Presentation to the Regional/Urban Design Committee Symposium, "Mind the Gap: The Future of Urban Design Education," at the American Institute of Architects, Jan 2019.

1. Democratic Urbanism & The Future of
Practice
FutureofUrbanDesign Education Summit
Regional & UrbanDesign Committee
AmericanInstituteofArchitects
January2019

2. Welcometo Washington

3. Jane Jacobs
“Cities have the capability of providing something
for everybody, only because, and only when, they
are created by everybody.”

4. Every week1.4 millionpeople move into cities.

5. Trickle down urbanism
won’t work

6. The importanceof the 1960s…

7. AIA’s historical role
• “The R/UDAT Program, apart from its impact on the nation’s cities, is an important threshold
within the architecturalprofession. The AIA can nolonger deny that its most successful
public demonstration is in urban design, not architecture. Variantson R/UDAT
internationally,notably CAUSE in Canada and CUDAT in Great Britain, have carried the
message to other countries and continents.” –Urban DesigninAction, 1980s
• “Almost every planning and architecturaloffice in the nationwhich practices urban design,
whether in the public or private domain, has been directly impacted by R/UDAT.”

8. “Known by the acronym
R/UDAT, this lauded program
has persisted for fifty years and
spawnedcharrette
methodologies that flourish
today –in North America and
the UK, and around the world.”
–RobertIvy,FAIA,Forwardto
2020Visions
Today

9. Today: Global Democratic Crisis

10. The War Against Christmas
NIMBYs
“NIMBYism – not-in-my-backyard–is rampant
in California, sometimes erupting
extemporaneously in response to development
proposals, sometimes driven by misguided
environmentalism.” –SacramentoBee

11. “This seems obvious enough—new development faces less
neighborhood resistance when the neighborhood is
included in the process fromthe git-go. But this means
more than just holding public hearings, which are
dominated byorganized neighborhood groups as opposed
toaverage residents.”

12. JimFishkin & the Scienceof P2

13. UniversalValues of P2
IAP2 Core Values for the Practice of Public Participation
• Public participation is based onthe belief that those who are affectedbyadecisionhave arighttobeinvolved inthe decision-makingprocess.
• Public participation includes the promisethatthepublic’s contribution will influence thedecision.
• Public participation promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and communicating the needsand interestsofall participants, including
decision makers.
• Public participation seeks out and facilitates theinvolvement of those potentially affected by or interested in a decision.
• Public participation seeks inputfrom participants in designing how they participate.
• Public participation providesparticipantswith theinformation theyneed to participate in a meaningful way.
• Public participation communicates toparticipants how theirinput affected the decision.

14. The real issue today: The Expectations Gap
WhatGovernment Wants WhatthePublic Wants

15. • AmericanPlanning Association (2012) –“More than 50 percent want to personally
beinvolved in community planning efforts, including more than half of Democrats,
Republicans, and independents as well as majorities of urban, suburban, and rural
respondents.”
• Bloomberg Philanthropies American MayorsSurvey(2018): “While nearly all
mayors engage in informing residents (e.g.press releases, social media), only 26 percent
engage in crowdsourcing newideas. Comparing the types of activities cities useto
engage residents, they aremost likely to bepassive orexpecting people to react to
something the city has already done. Active engagement, particularly involving citizens
to help solve city problems, is notregularly adopted by mayors.”
• NationalLeague ofCities surveyof U.S.Cities (2010) -81 percentuse publicengagement
processes "often"(60 percent) or"sometimes" (21 percent)
What the Data Tells Us

16. How Planning Conflicts Get Framed Today
Skeptical?TaketheGoogleChallenge–runa
searchon“publicmeetingendsinchaos”or
anysimilartermsandyouwillfindaworldof
publicparticipationdisastersoccurringall
acrossthecountry.

