Keeping Orange County Moving: The Promise and Challenge of Transit Oriented Development

Will_Kempton_3x4On February 10, 2011, community members, students, and professors attended a lecture by Will Kempton, CEO of the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). Mr. Kempton spoke about the obstacles that must be overcome in order to employ transit-oriented development in Orange County, which includes building a public will among competing stakeholders.

Toward the Healthy City: People, Place and the Politics of Urban Planning

jason_corburn_1Jason Corburn, Associate Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, was the featured speaker on January 25, 2011, at UC Irvine. Sponsored by the School of Social Ecology’s Metropolitan Futures Initiative, Center for Community Development Studies and the Community Outreach Partnership Center, Professor Corburn presented the argument that city planning must return to its roots in public health and social justice.

Metropolitan Futures: Imagining California Tomorrow

Joe_DunnOn November 2, 2010, we held a forum at UC Irvine featuring Joseph Dunn, Managing Partner of The Senators’ Law Firm. Mr. Dunn is the former CEO of the California Medical Association, as well as a former California State Senator who represented California’s 34th Senate District in central Orange County and led the state’s investigation into Enron’s involvement in the 2000-2001 energy crisis. He spoke about how our communities and the larger regional global context are changing and the need for visionary planning strategies and processes to ensure a thriving future for the golden state and its metropolitan regions.

Megapolitan America: The Rise of the New Metropolis

UNLV Lincy Institute and Brookings Mountain West Director Robert Lang poses March 18, 2010 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. (Aaron Mayes / UNLV Photo Services) CLIENT: LINCY INSTITUTE, BROOKINGS MOUNTAIN WEST

Robert E. Lang, Professor and Director of the Brookings Mountain West Initiative at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was the featured speaker on October 26, 2010 at UC Irvine. Sponsored by the School of Social Ecology’s Metropolitan Futures Initiative, Lang’s presentation explored the relationship between metropolitan form, scale and connectivity.