By Jess Wendover, Director, Mayors’ Institute on City Design
December 20, 2006

Four mayors, each alumni of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) program, participated in a panel discussion at the National Building Museum in Washington (DC) December 13. The mayors present were: Conference President Trenton (NJ) Mayor Douglas Palmer, Conference Executive Committee Member Charleston (SC) Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., Providence (RI) Mayor David Cicilline, and Des Moines (IA) Mayor T.M. Franklin Cownie. Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker magazine, moderated the discussion.

Conference Executive Director Tom Cochran also addressed the crowd and described the Conference’s long history of support for MICD. “Being mayor is about more than filling potholes,” he stated. Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA); Ronald Bogle, President of the American Architectural Foundation; and Chase Rynd, President of the National Building Museum, also welcome the crowd to the event. NEA Director of Design Jeff Speck gave a brief history of MICD, explaining that it has graduated over 700 mayors and over 500 design and development professionals who have served on resource teams to mayors.

Palmer drew vigorous applause from the audience of over 250 people assembled by explaining that his city was attempting to address the surfeit of surface parking lots in their downtown, the relationship of state buildings to the city fabric, and the proliferation of projects that tear down valued buildings in the city historic fabric.

Riley, a co-founder of MICD, explained to the crowd, “The design of your city is one of the most important things a mayor can do because the public space in the city is the one place that belongs to everybody.”

Cownie explained the significance of city design in affecting a city’s sustainability. He explained that Des Moines is looking at several measures to encourage greener urban development.

Cicilline told the audience, “The Mayors’ Institute was the most valuable three days of my first term in office.” He explained that after attending the MICD session, he returned to Providence and hired a city architect who works in the Mayor’s Office, and helps the mayor and his staff evaluate development proposals.

MICD looks forward to a continued active schedule of Institute sessions in 2007 and beyond. To learn more, visit the website www.micd.org.