

Downtown Atlanta, Georgia For more information and to register www.greenprints.org

May 18 and 19, 2010

CNU18+Imagine Downtown Urban Lab CNU Invited Experts

CNU CoFounders: Peter Calthorpe & Lizz Plater-Zyberk CNU Leadership: Stephanie Bothwell, Ray Gindroz, Jeff Speck

May 19-22, 2010

“New Urbanism: Rx for Healthy Places” the 18th annual Congress for the New Urbanism

organized with assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Downtown Atlanta, Georgia

For more information and to register www.cnu.org/cnu18

For more information about supporting or hosting a CNU18 Urban Lab contact Laura Heery Prozes, AIA

[email protected] and (203) 524-2297




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