What will monuments of the future look like? What stories belong in public spaces? What is the role of planners, designers, historians, and artists in this conversation? The Urban Design & Preservation Division and the Arts & Planning Division are partnering to have a conversation about what planners can do beyond monument removal.
In this seminar Michael Herbert, an attorney at Parker McCay, and Christine Cofone, a consulting planner for municipalities throughout New Jersey, will expand on Michael's November 2022 article in NJ Municipalities Magazine, "As Fourth Round of Affordable Housing Obligations Nears, Municipalities Should Plan Accordingly." The panelists will offer a tips about how to get prepared now and share information on how this round will be different from past rounds.
This webinar aims to link the importance of the planning process with the financing options needed for implementation. The webinar will provide an overview of planning processes by two Federal Agencies (HUD and DOT) with examples of creative financing tools offered by government to help communities develop large-scale, front-end investments in climate resilient infrastructure. Representatives from the federal agencies (HUD, DOT) will provide an overview of an example of financing resources that enable large-scale climate resilient infrastructure projects.
Assuming we are past the worst of the COVID-19, what happens to our downtowns? Before the pandemic, people were rediscovering the traditional New England town center. You can stop in a few different shops, maybe pick something up for dinner at a local fish market or bakery, and enjoy the building and people. Once COVID hit, people were reluctant to leave their houses, let along go downtown. Some experts, citing research that suggests people like working remotely and don’t want to return to work in an office, suggest that downtowns may be dead. Other suggest that the natural open air character of downtowns means they are well-positioned to adjust to a post-COVID world. This webinar will present the findings of a multi-year research project on this topic.
The 2019 report The Promise of Urban Agriculture: a National Study of Commercial Farming in Urban Areas found that planners play a pivotal role in the success or struggle for thriving urban and peri-urban farms, but planners have a mixed understanding of the needs and potential for urban agriculture. As a follow-up to that study, the presenters have paired up with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to educate planners on how urban agriculture can be integrated into their other concerns. This webinar will present an overview of the 2019 report and present the first of six modules in a forthcoming professional development course for planners about urban agriculture.
As climate conditions change, understanding what data and tools are available to inform planning decisions is critical. This webinar features a climate data & technology vendor panel to introduce urban planners to data and tools to help communities reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and respond to climate impacts.
At-risk communities are disproportionately impacted both by increased flooding and the policy and market responses to flooding conditions. In this context, what is “social equity” and how is it related to climate resilience for all? How can planners ensure an equitable response to flooding?