Summary report : National Mayors Summit on City Design : celebrating 25 years of the Mayors' Institute on City Design, April 27-29, 2011

2011·2.6 MB·English

by  Mayors' Institute on City Design

SUMMARY REPORT
NATIONAL
SUMMIT
MAYORS
DESIGN
Celebrating25years oftheMayors'Institute on CityDesign
APRIL 27-29, 2011
ARTWORKS.

Dear Reader,
Forthe Mayors' Institute on City Design's® 25th anniversary and 50th national session, some 300 mayors, design
professionals, government officials, business leaders, and others met in Chicago, April 27-29, 2011, forthe National
Mayors Summit on City Design. Convened by the National Endowment forthe Arts, American Architectural
Foundation, and United States Conference of Mayors, this unprecedented gathering was far more than a celebration
of past successes. Its stated purpose was to formulate a series of recommendations to contribute to the national
dialogue on urban design ideas and policies and to help create strategies for leaders at the local and federal levels.
To facilitate that outcome, the Summit included three forums exploring the intersection ofdesign with transportation,
development, and 21st century challenges. The content produced through these forums was then synthesized and
presented to the Summit delegates and a panel offederal respondents, which included senior officials from the NEA,
White House Domestic Policy Council, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and US Department of
Transportation.
The recommendations produced through the forums as well as the resulting discussions and responses are
presented on the following pages, along with additional information which highlights some ofthe special presentations
and events that helped to define the Summit. A full agenda forthe event and biographies ofthe participants
are included among the appendices to this report. To view the video testimonials, plenary sessions, and lunch
presentations in their entirety, orto learn more about MICD, visit www.micd.org.
Sincerely,
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Rocco Landesman Tom Cochran Ronald E. Bogle
Chairman CEO and Executive Director President and CEO
National Endowment forthe Arts The US Conference of Mayors American Architectural Foundation

