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Dear visitors,

You have reached our archive website, which is livablecities.org (no hyphen). We are delighted to announce our new website that will be used for conference registrations starting with our 2020 conference. Its address is livable-cities.org (the same as this site, except that it has an added hyphen).

Happy New Year 2020!

Dear Colleagues,

Best wishes for the New Year, from the staff and board of the IMCL!

I wanted to give you a personal update on the expansion and growth of the IMCL, and especially our developing plans for the next big conference in June 2020...

The Death and Life of Great American…Suburbs?

Long considered beneath serious attention by design and planning elites, suburban settlements in the United States are emerging as key arenas to address crucial environmental, economic, and social issues.

By: Michael Mehaffy

Here is an essay on architectural education and the need for reform, written by a group of educators and practitioners including our own executive director, Michael Mehaffy:

Remembering Suzanne Crowhurst Lennard

by Michael Mehaffy

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our dear friend and collaborator Suzanne Crowhurst Lennard, at 3:15 AM on September 17, after a relatively short illness. The cause of livable and humane cities has lost a champion—but her work and legacy will go on, including the International Making Cities Livable conference series begun by her with her late husband Henry Lennard. The next conference will be held in Carmel, Indiana June 2-6, 2020.

56th IMCL Conference Workshops Summary

The Final Friday Workshop reviewed participants’ priorities as to how we should best take into account the needs of children, elders, and the poor as we make decisions about the built environment. This is the summary of the Final Workshop findings:

TOP RECOMMENDATIONS!

1. How does the local government engage with the public? – we need public creation of planning priorities, not just public buy in. “We do engage the public” needs to be more deliberate on the part of cities and this needs to be meaningful engagement.

A Successful IMCL Conference!

This was a very dynamic and lively conference! From the Workshops and Welcome Reception on Monday, the stimulating main plenary sessions and concurrent sessions with so many engaged participants, the conference luncheon and Awards Ceremony, to the Final Workshop and tour, the conference was a great success. Participants seem to have enjoyed the event and found it rewarding.

Kim Richter - Councillor, Township of Langley, Langley BC CANADA

We hope you had a good time and learned from others as much as you shared your own insights and experience.

Design Awards Competition: Designing A Healthy City for ALL

Application Deadline: October 15, 2018

Urban designers, landscape architects, architects, planners, developers, cities and others are invited to enter one or more projects. Projects that emphasize Health, Equity, Community, and Sustainability are actively sought, and will be given particular consideration.

The jury is particularly interested in designs for:

Regenerating poor neighborhoods and preventing displacement
Housing the homeless
Protecting neighborhood ethnic identity
Mixed use, human scale, urban fabric
Public transit, bike and pedestrian networks in poor neighborhoods
Mixed-income affordable housing
City squares, neighborhood squares for social life and community
Neighborhood parks and green spaces
Reshaping a mall into a town center
Transforming a strip mall into urban fabric
Strengthening a city’s architectural DNA

In all projects, the jury will be looking for evidence that the project fits well within its context, and contributes to Creating a Healthy City for All. To read more click here.

The Award Ceremony will take place at the 56^thIMCL Conference, at the Sentinel Hotel, Portland, OR, June 17-21, 2019.

Call for Papers: A Healthy City for ALL

The 56^thIMCL Conference on “A Healthy City for ALL” will take place at the Sentinel Hotel, Portland, OR, June 17-21, 2019.

If you wish to give a presentation, please submit a 250 word abstract for consideration before October 15, 2018. Please submit online here.

Topics include:

The Healthy City ** The City for ALL ** Healthy Transportation Planning ** Public Health and Planning Collaborate ** Access to Nature ** Public Places for Social Life ** Healthy Urban Fabric for 10-Minute Neighborhoods ** Sustainable, Equitable Housing ** Ending Homelessness ** Combatting Inequitable Gentrification ** Strengthening Ethnic and Cultural Diversity ** Reducing Negative Health Impacts ** Community Participation ** Transforming Suburbs into Walkable Neighborhoods ** Architecture for a Healthy City ** Maintaining a City’s Identity ** and more...

A Healthy City for ALL - this is what people want - and need!

A Healthy City for ALL

That’s what the 56^thIMCL Conference in Portland, Oregon, June 17-21, 2019 is calling for!

We rejoice that many cities now are becoming more healthy, by making great improvements in walkability, bikeability, public transit, and access to community, nature and healthy food. We will hear from some of the best models around the world.

The BIG challenge is that these goals are not reaching those most in need. The poorest neighborhoods suffer the greatest health problems. We will hear from cities that are tackling these problems head on with outstanding programs for equitable, healthy neighborhoods.

"I know of no other conference which provides the international expertise."

Sylvia Sutherland, former Mayor, Peterborough, Ontario

"A wonderful Conference. I truly believe this is the best Conference on cities."

Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., City of Charleston

"The most important continuous conference dialogue on making the world's cities and towns more livable for all of their inhabitants."

Dr. Sven von Ungern-Sternberg, Governor, State of South Baden, Germany

"The conference holds a magnifying glass to the world's best cities, revealing why, and how they work."

Benjamin Thompson, FAIA AIA Gold Medalist

"Love for our cities unites all of us in this unique, impressive conference, with participants from different countries, with different professional backgrounds, but with one purpose: making our cities more livable."

Antonio Casellati Former Mayor, City of Venice, Italy

"Ive learned more from this conference than any other conference that I've ever gone to. I've been a city councillor now for twenty years, and I'm so glad I went to that first one twenty years ago."

Kim Richter, City Councillor, Langley, BC

"Well-structured, extremely well-organized and super-high quality of both the presenters and materials presented."

Dr. Mirela Newman, Coordinator, Urban Studies Graduate Program, S Conn St. University

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