The 78th National Session of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) took place October 11-13, 2023 in Boston, MA, hosted by Mayor Michelle Wu.
The event brought together seven mayors from across the United States to discuss the most pressing design and development challenges facing their cities. Seven experts in architecture, landscape architecture, arts and culture, transportation, urban planning, and real estate development joined the mayors for two and a half days of discussions, offering pragmatic advice for each mayor’s project.
The mayors brought a range of projects to this session, seeking to address a wide array of urban challenges through improvements to the built environment. They took away processes for the equitable revitalization of commercial corridors, ideas for sustaining and uplifting local culture, and strategies for engaging the community and activating public spaces. The mayors also came away with a deeper understanding of their ability to lead civic discourse in their cities, rising to their unique role as the city’s “chief convener.”
Robust discussions provided each mayor with concrete ideas for their projects as well as a new understanding of the design and development process.
“I’ve been trying to find something to help me as a mayor in moving my city forward, and this program did it. The resource team had amazing insights and expertise and sparked a lot of great ideas. This program was mind-blowing.
Mayor Helen Tran | San Bernardino, CA
Mayors were introduced to the many facets of the design process by the Resource Team, a group of multi-disciplinary experts whose breadth and depth of experience illustrated how design can generate creative solutions to complex urban problems.
“Mayors are doers – they are very action-oriented. A thoughtful and thorough approach to solving our cities’ complex challenges requires space and time; MICD provides that space, and these mayors are committed to finding solutions.”
Gerardo Garcia | Founder, The Urbanism Bureau
Mayor Michelle Wu began the session by welcoming the group with reflections on the power of the built environment to shape resilient, equitable, and thriving communities. Welcome remarks were also provided by Trinity Simons Wagner, Executive Director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design; Ben Stone, Director of Design & Creative Placemaking for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and Dave Gatton, Director of the Council on Metro Economies and the New American City for the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM).
While in Boston, participants learned about many of the city’s forward-thinking planning and design efforts. Mayor Wu led participants on a bike ride using Boston’s Bluebikes bikeshare system, showcasing the city’s investment in a robust network of protected bike lanes. Diana Fernandez, Deputy Chief of Urban Design for the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), shared updates on Boston Design Vision and how residents are being invited to help shape their built environment. Participants also toured the South Boston Waterfront, known as Seaport, led by Richard McGuinness, Deputy Director for Climate Change and Environmental Planning for the BPDA. This tour showcased the area’s transformation from surface parking lots to vibrant waterfront district over the past decade.
Participants also visited the Bolling Building in Roxbury, a municipal office building in Nubian Square and former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s MICD case study project. Collaboratively designed by Sasaki and Mecanoo, the building incorporates three historic structures into one while retaining the façade of the Ferdinand Building, a former furniture store and landmark in the Roxbury community. Participants were welcomed into the building by Turahn Dorsey and Nia Grace, Co-CEO and Director of Business Strategy and Community Engagement and Co-CEO and Director of Restaurant Operations (respectively) of Jazz Urbane Café, an emergent community-centered restaurant and music venue coming soon to Nubian Square.
Throughout the 78th National Session, participants explored a wide range of tools and strategies for planning and development projects, equipping the mayors to return to their communities and lead with design.
Mayors
Michelle Wu | Boston, MA (Host)
Tim Kelly | Chattanooga, TN
Mike Duggan | Detroit, MI
Harvey Ward, Jr. | Gainesville, FL
Sheng Thao | Oakland, CA
D.C. Reeves | Pensacola, FL
Helen Tran | San Bernardino, CA
Kenneth Welch | St. Petersburg, FL
Resource Team
Jamie Bennett | Lord Cultural Resources, New York, NY
Connie Chung | HR&A Advisors, Los Angeles, CA
Julie Eizenberg | Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Santa Monica, CA
R.J. Eldridge | Toole Design Group, Silver Spring, MD
Gerardo Garcia | The Urbanism Bureau, Chicago, IL
Roberto Rovira | Studio Roberto Rovira, Miami, FL
Beatrice Sibblies | BOS Development, New York, NY