Topical Day-Long Forums
New for 2013. Colleagues from a variety of professions and community groups from the Chicago region are invited to join with planners on special designated days to explore topics of mutual concern. These topical events will each be held on different, single days of the conference. APA members are welcome to partner with colleagues and submit for these special days. More detailed information will be provided in late June.
Research Day
Planning Research that Matters
This forum is offered in cooperation with the Journal of the American Planning Association. Academic planners and other researchers are welcome to submit proposals on their planning research. Several sessions will examine the history of public housing, which is the topic of an upcoming issue of JAPA. All planning topics are welcome in this proposal process.
Law and Infrastructure Day
Attorneys and planners will join in a day-long forum focusing on current legal issues of planning and infrastructure law. Infrastructure determines and enables the physical and economic development of urban and rural areas, and we'll discuss the legal issues related to its finance as well as some major components such as telecommunications and transportation. This day is cosponsored by the American Bar Association Section of State and Local Government Law.
Transportation Day
Transforming Cities through Transportation
Local governments have taken a leading role in transportation innovation and are increasingly turning to creative new transportation policies as key tools for building stronger economies and neighborhoods. Transportation policy has become critical for achieving a variety of goals in diverse areas such as housing, community redevelopment, economic development and sustainability. Across the country, cities and towns are not only pursuing new approaches to transportation but also providing a greater portion of funding for critical new investment. A new federal transportation law may push communities toward more innovation given changes in a variety of programs. Sessions in this forum may include: innovations in parking, privatization, infrastructure finance and funding, bike and pedestrian projects, modern streetcar, transit and transit oriented development, opportunities in the new federal law, and more.
Neighborhood Day
Creating Land and Building Value in Neighborhoods
This forum will examine how value is created in neighborhoods. Housing value is one measure, but there are others, such as land value. The value and viability of neighborhoods are also determined by their public space, design character, schools, social amenities, access to transit options, community engagement, and commercial activities. Real estate professionals and planners examine what makes a good neighborhood and how to plan for and protect neighborhoods.
Symposia
Public Space Biennial of the Americas
Harvard professor Michael Sandel challenged planners at the 2011 National Planning Conference to see clearly their role in supporting justice and morality by creating places that foster interaction and provide greater opportunities for a common civic life. Public spaces — cultivated and preserved by planners, design colleagues, officials, and citizens — serve an important function for civic responsibility and democratic governance. Planners shape civic discourse through the planning, management, and design of public spaces, which help citizens exercise freedom of assembly and speech.
At the inaugural Public Space Biennial of the Americas, APA welcomes voices from across the Americas and across many disciplines to paint a full picture of the historic and contemporary challenges that face public spaces. Possible session topics could include, but are not limited to:
- Historic concepts such as the forum and the common
- Interactions between planners and law enforcement as it relates to public demonstrations (i.e., Occupy Wall Street and others)
- Real estate interests and public space (could relate to property values and public amenities, exactions, public benefit agreements, etc.)
- Cultural heritage and historic preservation of public spaces (especially relevant to ancient civilizations and sites across the Americas)
- Temporary public spaces, programming, and the arts
- Privately owned public spaces, civil rights, and civil liberties
- Streets and multiple uses
- The U.S. National Parks System and urban national parks such as Lowell, Massachusetts
Learn more
Water: Too Much, Too Little, Too Polluted
This multi-session symposium focuses primarily on the Great Lakes and secondarily on other regions and their water issues. Whether the challenge is declining water levels, threats to clean water, ecosystem balance of species, flooding, or regional coordination, the lakes, rivers, and aquifers are a critical factor in the future of a vast region. Proposals are sought on all aspects of water planning and management as it relates to the Great Lakes and other regions.
Jobs and Transformation: Planners' Roles in Economic Planning
Planners need to focus on job creation and retention. Yet how does planning contribute to local economies and how do we measure the effects of planning on job creation? Topics to be explored in this symposium are:
- How are jobs created?
- How must economic planning contrast with the subsidy model?
- Knowledge workers and urban amenity
- Land development vs. economic development
- Tax incentives and disincentives to job growth
- Deal making done right
- The role of investment and the CIP in local economic transformation
- Potentials and pitfalls of privatization
- Eds and Meds as basic (export) industries
Tracks
Perspectives on Planning
How does the American public view planning and the work of planners? Hear how residents and the broad public regard planning and what they want from their community plans. The other side of equation is planners. How do planners and planning agencies and firms view the future of planning? Other sessions may explore the unexpected successes of planning and surprises in terms of what people support. Finally, some proposals may examine the question: Is "quick and small" the way to plan? Or, what about "big and bold"?
