National Mayors Summit on City Design Summary Report

For the 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, for the National Mayors Summit on City Design. Convened by the National Endowment for the 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 of design 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 of federal 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 in the following report, along with additional information which highlights some of the special presentations and events that helped to define the Summit.