Sessions

Session 1

Catalyst Cities:
Leading national economic renewal

Cities have untapped tools to lead economic growth. Given budget pressures, today’s successful cities are using innovative partnerships with the private and non-profit sector alike that align objectives to create the economies, neighborhoods and living standards we desire. Which cities are leading this renewal? Which companies are enabling the ideas and technologies that can build smarter cities? What can state and national governments do to accelerate these ideas? How can cities use their brands, communities and governance powers to maximize the economic potential of urban areas?

• Bill Anderson, VP, AECOM and President-Elect, American Planning Association (San Diego, CA)
• Lori Healey, CEO, Tur Partners LLC (Chicago, IL)
• Stephen Jordan, Executive Vice President, US Chamber of Commerce (Washington, DC)
• Anthony Foxx, Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina
• Annise Parker, Mayor of Houston, Texas

Panel Chair: Lee Fisher, President and CEO, CEOs for Cities

Session 2

The Metropolitan Return:
Finding value in America’s urban infrastructure

America’s cities require major investment in urban infrastructure to prosper. How can cities implement the long term financial plans required to build – and re-build – the roads, bridges, water and sewer systems that are required to thrive? Can private sector capital be used to leverage investment in new infrastructure? What are the investment, financing models and partnerships that can meet the challenges of the urban century and ensure the public good?

• Alison Taylor, Vice President, Sustainability Siemens (Washington, DC)
• Thomas Green, Managing Director, Infrastructure Finance, Citibank (Boston, MA)
• Cindy Wallis-Lage, President, Global Water Business, Black & Veatch (Kansas City)
• Brad Guilmino, Chief Financial Consultant, HNTB (Kansas City)

Panel Chair: Sly James, Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri

Session 3

Cloud Cities:
How technology is re-shaping the 21st-Century city

Hyper-speed internet and similar technological advanced throughout Kansas City, Chattanooga and other American cities are changing how urban citizens and companies live and do business. This promises increases in productivity, changes in workforce and office management and a new generation of entrepreneurial businesses, but only if it is leveraged effectively. This panel will address how next generation technology is re-shaping our cities and urban economies, and how technology can be leveraged to build the 21st Century city.

• Patrick Kennedy, Founder and CEO, OsiSoft (San Leandro, CA)
• Ron Littlefield, Mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee
• Milo Medin, Vice President, Access Services, Google (Mountain View, CA)
• Sue Spradley, Executive Director, US Ignite

Panel Chair: Peter Miscovich, Managing Director, Corporate Solutions, Jones Lang LaSalle (New York, NY)

Session 4

The Connected City:
Renewing urban services and governance

The challenged state of city budgets across the United States is calling for new models and ideas in how a city delivers services. What role can the private sector play in providing the solutions that yield quality public services at a lower cost? How can cities implement system wide solutions to policing, traffic fleet management, and asset management that combine a high quality of life and sustainable fiscal management?

• Nigel Jacob, Co-Chairman, Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics, City of Boston
• Paul Doherty, President, Screampoint (San Francisco, CA)
• Abhi Nemani, Director of Strategy, Code for America (Palo Alto, CA)
• Francis Slay, Mayor of St Louis, Missouri

Panel Chair: Stephen Goldsmith, Director, Innovations in American Government Program, JFK School of Government, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)

Session 5

City Building—One Block At A Time:
Why neighborhood renewal works

American downtowns are re-emerging as a core focus of urban planning and economic planning. Cities across the country are once again focused on a new kind of urban model that emphasizes the value of neighborhoods and traditional city cores. This panel will address the new ideas in housing markets and how to encourage the rebirth of neglected communities, one city block at a time.