17. ICMASurveyon IAP2Spectrum

18. A failureof democracy
International City/CountyManagement Association (ICMA) Survey

19. Example–NYCWorldTradeCenter
• Listening totheCity brought more than 4,300
people together on July 2, 2002
• Key problem: Sponsoring agencies (Lower
Manhattan Development Corporation and the
Port Authority)wanted feedback on designs,
and public wanted input on design. (Consult
vs. Collaborate) Outcome: Public rejected all
suggestions.
• Theerrorwasinprocessdesign,noturban
design.all of existing designs and
sent the entire initiative back to
the drawing board.

20. Ifthisis howweare defining “engagement” in a “Smart City” then
we are all in trouble…
• Themajor error inmuch of the “Smart City” movement is in viewing people
as “users” whoexperiencethe urban environment rather than contributors to
it, valuing big data vs. public participation
• Wemust movebeyond treating people as simple consumers or taxpayers,
and allow them to be citizens

21. Thegroup describes itself as “pro-growth” and “pro-
innovation” but questions whethera top-down
smart city project by an Americantech behemoth is
reallyin thebest interests of Toronto’s citizens.
“This is a story about governance,not urban
innovation,” Wyliesaid. “Thereis nothing
innovativeabout partnering with a monopoly.”

22. “Public meetings take up huge amounts of time and rarely produce
anything of genuine value…. They doa poor job of expressing the
views of the ordinary citizen.”
-Christopher Cabaldon,Mayor,WestSacramento

23. The Fight for Urban Democracy Today
autocrats:Public Relations
• Sponsors decideon a course of action and then
attempt to sell it to the public.
• people can feel manipulated and suspicious
• often hinders them from thinking effectively about
problems and challenges becauseit avoids
exposing them to the full dialogue.
• PR seeks “buy-in”
democrats: Public Participation
• Sponsors engage public on the front end in
dialogue to help understand the pros and cons of
different actions and seek input, consultation,
involvement, collaboration
• Builds common understanding ofthe issue and
decision by hearing and understanding all
viewpoints and information
• P2 seeksmeaningfulinvolvement

24. “Paradoxically,whatismostneeded toachieve
JaneJacobs’svisionis todeploy a Robert Moses
strategy—redesigning ourstreets quicklyand
decisively for anincreasingly urbanage,this
timecommittedto accommodatingpopulation
growth andoffering residents moreoptionsfor
getting around withouta car.”
Whatwould JaneJacobsthinkofthis
sentiment????

25. Control the Masses??
“Andrés Duany is souring on what he sees
as excessive, obstructionist community
engagement in urban planning. At an
event last year, the co-founder of New
Urbanism complained of “an absolute
orgy of public process” In the U.S.:
“Basically, we can’t get anything done.” Is
there a place anymore for bottom-up
planning?“

26. A CitizenIdea

27. The Seattle Story
When urban democracyexpands, cities flourish. The
placemaking outcomes – and the impact on people – are
nothing short of remarkable.

28. Today: NIMBY Mythmaking

29. What do architects think?
• Center forPublic InterestDesign (2013)– 75%ofAIA members thinkthatarchitects shouldadvocatefor
underrepresentedgroups,engagelocal stakeholdersindecision-making,andconserve resources.

30. The Citizen Architect
• “To get to the future from where we are now, we must make room for, and nurture, what I
callthe “citizen architect.” What does this citizen architect look like?This person is committed
to universal enfranchisement, and works to see thateveryone inthe community isgiven a
meaningful stake in, and a part in directing, the future. The citizen architect is committed to
seeing that, at the drafting table, the public’s hand exerts at least as much force as the
developer’s or banker’s. The practice of architecture must no longer be seen asa luxury that
only the wealthy can afford. The public must be a vital part of the process. Architecture is the
most public of the arts. It should be collaborative.” -TedPappas,PresidentoftheAIA,1988

32. Questions
• How are we teaching the value, importance, and techniques of P2 now? How are we building
future architects’ skillsasfacilitativeleaders?
• What resources do you need to improve education in thisarea?
• What partnership opportunities exist here and how can we buildupon them?