While there are many challenges and much work to do, there is much to celebrate too as we emerge from the pandemic. Join us June 8-12 in Carmel, IN. to share the latest tools and strategies, and to celebrate a return to public spaces and public life. Here is the latest schedule.
The showcase of effective tools and strategies to make more livable cities, Carmel, Indiana. We'll examine its many lessons, and compare notes with other cities and towns too, at the 57th International Making Cities Livable (IMCL).
This June 8-12 will see a remarkable gathering of city leaders from the USA and internationally, coming together to address forefront urban challenges in the livability laboratory of Carmel, Indiana. The first major in-person conference on cities and towns will examine "livable cities (and suburbs) for ALL." Plenary speakers, breakouts, workshops, and tours and networking activities will provide the opportunity to city leaders and change agents to assess this moment in history, and to examine the latest emerging tools and strategies to meet the new challenges. Among the tools and strategies to be considered are financial mechanisms, new codes and design standards, new models of planning and design, and new findings from the latest academic research.
Below is the draft program for the five-day conference. (Details are subject to last-minute refinement.) Consult https://www.livable-cities.org/ for further information or to register. We hope you will join us!
DRAFT PROGRAM (as of May 27, 2021)
57th International Making Cities Livable (IMCL)
June 8-12, 2021 * Carmel, Indiana USA
TUESDAY, JUNE 8
Area Hotels
1:00 PM Shuttle bus runs from area hotels to Hotel Carmichael
Fairfield Inn and Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Home2 Suites by Hilton, and Residence Inn/Springhill Suites
Hotel Carmichael (Lobby)
1:00 PM Registration
2:00 PM Tours depart (from Hotel Carmichael front entrance)
5:00 PM Tours return
Hotel Carmichael (Ballroom)
6:00 PM Opening Reception and Lennard Tribute
Mayor Jim Brainard, Michael Mehaffy, IMCL Exec. Director, and Board of Stewards.
7:30 PM Reception ends; shuttle bus returns to other hotels
8:00 PM Dinner and evening activities on your own
9:30 PM Shuttle bus runs to other hotels (from Hotel Carmichael entry)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9
Area Hotels
7:30 AM Shuttle bus picks up guests at other hotels
Hotel Carmichael (Lobby)
8:00 AM Registration
Palladium Concert Hall (South Lobby)
8:00 AM Coffee and refreshments
MORNING PLENARY SESSION:
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
9:00 AM Welcome and Overview
Mayor Jim Brainard
9:20 AM Retrofitting Suburbia: Livable Places for ALL (Plenary Session 1)
“The Option of Urbanism: Market Trends in Walkable Urban Places” Christopher Leinberger, Professor, George Washington University
“Case Studies in Retrofitting Suburbia”
Ellen Dunham-Jones, Professor, Georgia Tech, and June Williamson, Professor, CUNY
Panel Discussion (Mayor Jim Brainard, Moderator)
Palladium (South Lobby)
10:15 Networking Coffee
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
10:45 AM Toward Resilient Cities and Suburbs: A New Agenda? (Plenary Session 2)
“The New Urban Fix”
Doug Kelbaugh, Professor and former Architecture Dean, University of Michigan
“Resilience and Adaptation for a Suburban Nation”
Elizabeth Pater-Zyberk, Professor and former Architecture Dean, University of Miami
“A New Agenda for Design Education”
Michael Lykoudis, Professor and former Architecture Dean, University of Notre Dame
Panel Discussion (Moderator TBD)
Palladium (South Lobby)
Noon Networking Coffee
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
12:30 PM Speed Presentations (six speakers, 5 minutes each)
Chosen from audience proposals via conference app
1:00 PM Announcements
1:05 PM Lunch (on your own)
AFTERNOON BREAKOUTS (2:30-5:30 PM):
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
2:30 PM Carmel Case Study: Financial Tools (Breakout Session 1A)
Led by Heidi Amspaugh, Director, Municipal Advisor, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP (and associates)
3:45 PM Networking Coffee (in South Lobby)
4:15 PM Carmel Case Study: Infrastructure and Recovery (Breakout Session 2A)
Led by Heidi Amspaugh, Director, Municipal Advisor, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP (and associates)
Palladium (Robert Adam Room)
2:30 PM Livability Retrofits: How Architecture Matters (Breakout Session 1B)
Moderator: Michael Lykoudis
“Mall to Mid-City: Building Culture and Community”
Steve Knight, David M. Schwarz Architects, Washington D.C.
