Mayor's Institute on City Design - Letter to the Mayor

Dear Mayor Nutter:

Great cities have great planning and civic design…and Philadelphia is on its way.

This was the message at a recent “Urban Design Forum” held by Young Involved Philadelphia (YIP). The panel of esteemed speakers (including Alan Greenberger, Vice Chairman of the City Planning Commission) spoke to the importance of valuing and investing in planning and civic design for Philadelphia’s quality of life, economic development, and international competitiveness.

All of the panelists had glowing reports of the progress of your administration. In cities across the U.S. it is clear that those places that have invested in civic design also have strong leaders who embrace their role as the city’s chief designer.

We at Young Involved Philadelphia praise the message that you sent in your speech on June 17^th and hope you will advance this issue a step further, setting Philadelphia at the forefront of cities focusing on civic design, by inviting the Mayors’ Institute on City Design to hold a national session in Philadelphia.

The Mayors’ Institute is a partnership program of the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Architectural Foundation, and the United States Conference of Mayors. Since 1986, the Mayors’ Institute has helped transform communities through design by preparing mayors to be the chief urban designers of their cities. The MICD achieves its mission by organizing sessions where mayors engage leading design experts to find solutions to the most critical urban design challenges facing their cities.

The Mayors' Institute held a regional session at the University of Pennsylvania in November, 2005. However, Philadelphia's mayor did not attend. Further, the Mayors' Institute has never held one of its high-profile national sessions in Philadelphia. These national sessions are exclusive workshops (no more than 20 participants) of mayors and leading design professionals, organized to discuss and resolve actual situations in the participants' cities.

Several of the nation’s largest cities have already served as hosts for the Mayors’ Institute and many big-name mayors have participated, including Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago; Mayor Manuel Diaz of Miami; Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston; Mayor Martin O'Malley of Baltimore; Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco; Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans; Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver; and Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington D.C.

There are several key benefits to the Mayors’ Institute hosting a national session in Philadelphia:

·        Philadelphia will be the featured city on a national level, attracting some of the nation’s top mayors to our city, and providing strong visibility and publicity for Philadelphia, as marketed by the Mayors’ Institute.

·        You will have the opportunity to meet with other top mayors and some of the nation’s top design professionals, in an exclusive setting, to discuss Philadelphia’s issues and opportunities.

·        You will work in sessions with design professionals to become an expert on planning and design issues, providing the knowledge base to effectively address such issues throughout the course of your administration.

·        You will make a clear statement that Philadelphia values planning and civic design, and is committed to being a national leader in these areas.

·        The public in Philadelphia will have the opportunity to participate in additional events, seminars, and workshops hosted in conjunction with the private and exclusive Mayors’ Institute sessions.

By inviting the Mayors’ Institute to Philadelphia, and through your participation, you can send a clear signal that Philadelphia values planning and design and wants to make it a priority. This is a low-cost but high-impact step that we hope you will take. Please let us know if you would like to discuss this idea further or have any questions.

Best Regards,

Claire Robertson-Kraft
Chair, Civic Education Committee