By Frank Hebbert, Associate Planner, GIS
As dedicated readers of Spotlight know, this Friday is RPA's 20th Annual Regional Assembly, "Innovation and the American Metropolis." On April 16th at the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC, a stellar group of speakers will gather to discuss innovation in cities and regionalism, with keynotes and appearances from Adolfo Carrion, Richard Burdett, William McDonough, Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch, David Crane and many more. If you haven't yet registered, sign up now.
One of the recurring questions during preparation for this Assembly has been "but what do you mean by innovation?" Everyone has a slightly different idea of what innovation means for planning, cities, and regions. Each of the eight workshops addresses innovation in the context of important topics: green infrastructure, housing, the economy, energy, infrastructure, community design, urban mobility, and intercity transportation. Read on below for more about two of those panels: Petra Todorovich on the future of intercity transportation, and Corey Piasecki on the emergence of intelligent infrastructure.
But we realize these panels will only begin to address the diversity of innovations on the horizon. Fittingly for this topic, we're opening the question to the crowd. It's time to take stock of the state of innovation in 2010. Give us your thoughts on the profound innovations set to shape our cities. We want to hear your ideas about nurturing innovation, and comments on the obstacles to be overcome. Head to the Assembly website now, and add your voice to the conversation by answering three short questions.
We'll be displaying the collected wisdom of our Spotlight readers and Assembly delegates on screens throughout the Waldorf on Friday. After the dust settles, we'll reflect and respond to your submissions, exploring your views on the innovation landscape ahead. Look out for a special Spotlight edition and some exploratory features on our website in the coming months. Don't miss out on being part of this exciting experiment.
(My answers? The profound innovation ahead will be an accurate price on carbon. Forget hand-held computing or smarter subway cars. I can't imagine anything that will more directly challenge our established value proposition - where we live, how we travel and consequently all aspects of cities. Agree? Disagree? Send in your responses.)
@RegionalPlan