CONTENTS
The MICD Partnership 4
The Summit 5
Opening Plenary 6-8
Keynote Address 9-10
The Forums 11-18
Design + Transportation 16
Design + Development 17
Design + 21st Century Challenges 18
Address by Secretary Donovan 19
Federal Response 20-24
Closing Address 25
The Joesph P. Riley, Jr. Award 26-27
Appendices 28-37
Agenda 28-29
Bios 30-32
Delegates 33-35
Acknowledgements 36-37
Digitized by the Internet Archive
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The Mayors' Institute on City Design® is a National
Endowment for the Arts leadership initiative in
partnership with the American Architectural
Foundation and the United States Conference of
Mayors, www.micd.org
The National EndowmentfortheArts The United States Conference TheAmericanArchitecturalFoundation
(NEA) was established by Congress of Mayors (USCM) is the official (AAF), established in 1943, is a
in 1965 as an independent agency of nonpartisan organization of cities national nonprofit organization that
the federal government. To date, the with populations of 30,000 or more. educates the public about the power
NEA has awarded more than $4 billion The USCM promotes effective ofarchitecture to improve lives and
to support artistic excellence, creativity, national urban/suburban policy, transform communities. Through
and innovation forthe benefit of strengthens federal/city relationships, national design leadership programs
individuals and communities. The NEA ensures that federal policy meets urban including the Mayors' Institute on City
extends its work through partnerships needs, providesmayorswithleadership Design®, Great Schools by Design, and
with state arts agencies, local leaders, andmanagementtools, and createsa the Sustainable Cities Design Academy,
other federal agencies, and the forum inwhich mayorscan shareideas AAF empowers local leaders to use
philanthropic sector, www.arts.gov and information, www.usmayors.org design as a catalyst for creating better
cities, www.archfoundation.org
THE SUMMIT
"I have often said that I am the chief urban designer of
my city. The more sensitive the mayor is to good urban
design, the issues of livability, scale, and diversity, the
more willing and able the mayorwill be to help develop
a higher quality of life forthe citizens of his or her
community. Ifwe could institute a program aimed at
increasing the mayors' sophistication and interest in
urban design, we could have a substantial impact on
the quality of American cities."
—
The Honorable Joseph P. Riley Jr.
In 1985, Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. of Charleston, SC, wrote Mayor, Charleston, SC
the above words to architect and urban designerJacquelin
T. Robertson, then dean ofthe School ofArchitecture at
the University ofVirginia. His letterwas a catalyst for action.
Within a year, the two men had found an enthusiastic partner
in the National Endowment forthe Arts (NEA) and a vital
collaborator in NEA Director of Design Adele Chatfield-Taylor.
On October 23, 1986, the Mayors' Institute on City Design
(MICD) welcomed eight mayors to its inaugural session.
MICD is a National Endowment forthe Arts leadership
initiative in partnership with the American Architectural
Foundation and the United States Conference of Mayors.
Overthe past quarter century, more than 850 mayors have
joined the MICD alumni ranks, and the program has remained
—
true to its original model eight mayors present eight real-
world design problems to a resource team of eight renowned
city design professionals (architects, urban designers,
landscape architects, transportation planners, etc.). Together,
they work through those problems in closed-door sessions
overthe course oftwo and a half days. The meetings are
private, with no city staff members, cell phones, observers,
or media.
MICD inspires mayors to champion better design fortheir
cities and advances the role of design as an essential
element in city leadership. To hear mayors rank the
experience among the most influential oftheir public service
is not uncommon. MICD has inspired transformative design
that has improved the lives of countless people across
the nation.
MICD FounderandCharleston MayorJoseph P. RileyJr. describingthe
legacyoftheMayors' InstituteduringtheOpening PlenaryoftheSummit.
a
OPENING
PLENARY
"Mayors understand that in an age where people
can choose to live anywhere, there is a short list of
things that help them decide. It turns out there are
three things [in particular] that create attachment
between people and communities: social offerings,
openness, and aesthetics, three things that are the
hallmark of the arts and good design."
—
Rocco Landsman, NEA Chairman
National Endowment forthe Arts Director of Design Jason Chairman Landesman continued, "This ideal of local design
Schupbach served as the moderatorforthe Summit and leadership is personified in Mayor Daley, himself an MICD
introduced welcoming remarks from the leadership ofall alum, who during his comments expressed great pride in
three organizations, Rocco Landesman, Chairman ofthe his city and its rich history of art, architecture, and design."
National Endowment fortheArts, Tom Cochran, CEO and
Executive Director ofthe US Conference of Mayors, and Following the opening plenary, the Summit included a panel
Ron Bogle,President and CEO oftheAmerican Architectural discussion focused on the transformation of Chicago under
Foundation, as well as remarks from Chicago Mayor Mayor Daley's leadership. Moderated by John Syvertsen,
Richard M. Daley and the Summit's presenting corporate senior principal at Cannon Design and secretary ofthe AAF
sponsor, Target. Bogle also took a moment to acknowledge Board of Regents, it featured Lee Bey, Executive Director,
four past Ma—yors' Institute on City Design® directors in Chicago Central Area Committee; Gerald Adelmann,
attendance Christine Saum, Carol Coletta, Aaron Koch, President and CEO, Openlands; and Barbara Gaines,
—
and Jess Zimbabwe as well as current MICD Director Artistic Director, Chicago Shakespeare Theater. The lunch
Story Bellows, fortheir contributions to the program's panel about Chicago can be viewed at www.micd.org.
success.
COMMENTS BY
NEA CHAIRMAN ROCCO LANDSMAN
At NEA, Chairman Rocco Landesman and Director of
Design Jason Schupbach have identified MICD as a
foundational asset in the agency's strategy to spark cultural
and economic vibrancy in cities across the country. The
program's efficacy stems in part from the capacity of
—
America's mayors to help generate design with impact
capacity that must be realized ifa community hopes to
thrive. Chairman Landesman referenced the recent "Soul of
the Community" study conducted by Gallup forthe John S.
and James L. Knight Foundation:
As the head ofthe local political structure, mayors are
positioned to have an immediate and compelling impact
on the quality ofthe arts and design in their communities. NEA DirectorofDesignJason Schupbach(left)and NEAChairman Rocco
MICD facilitates that impact. Landesman (right)welcomeparticipantstotheSummitduringtheOpening
Plenary.
OPENING PLENARY
^o^SUMMITdeS
COMMENTS BY LOS ANGELES MAYOR
Towers, an iconic ensemble ofsculptural concrete and
ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA
steel towers built between 1921 and 1954 by an Italian
immigrant, Simon Rodia.
"I use the Watts Towers as a metaphorfor LA, for diversity,
the city ofopportunity, the city of hope, the citywhere the
world comes together." The towers are now next to the
103rd Street Station on the Blue Line branch ofthe city's
light rail system. This adjacency makes the once-isolated
WattsTowers Arts Center easily accessible to visitors who
might never have ventured there in the past.
"What we are doing is using the light rail line and this great
piece of art to beautify and revitalize a blighted area. Watts
is one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city."
Elaborating on the promise ofWatts, he said, "We have
applied for an NEA OurTown Grant to green and beautify
and revitalize this area. It will support the design ofa visitors'
center and connecting artists' pathways. It will turn the
LosAngelesMayorAntonioR.VillaraigosaintroducesKeynoteSpeaker historic 1904 Watts Station into a LEED-certified exhibition
Thorn Maynebydescribingthedesign culturein LosAngelesduringthe space, celebrating the arts and the historic arts community.
Opening Plenary. The artists' pathways will incorporate the vision ofartists
working with found and recycled materials, to not only bring
—
The carculture of Los Angeles is the stuff of legend as art into the public space, but to do it in an environmentally
is the congestion. MayorVillaraigosa is working hard to sound way in the tradition of Simon Rodia."
change that.
MayorVillaraigosa concluded that what is happening in
In his remarks at the Summit, Villaraigosa emphasized that Watts is "connected to the infrastructure investments
investment in public transportation infrastructure is the key that we're advocating, that createjobs, and that we're all
tojobs, economic growth, and the reduction ofgreenhouse begging our policy makers to get behind. President Obama
gas emissions. has said it's a priority. Ifwe can get the Congress tojoin and
continue to break down the cycles and the silos, there's
"One ofthe opportunities that comes with building public a great opportunity that comes with making infrastructure
transportation," he said, "is that we start to rebuild and re- investments, redesigning cities, greening cities, creating
create neighborhoods and revitalize them. And we create public space and open space. Designers have a vision to
opportunities forwhat call elegant density, where we're do that, and that re-creates our communities."
I
actually bringing people closerto theirjobs. They live by
transportation hubs, by light rail and subways. They walk,
work, shop, all there close to those transportation hubs."
To help make it happen, MayorVillaraigosa pointed
in particular to the federal government's America Fast
Forward program. Its aim is to accelerate the funding of
transportation projects and leverage local investment using
tax credits and loan guarantees as opposed to direct federal
investment. "For a city like mine," he said, "and for some
ofyour cities, there's a real opportunity that comes when
making investments in infrastructure and recreating the city."
To illustrate the power ofwhat can happen when public
transit intersects with art, the mayor spoke about the
South LosAngeles neighborhood ofWatts. Watts has
been a neighborhood troubled by poverty and gang- TheWattsTowersin LosAngelesdescribed byMayorVillaraigosain his
related violence for many years. It is also the home ofWatts Opening Plenaryremarks.
10