“Fourth Generation Libraries: Expanding their Role as Community Educational
Resources”
Alexander P. Lamis, Partner, Robert A.M. Stern Assoc., New York NY
“Traditional Architecture and Urbanism: Making South Bend a Livable Place”
Julio Cesar Perez, Associate Professor, Notre Dame University, IM
3:45 PM Networking Coffee (in South Lobby)
4:15 PM Livability Retrofits: Case Studies, Tools and Lessons
(Breakout Session 2B)
“Fremont’s Innovation – A Suburban City Creates a 21st Century Urban Center” Rick Phillips, Principal, rp[PLACE], San Jose, CA
“So You Want to Build a Town?”
Kay Sullivan, Town Founder, Riverview, FL
“Windsor, California’s Remarkable Transformation”
David Woltering, Woltering Community Planning, Santa Rosa CA
Palladium (Shiel Sexton Songbook Lounge)
2:30 PM Community Revitalization Case Studies, Tools, Lessons (Breakout Session 1C)
“8Twelve Coalition: Community Participation and Engagement in Neighborhood Revitalization”
Pam Harwood, Professor, Ball State University; Jacqueline Hanoman, Executive
Director, Ross Community Center; and Jena Ashby, Director of Impacts and
Programs, Habitat for Humanity
“Achieving a fine-grained compact mixed-use precinct: The potential of new urban hamlets”
Hiro Hata, Professor, University of Buffalo
“Designing the Future: The Productive City, Goods, Community + Ideas
Jan-Hendrik Höhnk, Assoc. Professor, University of Hartford
3:45 PM Networking Coffee (in South Lobby)
4:15 PM Community Revitalization: Case Studies, Tools and Lessons, Continued
(Breakout Session 2C)
Planning for a Re-Vitalized and Re-Connected Smithfield
Alex Krumdieck and John Pittari, Professors, Auburn University, AL
A Town and Gown Partnership: An Eco-Friendly Urban Neighborhood for Students, Parents, Elderly
Theodore Randall Sawruk, Assoc. Professor, University of Hartford
Englewood Chicago is Rising: Volunteers in Service to America – Place Keeping by Design!
Douglas A. Williams, Professor, University of Illinois
Palladium (East Lobby)
3:45 PM Networking Coffee
3:45 PM Poster Session
“A New Solar Park for the Upper Albany Neighborhood”
Theodore Randall Sawruk, Assoc. Professor, University of Hartford
“How Can Child-Inclusive Design Affect Children's Appreciation of Their World?” Theodore Randall Sawruk, Assoc. Professor, University of Hartford
Other poster presenters TBA
5:30 PM Breakout Sessions End
Palladium (South Lobby)
6:30 PM Reception (drinks, hors d’ouerves)
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
8:00 PM Evening Plenary TBA; Lennard Award
9:30 PM Shuttle bus runs to other hotels (from Hotel Carmichael entry)
THURSDAY, JUNE 10
Area Hotels
7:30 AM Shuttle bus picks up guests at other hotels
Hotel Carmichael (Lobby)
8:00 AM Registration
Palladium Concert Hall (South Lobby)
8:00 AM Coffee and refreshments
MORNING PLENARY SESSION:
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
9:00 AM Welcome and Overview
Michael Mehaffy, IMCL Executive Director
9:20 AM Learning from COVID: Why Public Space Matters (Plenary Session 3)
“The Street: A Quintessential Social Public Space “
Vikas Mehta, Fruth Gemini Professor of Urbanism, University of Cincinnati
“Beyond Community Participation: Urban Design as Civic Innovation”
David Brain, Professor of Sociology, The New College of Florida
Panel Discussion (Moderator: Michael Mehaffy)
Palladium (South Lobby)
10:15 AM Networking Coffee
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
10:45 AM Learning from COVID: Healthier Cities and Towns for ALL
(Plenary Session 4)
“Walkability, Transportation and Health “
Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Research Professor, IS Global, Barcelona
“Healthy Cities, Healthy People, Healthy Planet”
Dick Jackson, Emeritus Professor, UCLA and former Director, CDC National
Center for Environmental Health
“Understanding Low and High Rates of Pollution in Cities: Impacts, Lifespan and COVID-19”
John Hans Gilderbloom, Professor, University of Louisville KY
Panel Discussion
Palladium (South Lobby)
Noon Networking Coffee
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
12:30 PM Speed Presentations (six speakers, 5 minutes each)
Chosen from audience proposals via conference app
1:00 PM Announcements
1:05 PM Lunch (on your own)
AFTERNOON BREAKOUTS (2:30-5:30 PM):
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
2:30 PM Smart Cities: Green Energy (Breakout Session 3A)
Christopher Downs, Public Sector Account Executive, Johnson Controls
With associates TBA
3:15 PM Networking Coffee (in Palladium South Lobby)
4:15 PM Smart Cities: Data and Controls (Breakout Session 4A)
Christopher Downs, Public Sector Account Execiutive, Johnson Controls
With associates TBA
Palladium (Robert Adam Room)
2:30 PM Livable Cities for ALL: Health (Breakout Session 3B)
“A community-based, collaborative approach to improving pedestrian safety”
Vincent Hill, Health By Design
“One Step at a Time: Safe Routes to Key Destinations”
Taylor Firestine, Health By Design
”Striving for an Active Indiana”
Marjorie Hennessy, Health By Design
3:15 PM Networking Coffee (in Palladium South Lobby)
4:15 PM Livable Cities for ALL: Health, Continued (Breakout Session 4B)
Planning Healthy Communities: How it Works!
