Next City Event: The New Urban Agenda

With more than half of the world’s populations now living in cities, and urbanization occurring at unprecedented rates, there is opportunity to rethink how cities are designed. For government leaders and urban practitioners, the United Nations’ New Urban Agenda offers a compelling vision for the future of cities as resilient, sustainable, equitable, and inclusive. The agenda argues cities should be people-centered and provide access to critical amenities that enable residents to live fulfilling, self-determined lives. Join us for a discussion on the implementation of this agenda as well as a special viewing of the short documentary, “The Moment to Get Cities Right: Inside Habitat lll, The Urbanization Summit of a Generation.”

Registration is $20, but Next City readers get a 50 percent discount with the code AGENDA. Please register here to attend.

Panelists

Alaina Harkness
Fellow, Centennial Scholar Initiative, Brookings Institution
Alaina Harkness is a fellow at the Brookings Institution in the Centennial Scholar Initiative, where she works on the Project on 21st Century City Governance. She is on leave from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, where she served as a senior program officer for Cities, focusing on the intersection of urban community development and emerging information technologies. Harkness holds MS degrees in public policy and Latin American studies from the University of Chicago and a BS degree in political science and art history from the University of Rochester.

Chris Wheat
Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Chicago
Chris Wheat serves as chief sustainability officer and senior policy advisor in the Office of Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, where he coordinates policies, projects, and operations across city departments and agencies to advance the mayor’s sustainability agenda. Wheat previously served as director of the mayor’s innovation Team and was a senior consultant with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, as well as an associate equity analyst and institutional stock broker with Stephens Inc. He earned his BA from Washington University in St. Louis and his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Moderated by Tom Dallessio
President, CEO and Publisher, Next City
Tom Dallessio is the president, CEO, and publisher of Next City. Before joining Next City in 2015, he directed the Center for Resilient Design at the College of Architecture and Design at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Prior to that, he ran the Regional Plan Association’s New Jersey office, and served as a senior adviser on land use for two New Jersey governors. Dallessio is a licensed professional planner, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, as well as an adjunct professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he teaches land use planning and infrastructure planning. He holds a BA and MA in political science as well as a MCRP from Rutgers University.