• Jean Quan, Mayor of Oakland, California
• Bob Berkebile, Senior Principal, BNIM (Kansas City)
• Simon O’Byrne, Vice President, Urban Planning, Stantec
• Tim Duggan, Senior Landscape Architect, Make it Right Foundation (New Orleans, LA)

Panel Chair : Jennifer Keesmaat, Chief Planner, City of Toronto

Session 6

Sport Cities:
The role of sports and sport infrastructure in city building

The role of professional and amateur sport and their venues are vital to communities across the nation. A well-designed venue in a prime location can become an architectural jewel that builds a city brand and culture, increases property values, draws family-oriented crowds, and increases retail and restaurant spending well beyond business hours. As a globally recognized home to sports architecture and first class sporting institutions, and firms who design cutting-edge sports facilities across the world, Kansas City used its unique assets to host this year’s MLB All-Star Game and is a perfect destination for a dialogue on Sport Cities.

• Jim Gray, Mayor of Lexington, Kentucky
• Mark Donovan, President, Kansas City Chiefs
• Marla Miller, Senior Vice President, Special Events, Major League Baseball
• Robb Heineman, CEO, SportingKC

Panel Chair:  Earl Santee, Senior Principal, Populous (Kansas City)

Session 7

Export Cities:
The rise of a new American manufacturing

America’s long-term prosperity relies on a healthy manufacturing sector that can re-establish the country as an exporter to fast-growing international markets. Cities have a vital role to play in facilitating the next generation of American manufacturing. What are the policies, planning practices and ideas that will bring about this manufacturing renaissance? What cities are leading the way?

• Miquela Craytor, Vice President, Industrial Initiatives, New York City Economic Development Corp.
• Ed Eilert, Chairman of Johnson County, Kansas
• Dewey Bartlett, Mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Tony Reinhart, Director of Government Relations, Ford Motor Company

Panel Chair:  TBC

Session 8

Culture Cities:
A catalyst for a resilient community and economy

Dynamic cultural institutions are as important to building urban economies as they are to making cities enjoyable places to live. Why does culture matter in this urban age? What is its untapped potential to build community and the urban economy? This panel will address the importance of urban culture to a city’s brand appeal, and how a focus on the arts and sport attracts the human and financial capital the 21st-Century city needs to succeed.

• A.C. Wharton, Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee
• Joy Bailey Bryant, Principal Consultant, Lord Cultural Resources (Toronto, ON)
• Jim Wright, Director, Opera America
• Julian Zugazagoitia, Director, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City)

Panel Chair: Peter Witte, Dean, Conservatory of Music and Dance,UMKC

Session 9

Mobile Cities:
Our 21st-century transportation transformation

Transportation links and efficiency are essential to urban prosperity and livability. This panel will look at how smart technology — along with smart phones — is revolutionizing approaches to pubic transit and traffic management. At the same time links to the outside, whether by air, rail, water or virtual networks — are more important than ever. This panel will look at the innovations that better connect our cities to society and the national and global economy.

• Zia Yusuf, CEO, Streetline (San Francisco, CA)
• William Knapp, COO, car2go (Austin, TX)
• Marsha Anderson Bomar, Senior Principal and Transportation Ambassador, Stantec
• Roger Millar, Vice President, Smart Growth America

Panel Chair:  David Pickeral, Global Executive, Intelligent Transportation, IBM

Session 10

Discovering the Startup City:
America’s urban future

Entrepreneurship is vital to the economic future of urban America. Great companies can be built anywhere, but they disproportionately emerge from certain cities and regions. What are the factors that promote an active start-up community in a given city? Why are some cities so much better at fostering a great network of startup companies? What can city government do to help? What are the models of entrepreneurship that leverage the assets of universities, foundations and the private sector to build prosperous cities and a resilient national economy?

• Maria Katris, CEO, Built In (Chicago, IL)
• Brad Feld, Managing Director, Foundry Group (Boulder, CO)

• Leo Morton, Chancellor, University of Missouri Kansas City
• Kirk Hasenzahl, President and CEO, Rarewire (Kansas City)

Panel Chair: Lesa Mitchell, Vice President Innovation and Networks, Kauffman Foundation