Pete Fritz, Healthy Communities Planner, Indiana Department. of Health
Collaboration to Transform an Underutilized Community Garden in a Food Desert into a Food Oasis
Akilah Nosakhere, Director, Muncie Public Library
"Milwaukee Safe and Healthy Streets: Perceptions of Street Safety & Security and Resident Health
Kiran Sehgal, Graduate Student, University of Wisconsin
Palladium (Shiel Sexton Songbook Lounge)
2:30 PM Public Spaces: Streets and Squares (Breakout Session 3C)
Streets Reconsidered – Inclusive Design for the Public Realm
Daniel S. Iacofano, CEO, MIG Inc.
Public Space Reconsidered
Vladimir Krstic, Professor, Kansas State University
Redefining Criteria for Commercial Streets and Public Spaces: Emerging Lessons of Covid-19
Felia Srinaga and Jacky Thiodore, Associate Professors, University of Pelita
Harapan Indonesia
3:45 PM Networking Coffee (in Palladium South Lobby)
4:15 PM Public Spaces: Parks and Recreation (Breakout Session 4C)
“Partnering to Implement Recreation within Community Revitalization”
Bruce Rankin, Design Director, Woolpert; Larisa Sims, Assistant City Manager,
Newport KY
“Space for Public Life: Recapturing Abandoned Urban Lots as Pocket Parks for Children and Elderly”
Theodore Randall Sawruk, Assoc. Professor, University of Hartford
“Assessing the role of trees in urban green spaces to reduce urban heat island effect”
Veronica Westendorff, Landscape Architect, SITES AP, Charlotte NC
Palladium (East Lobby)
3:45 PM PECHA KUCHA PRESENTATIONS (7 min. each)
National Park Cities: A Global "What If" Provocation for Our Urban Future
Scott Martin, River Heritage Conservancy, Louisville, KY
The healthy city: Live-Work-Play: Pecha Kucha
Maria Syed, Designer, Washington, NJ
Other Pecha Kucha presenters TBA
Palladium (South Lobby)
3:45 PM Networking Coffee
5:30 PM Breakouts End
Hotel Carmichael (Feinstein's Cabaret)
6:30 PM Reception, Awards and Discussion Dinner (ticketed guests only)
(Others: dinner and evening activities on your own)
9:30 PM Shuttle bus runs to other hotels (from Hotel Carmichael entry)
FRIDAY, JUNE 11
Area Hotels
7:30 AM Shuttle bus picks up guests at other hotels
Hotel Carmichael (Lobby)
8:00 AM Registration
Palladium Concert Hall (South Lobby)
8:00 AM Coffee and refreshments
MORNING PLENARY SESSION:
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
9:00 AM Welcome and Overview
Jim Brainard, Mayor of Carmel
9:20 AM Toward Smarter Cities and Suburbs: Technology AND People
(Plenary Session 5)
“The Smart City is The Livable City”
Lisa A. Brown, Senior Director, Municipal Infrastructure & Smart
Communities, Johnson Controls, Inc.
