Urban Planning Scholar Series

The Urban Planning Scholar Series creates a vision for land use and transportation planning in Indiana.  
The Series was launched in April of 2006 under the leadership of Laurence Brown; in 2008, the
Urban Planning Scholar Series became an official education program of Health by Design. 
The events are organized to raise awareness of often-overlooked issues in community
design and to educate professionals and policy-makers about the critical effects
on public health, the environment and quality of life.

Past speakers and events include:

Peter M. Haas, Ph.D., Center for Neighborhood Technology, Housing + Transportation Affordability Index (10/27/11)

Mia Birk, Alta Planning + Design Principal and Joyride author, Creating a Bike-Friendly City - Lessons from Portland (2/28/11)

Mia's presentation slides
Video of Mia's presentation
Mia's blog about her visit to Indy
NUVO article and interview with Mia

A Safe Routes to School Workshop, with presenters: Michael O’Loughlin, Safe Routes to School Program Manager, Indiana Department of Transportation; Jennifer Pyrz, Supervising Engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Safe Routes to School Committee Member and Parent; and Rory Neuner, State Network Manager, Safe Routes to School National Partnership (8/30/10)

Liveable Communities: Making Your Voice Count, with presenters: Tim Filler, Policy & Media Advocacy Consultant; Brenda Chamness, MS, CHES, American Fitness Index Program Officer, American College of Sports Medicine; and Kim Irwin, Executive Director, Alliance for Health Promotion. Event panelists included: Terri Austin, Representative, Indiana General Assembly; Paul Chase, State Director for Public Policy, AARP Indiana; Tom Harton, Editor, Indianapolis Business Journal; Maggie Lewis, Indianapolis City-County Councillor (5/10/10)

Ethan Kent, Project for Public Spaces, Neighborhoods: Inspiring Place, Improving Health, a 2009 Spirit & Place Festival event (11/12/09)

Candace Rutt, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Impact Assessment: Where Health and Planning Connect, Lecture (9/21/09) and Workshop (9/22/09)

Randy Neufeld, Strategic Management Consultant, National Complete Streets Campaign, Complete Streets Basics (6/29/09) and Workshop: Winning Complete Streets in Indiana (6/29-30/09)

Vukan R. Vuchic, Ph.D., UPS Foundation Professor of Transportation Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Transportation for Livable Cities, (3/23/2009)

Neal J. Angrisano, AIA, Deputy Director of Facilities Management, Johnson County, Kansas, Sustainable Design in the Public Sector: Perceptions, Myths and Realities (10/29/08, in partnership with the American Planning Association of Indiana in celebrating National Community Planning Month). Local panelists were: David Forsell, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful; Luke Leising, US Green Building Council Indiana; Micah Hill, Co-chair of Indy Green Build

Kumares Sinha, PhD, Purdue University, Global Trends in Economy, Motorization and Energy Use: Implications for Indiana Transportation Users and Providers (6/13/2008)

Robert Bullard, PhD , Clark Atlanta University, Just Transportation—New Routes to Equity and Opportunity

Local panelists included: Ehren Bingaman, CIRTA; Gilbert Holmes, IndyGo; Dr. Tamara Leech, Butler University; and moderator, Drew Klacik, IU CUPE (4/11/08)

Dan Burden, Walkable Communities, Inc., Walkability Matters (1/18/08)

Robert B. Cervero, PhD, UC Berkeley, Making Transit Work: Improving Mobility and Quality of Life through Transit and Land Use Integration (11/30/07)

Michael Lewyn, JD, Florida Coastal School of Law, Laws that Create Sprawl (12/5/06)

Lawrence D. Frank, PhD, The University of British Columbia, Public Heatlh and the Built Environment (7/10/06)

Donald Shoup, PhD, UCLA

Dom Nozzi, Walkable Streets

Norman W. Garrick, PhD, University of Connecticut