City Managers’ Design Academy Overview
We are in a critical period in the history and growth of American cities. With a majority of the U.S. population now living in urban areas, the challenge of the next decade is to build cities that more effectively address every aspect of urban life. A wide range of municipal leaders have direct responsibility to help shape the future of our cities. Every day, they make decisions about the physical nature of their cities, decisions that most often involve design and construction.
As urban areas continue to grow and the needs of their citizens change, our cities desperately need new models for competitiveness and livability, and to achieve these new models, municipal leaders need effective support. The development of healthy, vibrant, and sustainable cities in the 21st century requires strong civic leadership that understands the relationship between urban design and cities’ economies, health, resilience, and character.
The American Architectural Foundation’s Center for Design & the City focuses its programs on supporting civic leaders on issues related to design, architecture, and sustainability. Through the Center’s programs, AAF has had an opportunity to work with mayors, developers, owners, and other key influencers in over 300 U.S. cities. Through this work, we have developed a deep firsthand understanding of the best ways to provide resources, support, and technical assistance to these leaders as they give shape and form to their evolving communities. We are grateful to United Technologies Corporation for their long standing support as presenting sponsor for many of the programs presented through the Center for Design & the City.
AAF is pleased to announce a new program in the Center for Design & the City: City Managers’ Design Academy (CMDA). Like the Center’s other programs, CMDA will offer opportunities to engage in design workshops intended to strengthen city managers’ design leadership skills and offer support in the development and design of ongoing projects, such as downtown commercial and residential revitalization, multi-modal transportation, affordable housing, waterfront redevelopment, and green infrastructure implementation.
As the Center’s Senior Fellow, Mary Suhm will lead the development and implementation of the City Managers’ Design Academy. The inaugural City Managers’ Design Academy session will launch in Dallas in April 2015, and will draw heavily from the experiences of the City of Dallas, as it has become a community transformed through design.
In announcing the new initiative, Ron Bogle, AAF President and CEO, stated, “AAF is delighted to have formed a partnership with Mary Suhm in offering this important new resource to city managers. We have a deep commitment to support municipal leaders in creating more livable, sustainable, and humane civic spaces. When added to AAF’s significant portfolio of other city design initiatives, the City Managers’ Design Academy is an important new program to help support these essential urban goals for our nation.”
The City Managers’ Design Academy is made possible through a generous donation from the Edward W. Rose, III Family Fund of The Dallas Foundation.
Image courtesy of Robert Hensley.
