2018 Annual WASLA Conference

Motif Seattle, March 16, 2018

 

 

9:50 - 10:50 AM
Equity in the Design of Public Space

Description:

Urban design has long been a vital part of urban planning, development, and revitalization. It has helped shape the neighborhoods, parks, civic centers, waterfronts, and countless other places that help cities function and articulate their unique identities. Yet physical design has also created some of the negative outcomes that we see in cities across the nation and world. By now planners, the public, and stakeholders in public and private sectors seem to understand that design matters. Cities face many difficult issues: sustainability, safety and security, resiliency, health, and equity and social justice, among countless others. Learn how different policy, planning, and design disciplines are working together to understand the role that urban design has in helping to address, or at least ameliorate, some of these urban challenges. The session will be led by three professionals who are working on issues around equity in the design of public space including a landscape architect, urban planner and an associate professor of landscape architecture.

Lead Speaker:

Mark Brands, ASLA

Speaker Bios:

Mark Brands, ASLA, Managing Principal, Site Workshop
Mark Brands is a landscape architect with Site Workshop, a Seattle based landscape architecture firm focused on the artful transformation of the public realm. As a co-founder of Site Workshop and the managing principal, Mark has been a guiding force in its growth, culture and transition into its second decade of operations.

Lynne Manzo, Associate Professor, The University of Washington
Lynne Manzo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington, Seattle, where she has taught since 2001. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the UW School of Social Work. She received a doctorate in Environmental Psychology from the City University of New York. Dr. Manzo's work focuses on place attachment, place meaning, identity, and social justice as applied to affordable housing, cultural landscapes, and community participation. She has given invited lectures at the University of Warsaw, Beijing Forestry University, McMaster University in Canada, the City University of New York, and other various colleges and design firms in the U.S. and Europe. Dr. Manzo has published in various journals including the Journal of Environmental Psychology, the Journal of Planning Literature, Urban Affairs, The Journal of Architecture and Planning Research, Housing Policy Debate. She co-authored the book Environmental Dilemmas: Ethical Decision-Making with Robert Mugerauer and has published numerous book chapters. Her latest book, Place Attachment, Advances in Theory, Methods and Research, with Patrick Devine-Wright, was published by Routledge in 2014.

Michael Jenkins, ASLA, Executive Director, Seattle Design Commission
Michael Jenkins is the Director of the Seattle Design Commission (SDC), a 10 member commission comprised of experts in the areas of Urban Planning, Urban Design, Landscape Architecture, Architecture, and Transportation Planning. The SDC provides advice to the Mayor and City Council on capital facilities or projects that impact the public realm. Michael has worked in the field of Urban Design and Planning for over 20 years, including positions with the Cities of SeaTac, Tukwila and, since 2000, City of Seattle. Michael's professional experience includes permitting for a variety of commercial and residential developments, permitting for large scale public and private developments, and policy analysis for elected officials on land use, transportation and regulatory affairs. Michael has a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University

Learning Objectives:
  • How design approaches to urban problems can provide new and interdisciplinary ways to develop and implement community and urban planning initiatives
  • Strategies to manage and evaluate the public design process to achieve better outcomes and long-term success
  • How to promote excellence in design to improve the quality of the public realm and the quality of life in diverse contexts