Aging in Place
The era of building retirement communities is over. The elderly are increasingly staying in their homes and seeking support services. What does this mean for planning, and how is planning already supporting this major shift in living? Explore the housing, transportation, social services, and neighborhood dimensions of this movement for sustaining a key population.
Resilient Communities
As severe weather and other hazards affect more and more communities, a wider range of professions is addressing resilience and how communities can rebuild safer and stronger after disasters. Planning holds a unique position in planning for recovery. At its most effective, planning offers comprehensive solutions, helping to articulate new choices and posing alternate scenarios and more integrated and cost-effective redevelopment. This track will explore the programs and players who are involved in innovative recovery planning. Some sessions will offer case studies of how recovery allowed communities to build better for the future.
Protecting Small Towns and Rural Character
This track examines how to define, promote, and protect the character of small towns and rural areas. The economic foundation for many communities has changed significantly in the past 50 years. Some industries, such as tourism and recreation, have burgeoned. Others, such as new energy generation, are beginning to have an impact. How do these changes impact character, and what is planning doing to define and preserve character in the face of change? Have these communities proved attractive to new residents, and why? Sessions will explore the planning dimension of these design, economic, and social issues.
Transportation: Sidewalks to Ports and Everything in Between
With funding declining or shifting, the big picture in transportation planning requires smart investment. Partnerships, cooperative planning, and interconnectedness are vital to the success of transportation planning and management. Has your community considered the critical role of freight transportation? What successes have there been in shifting mode choice? How has political support been achieved? How were broad measures passed? Sessions will explore how transportation planning at various levels comes together to leverage investment, improve mobility, achieve sustainability, and gain critical support.
Fiscal Challenges and Innovative Solutions
The fiscal issues facing communities are many. What do planners need to know about the current financial situation, and how do they determine its ongoing impact on their communities? Has privatization worked? How have planners been involved in successful programs? Sessions will examine how communities have developed innovative funding strategies, found more efficient ways to provide necessary services, and continued to use planning as means to finding innovative solutions.
Evolving Military Installation Planning
America's military and its supporting installations are undergoing widespread change. How will this impact communities, and how can planning create opportunities arising from these changes? Whether the issue is expansion, contraction, or entirely new forms of development, explore this important evolution.
World Cities: Connections in the Global Economy
You have seen the term global city bandied about in the media, but what does it really mean? This track looks at how cities are connected and seek to enhance their connection to the global economy. How does a global perspective affect the choices that cities (and communities of other scales) make in terms of infrastructure investment, economic development, education investment, self promotion, and supporting services? How should planners and their colleagues be thinking about the global economic context and their city's place in this arena?
Meaningful Green
Given the problem, where should planners direct their efforts? What approach — whether green infrastructure, heat island mitigation, more parks, benchmarking, reduced emissions — produces results? Sessions explore how communities have prioritized their efforts and how they have assessed the results of green programs. How can "green washing" be avoided? Whether the sessions are provocative and unexpected or reporting on established programs that achieved results, this track will intrigue.
Suburban Complexity
There are different kinds of suburbs facing their own unique challenges. Some authors have looked at the issue in terms of rings of suburbs, others in terms of satellite communities, and others in terms of retrofitting. Sessions will explore the nature of suburban planning and the innovative solutions being put into practice to make suburbs sustainable and attractive to new residents and investors.
Two Centuries of Urban Visions
Chicago is a living laboratory of urban visions from the 1893 World's Fair and the Burnham Plan to Goldberg's and van der Rohe's mid-century modernism and mixed-use developments in urban centers. This track also delves into more recent visions for urban life including various "urbanisms," transit-oriented villages, institutional campuses, and the creation of new neighborhoods within the historic fabric. Sessions will range from historical perspectives to insights about the lasting values of these various urban visions.
General Sessions
Submit a proposal for an hour-long lecture in which you will provide in-depth instruction. The goal is to provide more advanced and thorough instruction on specific topics such as "how to develop or read a pro forma." Proposals are sought on the following topics: health, water, privatization, jobs, or infrastructure. When submitting, type the word LECTURE in the title. Only one speaker is required for a lecture session.
