New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate and NYU Urban Lab hosted a Special Session of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design in New York, NY from May 8-10, 2024.
The event brought together six 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, real estate development, and economic development joined the mayors for two and a half days of discussions, offering pragmatic advice for each mayor’s project. Attending mayors hailed from small- and mid-sized cities around the country with an average population of 45,000.
The mayors brought a range of projects to this session, seeking to address a wide array of challenges through improvements to the built environment. They took away strategies for community visioning, processes for equitable investment, ideas for strengthening civic and cultural assets, and examples of infrastructure as a mechanism for community healing. 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 urban designer and 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.
“MICD has allowed me to step back and view challenges as opportunities. The design lens that MICD provides is a much more productive way to view the work that we do for our communities.”
Cleveland Heights, OH Mayor Kahlil Seren
“MICD was a pivotal experience for my early tenure as mayor. While I focused on one specific project, it will continue to shape my ability to create a beautifully connected community.”
Bloomington, IN Mayor Kerry Thomson
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.
“[This session was] a thoughtful and collaborative experience in seeking innovative solutions to the challenges of equitable and sustainable growth.”
Shawn Rickenbacker | Director, J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures
“Working with mayors in closed-door sessions is a very special privilege. The open, honest conversations spark important realizations among the mayors and resource team… This was one of the richest MICD programs I have done.”
Susannah Drake | Principal, Architect & Landscape Architect, Sasaki
The session began with a tour of Little Island led by Noreen Doyle, President & CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust, and Laura Clement, Executive Director of Little Island, showcasing this crown jewel of the vibrant public spaces along the Hudson River. Participants learned how advocates navigated complex public-private partnership and design challenges to rebuild a pier damaged by Hurricane Sandy, creating a beloved public park that has drawn millions of people to its award-winning beauty and cultural programming since its opening in 2021. Over the opening reception and dinner that followed, session hosts Marc Norman, Associate Dean of the Schack Institute of Real Estate, and Matthew Kwatinetz, Director of the NYU Urban Lab, welcomed the group. Welcome remarks also came from Ben Stone, Director of Design and Creative Placemaking at the National Endowment for the Arts; Nan Whaley, Membership Director of the United States Conference of Mayors; and Trinity Simons Wagner, Executive Director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design.
While in New York City, the group also explored a series of successful waterfront projects spurred by innovative planning, zoning, and public improvements. Via ferry, the group toured sites like the Brookyn Army Terminal, the Bush Made in NYC Campus, the Red Hook Container Terminal, and Governor’s Island, where catalytic public investments have resulted in transformational development.
The session host, the Schack Institute of Real Estate, offers cutting-edge, globally focused curricula including a real estate bachelor’s degree, real estate and real estate development graduate degrees, a construction management graduate degree, real estate continuing education, and real estate executive education. The NYU Urban Lab is dedicated to becoming the premiere hub in the country focused on impact real estate development and inclusive growth in cities. The Lab is a working laboratory that leverages its network effect of industry expertise in combination with the cutting edge of academia to address current challenges and best practices in urban real estate development and urban policy.
Throughout this Special Session of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, 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
Eric Adams | New York, NY (Host)
Kerry Thomson | Bloomington, IN
April Graves | Brooklyn Center, MN
Kahlil Seren | Cleveland Heights, OH
Keith Gaskin | Columbus, MS
Layne Wilkerson | Frankfort, KY
Alix Desulme | North Miami, FL
Resource Team
Buwa Binitie | Founder and CEO, Dumas Collective
Susannah Drake | Principal, Architect & Landscape Architect, Sasaki
Aletha Dunston | Director, Indianapolis Economic Development
Derek Fleming | Senior Advisor, HR&A Advisors
Arti Harchekar | Founding Principal, Joyful Urbanist
Lauren Hood | Founder, Institute for AfroUrbanism
Shawn Rickenbacker | Director, J. Max Bond Center for Urban Futures
The Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Since 1986, MICD has helped transform communities through design by preparing mayors to be the chief urban designers of their cities. MICD conducts several sessions each year. For a list of upcoming events, past participants, and more information, visit micd.org and follow @MICDdotORG on Twitter.