“Tools and Strategies to Build Livable Cities and Towns”
Heidi Amspaugh, Director, Municipal Advisor, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP
Panel Discussion
Moderator: Mayor Jim Brainard
Palladium (South Lobby)
10:15 AM Networking Coffee
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
10:45 AM Sharing International Lessons: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally
(Plenary Session 6)
“Changing Policies, Changing Priorities - One Step at a Time”
George Ferguson, Architect, Past President of the RIBA and Former Mayor of
Bristol, UK
“New Tools for Improving Public Spaces”
Ricardo Fernandez Gomez, Director of Urban Development for the State of
Jalisco, Mexico
“The Importance of City-wide Public Space Strategies”
Andrew Rudd, Human Settlements Officer, UN-Habitat
Panel Discussion (Moderator: Michael Mehaffy)
Palladium (South Lobby)
Noon Networking Coffee
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
12:30 PM Speed Presentations (six speakers, 5 minutes each)
Chosen from audience proposals via conference app
1:00 PM Announcements
1:05 PM Lunch (on your own)
AFTERNOON BREAKOUTS (2:30-5:30 PM):
Palladium (Main Concert Hall)
2:30 PM City of Carmel Case Study: Streets and Roundabouts (Breakout Session 5A)
City of Carmel Personnel TBA
3:45 PM Networking Coffee (in South Lobby)
4:15 PM City of Carmel Case Study: New Models and Tools (Breakout Session 6A)
City of Carmel Personnel TBA
Palladium (Robert Adam Room)
2:30 PM Active Transportation (Breakout Session 5B)
“Fostering a bicycle culture through graphic as UD method; Learning from The
Netherlands”
Harry Eggink, Professor of Architecture, Ball State University, Muncie
“Monon Boulevard – The Heart and Soul of Carmel’s Midtown”
Carl Kincaid, Vice President, Rundell Ernstberger
“Sustainable 15-Minute Neighborhoods in Seattle: Assessment and Future
Opportunities”
Devon McAslan, Faculty Associate, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ and
Research Associate, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
3:45 PM Networking Coffee (in South Lobby)
4:15 PM Tools and Strategies (Breakout Session 6B)
“Collaborative Investment – Building places with public and private funding”
Bridget Anderson, Diretor, Patronicity, Bloomington IN
“Can Chromatic Homes Preserve 5000 Abandoned Victorians in the Midwest?”
John Hans Gilderbloom, Professor, University of Louisville KY
“Connected Communities - Public Considerations & Alternatives”
Paul Denny PE, Project Manager, Transportation, Woolpert, Cincinnati OH
Will Tufts, Design Lead, Buildings, Woolpert, Cincinnati, OH
Palladium (Shiel Sexton Songbook Lounge)
2:30 PM Livable Cities for ALL: Equity (Breakout Session 5C)
“Making Zoning Alienable: Property Rights, NIMBYism, and Urban Growth” Michael Gleba, Adjunct Professor, Northeastern University, Newton, MA
“Architecture, Equitability, and Urban Sprawl: Crime reduction in existing and
future neighborhoods”
KJ Kresin, Criminologist, Beavetrton OR
“A Crooked Path Toward Equity: An Introduction and Application to Resident-
led Design”
Bruce Wardell, Principal, brwarchitects, Charlottesville, VA
3:15 PM Networking Coffee (in Palladium South Lobby)
4:15 PM Livable Cities for ALL: Place (Breakout Session 6C)
“Mixing Metabolisms: New People in Aging Sprawl”
Lawrence Davis, Associate Professor, Syracuse University
“Toward a Theoretical Understanding of Placemaking”
Jane Ellery, Peter Ellery, Professor and Landscape Architect, Ball State, Muncie IN
“Creative Workers in Place: A Phenography of Creative Workers' Perception of
Place”
Craig Thomas, Director, Planning and Development Services at City of Fort
Saskatchewan
Palladium (Founders Room)
2:30 PM Placemaking By Design (Breakout Workshop 5D)
“Placemaking as a Global Movement”
Ethan Kent, PlacemakingX, New York, NY
Ryan Smolar, PlacemakingUS, Santa Ana, CA
Madeleine Spencer, PlacemakingUS, Santa Ana, CA
3:45 PM Networking Coffee (in South Lobby)
4:15 PM Placemaking by Design, Continued (Breakout Workshop 6D)
“Placemaking in the US Recovery”
Ethan Kent, PlacemakingX, New York, NY
Ryan Smolar, PlacemakingUS, Santa Ana, CA
Madeleine Spencer, PlacemakingUS, Santa Ana, CA
5:30 PM Breakouts End
6:00 PM Dinner and evening activities on your own
(9PM to 12AM: "Late Night on Main," music, vendors and more)
9:30 PM Shuttle bus runs to other hotels (from Hotel Carmichael entry)
SATURDAY, JUNE 12
2 Carter Green (next to Palladium)
9:00 AM Farmer’s Market
Food, events, activities, until 11:30
Hotel Carmichael (Lobby)
11:30 AM Tours depart (from Hotel Carmichael front entrance)
2:30 PM Tours return
2:30-7:30 PM Free Time
7:00 PM CLOSING PARTY
Sophia Square (110 W. Main Street, walking distance from Palladium)
Reception, closing discussion and party (with drinks and snacks)