So what makes a normally dry topic a must-see? In short, this wasn’t just any public budgeting discussion - it was about how an emerging technology like autonomous vehicles will likely change everything, including the basic ways cities even finance themselves. This one, overflowing session, while enormously significant for every municipality in the country, was but a tiny peek into the ways the emerging technologies of e-commerce, the sharing economy, and driverless vehicles are about to change our communities forever.
On March 5-7, an entire conference will focus on these issues. The first ever National Urbanism Next Conference will bring together some of the best minds from the public, private, and academic sectors working in urban planning, transportation, urban design, real estate development, academia, municipal finance, affordable housing, and more. Together, they’ll work to find opportunities in the challenges presented by these technological disruptions to advance the social good in terms of equity, the economy, and the environment.
“These conversations are just starting, and there’s a tremendous opportunity to understand these emerging trends and direct them for the social good,” says SCI Co-director and Urbanism Next lead Nico Larco. “The interest has been overwhelming as people are just waking up to the impacts of this new reality and are hungry for information about how they need to prepare. I believe the Urbanism Next conference will be a watershed moment in how we envision and realize the future of our cities.”
The conference will be a first-of-its-kind meeting of minds and attendance is anticipated to exceed 400. Attendees will work together at sessions and workshops to both understand the state of knowledge and anticipate the future so that policy makers, practitioners, and researchers know how best to direct their energies. Some discussions will build on the budget workshop at TRB, while others will look at new topics such as a future where curbs are in demand and parking isn’t, how to re-use vacant street space, and how these technological forces can lead to a more equitable society instead of exacerbating inequality.
The conference also features several keynote speakers including Congressman Earl Blumenauer; Robin Chase, who co-founded ZipCar and received the 2017 Urban Land Institute JC Nichols Prize for Visionary in Urban Development; Susan Shaheen, PhD, the co-director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at UC Berkeley; Darnell Grisby, Director of Policy Development and Research at the American Public Transportation Association; Matt Hoffman, Vice President of Innovation at Enterprise Community Partners; and many more.
With so many brilliant minds in one place, next week’s conference presents an extraordinary opportunity to set the national conversation about the future of our cities.